Tinian B-29 Airfield

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/22/asia/us-air-force-pacific-tinian-island-airfield-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

1945
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Field_(Tinian)

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USAF has landed some aircraft at Tinian's international airport to get a feel for operating in the area. Always good to spread your assets if you can afford it.

I do not think taking Taiwan would be any fun at all for a military with no combat experience. Could be a real shooting gallery in the air and on the water.

 

I bet they could give ATL a run for their money!

 

Flew around Saipan, Titian, and Rota in the F-16 a few years ago, all at 500 feet and 480 knots to burn off extra fuel on the way into Anderson on Guam. It was really cool.

 

Those remind me of the Haleiwa Airstrip.

 

US Moved To Revive Major WWII-Era Military Bases In 2023 To Prepare For Face Off With China | The Daily Caller

 

I am surprised they were only 8000 ft runways.

 

Incredible what our military accomplished on Tinian:

Operating for over 45 days and nights (in July, August, and September 1944), often while under fire, the Seabees initially repaired and extended the existing 4,380 foot runway and then added two runways, each 8,000 feet long and lying in an east-west direction. Nearly the entire northern end of the island was occupied by runways, the airfield area, and the various support facilities and containment areas.

North Field was further expanded with three 8,000 feet runways involving the movement of nearly 1 million cubic yards of earth and coral and the accumulation of some 900,000 truck miles. A fourth runway was constructed in May 1945 and hardstands built for 265 B-29 bombers. The four parallel 8,000 foot runways are oriented nearly east-west. Upon completion, North Field was the largest airfield in the world.

And for those who are in the neighborhood, these are still open to tourists:

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April '24 - Texas firm to make $409 million in upgrades to airfield that launched atomic bombings
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2024-04-19/tinian-airfield-upgrades-atomic-bombings-13596068.html

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I knew a WWII vet who worked at Tinian on the flight line.

He talked about how knowing something was up when they wouldn’t let the guards be armed near The Enola Gay. He later found out they were afraid a stray bullet could detonate the bomb.

He PRAISED the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because he’d been fighting the Japanese for a few years and knew that save MANY lives on both sides…

Kevin

 

Safety features on those early bombs were nearly non-existent compared to our current inventory. Some of the bombs from early in my career (B-57, B-53) were actually pretty scary and the NWSSG (Nuclear Weapon System Safety Group) was happy to recommend retiring them.

 

A long time ago, I think it was 1995, I was invited to breakfast with Col. Tibbets.
Deal was if I bought his breakfast he would sign the receipt. Of course that was a joke by my friend who invited me.

I still have the signed receipt. It is displayed with a signed replica panel of the Enola Gay. He did give me a Warbird T shirt which I still wear today.
If anyone gets a chance look up operation silverplate.

 

The Air Force historian on the video says the runways were 8,500X150 feet wide.

 

You always hear about the Atomic Bombs being launched from this base, but the biggest day of bombing any one area happened in April 1945 on Tokyo Japan. Not Germany, Tokyo Japan. They leveled a huge portion of the city in a few days. That's what made people send their families to the 2 cities that the US had not been bombing, to get away from Tokyo. Sad story but true.

 

Sorry, did it from memory, one month off. And still they were nowhere near ready to surrender. Very proud people, and in a nutshell that's why they used A-bombs. Millions more would have died almost certainly without the nuclear bombs.

 

I saw a photo once of a shattered B-17 sitting on a taxiway in England that exploded while waiting to take off on a mission. All 10 men on board died instantly, and supposedly the blast destroyed the B-17 that was sitting behind in the line as well.

 

I have that number in a report somewhere. If I remember it was something like 45,000

 

In 1942 Sarasota Air Base had two OTU squadrons based there 4 miles from our town. They were equipped with P-40's. The trainee pilots had been rushed through training and some were still barely 19 years old. The poor quality of accepted trainees and the rush through flight school produced a terrible bunch of pilots for the early days of the war. It seemed that every day there were several fatal crashes, one in a field behind our home on Siesta Key. In one month one squadron was depleted of all but two of its aircraft. I remember these kids in town every night and certainly every weekend partying to the limit and flying the next day. I remember 5 fatal crashes in one day near us and Venice. When I was stationed at Hondo AB there were still incidents around us. I don't know if the people of this country will ever know of the massive effort in material and manpower that it put together to win the war.

 

BOB: Have you read "The Making of the Atomic Bomb?, excellent history of the effort we made. In one year the US spent 30% of its gross domestic product on the Manhattan Project.