Airmen on a Fire truck, use water hoses to wash down the B-29 Superfortress, "Dave's Dream," in preparation for the Able test in which it will drop an atomic device on Bikini Atoll, as part of Operation Crossroads atomic tests in Marshall Islands. Airman on ground sprays water on the underside of the aircraft. Bomb bay doors being washed.Airman cleans parts of the B-29 with a cloth.
Interior of B-29 Superfortress bomber, "Dave's Dream," in flight during some aspect of Operations Crossroads atomic test in Marshall Islands. Seen are pilot, Major Woodrow Swancutt, Copilot, Captain William C. Harrison, and bombardier, Major Harold H. Wood. They are operating at low altitude, and not wearing oxygen masks.
Operation Crossroads atomic tests. Major General Curtis Lemay, Commander 20th Air Force, converses with his staff. The 509th Composite Group of B-29 bombers, from 20th Air Force is providing the atomic bomber aircraft for Test Able in the Cross Roads atomic testing sequence.
Pilot, Major Woodrow Swancutt, Copilot Captain William C. Harrison, and Bombardier Major Harokd H. Wood, in their respective crew positions in cockpit of the B-29 Superfortress, "Dave's Dream." They fly low over the area of the Bikini Atoll, in preparation for conducting Test Able in the atomic testing sequence. Aerial view of the island.
Air Transport Command C-54 aircraft, arrives and taxis to parking place on ramp at airfield in the Marshall Islands, related to the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll (Operations Crossroads). When the door opens, An officer scurries down the stairway to join two others standing at foot of the stairs ready to greet arriving passengers. Military officers are gathered on the ramp, including Air Force General Henry (Hap) Arnold. Many military and civilian passengers deplane and are greeted and mingle with those on the ramp. Some distance away, base personnel are gathered , including several women, to watch the activity. The only base buildings seen are Quonset huts and buildings contrived from them. The first of several military staff cars drives away carrying the arriving passengers.
The B-29 "Dave's Dream" returns to airfield in Marshall Islands, after dropping atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll, in Test Able of Operation Crossroads, on July 1st, 1946, during U.S. nuclear testing. The B-29 lands and taxis to a parking place on the ramp. The area around the aircraft is cordoned off and the crew is confined therein as they deplane. Navy photographers take photos. An interviewer talks to crew members. The crew walks away from the aircraft along a cordoned pathway between numerous military personnel on hand to greet them on this historic occasion. The aircraft, number 44-27354, was actually participating in its second atomic mission. It also served as a photographic platform for the mission to Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, when it was named "Big Stink.". Pilot for the Bikini mission was Major Woodrow Swancutt of Wisconsin Rapids, WI. The aircraft was renamed "Dave's Dream" in honor of Captain David Semple, a bombardier killed during the crash of another B-29 on March 7, 1946, near Albuquerque, New Mexico. (World War II period).
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