The Great Artiste
| The Great Artiste | |
|---|---|
 |
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| A B-29 painted to look like The Great Artiste (the original plane was scrapped) at the Whiteman Air Force Base | |
| Type | Boeing B-29-40-MO Superfortress |
| Manufacturer | Glenn L. Martin Company, Omaha, Nebraska |
| Serial | 44-27353 |
| In service | 20 April 1945 to 3 September 1948 |
| Fate | Crashed on take-off at Goose Bay Air Base, Labrador and scrapped. |
The Great Artiste was a U.S. Army Air Forces Silverplate B-29 bomber (B-29-40-MO 44-27353, Victor number 89), assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group. The name purportedly referred to the talents of the bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan. It flew 12 training and practice missions in which it bombed Japanese-held Pacific islands and dropped pumpkin bombs on targets in Japan. It was the only aircraft to participate in both the bombing of Hiroshima and the bombing of Nagasaki, albeit as an observation aircraft on each mission.
After the war ended it returned with the 509th Composite Group to Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico. It was scrapped in September 1949 after being heavily damaged in an accident at Goose Bay Air Base, Labrador, the year before.
Built at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Plant at Omaha, Nebraska, The Great Artiste (B-29-40-MO 44-27353) was a Silverplate B-29 Superfortress bomber. It was accepted by the Army Air Forces on 20 April 1945, and flown to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, by its assigned crew C-15, commanded by First Lieutenant Charles D. Albury, in May. It departed Wendover for North Field, Tinian on 22 June.
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