Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: south hangar panorama, including B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat, among others
Image by Chris Devers
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.
Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay":
Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.
On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.
Date:
1945
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft 6 5/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)
Materials:
Polished overall aluminum finish
Physical Description:
Four-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish overall, standard late-World War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin; 509th Composite Group markings painted in black; "Enola Gay" in black, block letters on lower left nose.
• • • • •
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.
Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat:
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was originally conceived as an advanced version of the U.S. Navy’s then current front-line fighter, the F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). The Wildcat’s intended replacement, the Vought F4U Corsair (see NASM collection), first flown in 1940, was showing great promise, but development was slowed by problems, including the crash of the prototype.
The National Air and Space Museum’s F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo. 41834, was built at Grumman’s Bethpage, New York, factory in February 1944 under contract NOA-(S)846. It was delivered to the Navy on February 7, and arrived in San Diego, California, on the 18th. It was assigned to Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on USS Hornet (CV12) bound for Hawaii. On arrival, it was assigned to VF-3 where it sustained damage in a wheels-up landing at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii. After repair, it was assigned to VF-83 where it was used in a training role until February 21, 1945. After numerous transfers 41834 was converted to an F6F-3K target drone with the installation of sophisticated radio-control equipment. It was painted red with a pink tail that carried the number 14. Its mission was to be used in Operation Crossroads – the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. It flew on June 24, 1946, with a pilot, on a practice flight and was launched, unmanned, soon after the first bomb test. Instrumentation on board and photographic plates taped to the control stick obtained data on radioactivity. Three more manned flights preceded the final unmanned flight on July 25, 1946, which evaluated the first underwater explosion. Records indicate that exposure of this aircraft to the radioactive cloud was minimal and residual radiation is negligible.
F6F-3K 41834 was transferred to NAS Norfolk and logged its last flight on March 25, 1947, with a total of 430.2 flying hours. It was assigned to the National Air Museum on November 3, 1948, and remained at Norfolk until October 4, 1960, when it was moved by barge to Washington and placed in storage. In 1976 this Hellcat was loaned to the USS Yorktown Museum at Charleston, South Carolina. A superficial restoration was performed at the museum, but because of the harsh environment and its poor condition the Hellcat was returned to NASM on March 16, 1982. In 1983, it was sent to Grumman Aerospace where a team of volunteers completely restored the aircraft. In 1985, it was shipped back to the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland, and put in storage. NASM’s F6F-3 Hellcat is scheduled to be displayed in the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center at Dulles International Airport in Virginia in 2004.
Transferred from the United States Navy.
Manufacturer:
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Date:
1943
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 338 x 1021cm, 4092kg, 1304cm (11ft 1 1/16in. x 33ft 5 15/16in., 9021.2lb., 42ft 9 3/8in.)
Physical Description:
Heavy armor plate, reinforced empennage, R-2800-10W engine, spring tabs on the ailerons (increased maneuverability), could carry rockets as well as bombs.
Aerospace engineering is complex and essentially requires superior and sophisticated tools and approaches for the creation, design and development of products, testing and collaboration processes. Engineering businesses have to implement pioneering techniques without any concession on efficiency to achieve effective results as all these processes incur immense expenditure.
The aviation industry look always to leverage engineering services off-shoring for flexible technical capacity, product and process innovation, high quality solutions, gaining a foothold in local markets and meeting the increasing offset demands. While cost is an important factor, aerospace companies can still confer with specialists who provide engineering consultancy services. There is a high level of expertise and knowledge that is demonstrated while ushering in efficient and composite procedures that concentrate on assured and promising returns in aerospace engineering. These professionals aid the aerospace engineering businesses in meeting all necessities that are essential for enhancing quality, reducing time-to-market, increasing revenues, reducing costs of product development with their knowledgeable suggestions.
Outsourcing – for the best infrastructure
The engineering process is a complicated topography and it involves exceedingly capable and adept experts to carry out these crucial tasks. To ensure that the processes deliver optimum results on time the business requires highly advanced tools. There is a benefit with outsourced engineering services consultants, as they have a state-of-the-art facility along with excellent technological processes and a SEZ infrastructure that performs environmentally friendly processes. The increase in the aviation industry is posing some significant issues to the aerospace engineering businesses for incorporating adaptable processes that can convey inventive and high quality solutions to meet the global demands.
The outsourced consultants recognize the challenges faced by aerospace companies, and have appropriate solutions to cater to their needs. They can provide global engineering services as they have the experience and knowledge to implement best practices with exceptional, supportive coordination capabilities. Their real-time support helps in dealing with all issues effectively. With certified inspection centers for the quality checking instruments, they have synchronized processes for the discarding of redundant equipment. All outmoded processes are eliminated and properties that assist improvements and enhancements are enhanced.
Outsourced engineering services help the aerospace engineering businesses with design and development, engineering analysis, manufacturing engineering, embedded systems development, technical publications and offer the most empowering tools and end-to-end aerospace engineering solutions.
Writing article is my hobby..
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento