A day in the desert was just what I needed today. I figured the wife and I should unplug for a while and let off some steam and just go get crazy. We decided to head to Nevada and see how much money we could give away at the casinos in Wendover. This is a treat that we give ourselves from time to time and without fail, every time we go I see that little brown sign on the main road saying “Historic Wendover Airfield and Museum” with the little arrow pointing south. As well as the visitor’s center that has the monument referring to the Enola Gay. Every time I think lets stop and look but we never do. Today we decided what the heck, we have a free half hour let’s go look.
First, before I go any further, I want to gratefully acknowledge three individuals who went out of their way to share some history with an ole aircraft fanatic and his wife. Not only did they offer the standard courtesy given at most museums, they went over and above to make us feel like true VIPs. Karen, Robert and Jimmy, Thank you so much for all you did for us today, we feel that we will never be able to thank you enough!
After talking with Karen for about 15 minuets while checking out the gift shop, I asked if it would be ok if I stepped out onto the tarmac to take a picture of the front side of the hangars that give so much character to this old base that has done so much for thousands of members of the armed forces, as well as being a major factor of ending the war. Well there was a 737 that was getting ready to leave so security was tight. However, she told us that if we could wait just a bit until it departed she was sure she could get us in for the picture we wanted.
Now enters Jimmy and Robert. Jimmy came in and started giving more information on other sites on base that are little known and are accessible to the general public. He was a wealth of information that we are very grateful for. Then he introduced us to Robert and informed us that he would give us a tour of the hangers so that we could get pictures and answer any questions that we may have. I was thinking WOW! I just wanted to take a Picture. For the next hour Robert had us grinning from ear to ear as he basically gave us the base as our personal play pen. Below are just a fragment of the pictures that we had taken and there is so much information I know this is going to be one of the biggest pages on my site. Again I thank you Karen, Jimmy and Robert as well as Tooele County for making this museum possible. Now it’s our turns to thank them, contact the Historic Wendover Airfield, make a donation, and plan a trip. Yeah, gambling is fun, but this town has so much more to offer, it is so rich in history it is a must see!
A couple of shots from the mountains over looking Wendover.
For Wendover Air Force Base, its history began in 1940, when the United States Army began looking for additional bombing ranges. The area near the town of Wendover was well suited to fit these needs. The land was virtually uninhabited, had generally excellent flying weather year round, and the nearest large city (Salt Lake City) was 100 miles away. Though isolated, the area was served by the Western Pacific Railroad, and many of its citizens were railroad employees.
Construction of the base and ranges began on November 4th 1940. The first military personnel arrived in August, 1941. Facilities were limited, with just a few barracks, officer's quarters, and a mess hall. There were also some warehouses, a theater, a medical facility, and a few other buildings located on the airfield. By the end of 1941, Wendover airfield had been expanded with additional buildings and paved runways.
On March 1st 1942 the Army Air Force "activated" Wendover Army Air Field and
also assigned the research and development of guided missiles, pilot less
aircraft, and remotely-controlled bombs to the site. The new base was supplied
and serviced by the Ogden Air Depot at Hill Field. In April the Wendover
Sub-Depot was activated and assumed technical and administrative control of the
field, under the immediate command of the Ogden Air Depot. The Wendover
Sub-Depot was tasked to requisition, store, and issue, all Army Air Forces
property for organizations stationed at Wendover Field for training.
South of the main airbase and runways, a facility was built for development of
the technology necessary to drop the first atomic weapons. These buildings were
known as the "Technical Site," and were located as far as possible from the rest
of the base for security and also for safety in the event of an accident.
By late 1943 there were approximately 2,000 civilian employees and 17,500
military personnel at Wendover. Construction at the base continued for most of
the war, including three 8,100 foot paved runways, taxiways, a 300,000 square
foot ramp, and seven hangars. By May 1945 the base consisted of 668 buildings,
including a 300-bed hospital, gymnasium, swimming pool, library, chapel,
cafeteria, bowling alley, two movie theatres, and 361 housing units for married
officers and civilians.
Also at that time the Manhattan Project scientists were confident enough to
direct the Army Air Forces to begin preparations for the atomic bomb's use
against Germany and Japan. The AAF concluded that the B-29 Superfortress
aircraft would be the most suitable delivery vehicle in either theater of
operations. In April Gen. Henry H. Arnold selected one of its most able bomber
commanders, Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., to form and train a group devoted solely
to dropping the device. Tibbets chose the remote Wendover Army Air Field over
Great Bend, Kansas, and Mountain Home, Idaho, as the location for the
Silverplate training program. The 509th's training was classified Top Secret;
therefore the desert isolation of Wendover Field was ideal.
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| Gen. Henry H. Arnold | Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr. |
A detachment of the Special Weapons Branch, Wright Field, Ohio, arrived at
Wendover in 1944 with the mission of evaluating captured & experimental rocket
systems, including the German V-1 "buzz bomb" and guided glide bombs. Numerous
tests were conducted, including the JB-2, an American copy of the German V-1,
which was tested at a site just south of Wendover's Technical Site.
The JB-2 'Doodle Bug' cruise missile (called the 'Loon' by the Navy) was an
American-made copy of the German V-1 'Buzz Bomb', reverse-engineered by Republic
Aviation (airframe) & Ford Aerospace (pulsejet engine) based on inspections of
V-1 wreckage in England. The JB-2 was flight-tested less than 4 months after the
first V-1 attack on England. Approximately 1,000 'Loons' were built.
Ironically, the JB-2 was built to be used in the invasion of Japan - an invasion
which was prevented by the atomic bombs dropped by the 509th Composite Group,
based only a few hundred feet away on the Wendover ramp. After the war, German
V-1s were tested from this site to compare performance with the American copies.
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| V-1 'Buzz Bomb' | JB-2 'Doodle Bug' |
For a short time, beginning in May 1944, Wendover field trained fighter groups.
However, this was abruptly canceled in September 1944 for the arrival of the
Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. They arrived on the field, as part of an operation
"Silver Plate." They would begin preparations for the dropping of the world's
first atom bomb. This operation and everything connected with it was conducted
under the code name "Kingman" and the task to assemble, modify and flight test
prototype bombs was code named "Project W-47".
The 393rd Bomb Squadron, nearing the completion of its training was moved to
Wendover in November 1944 the 393rd was re-assigned directly to the Second Air
Force and in December became the core of the new 509th Composite Group under the
command of Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr. About 800 people stationed at the field,
were transferred into the group and began training. Security was so intense,
that 400 FBI agents were involved to help maintain it. Personnel were instructed
to talk with no one about their activities, not even among themselves. Those who
did were immediately transferred from Wendover to other assignments, some as far
away as Alaska.
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Most of the 509th Composite Group's training was done at Wendover. Crews were
trained to drop one bomb with a high degree of precision, and to execute a sharp
turn after dropping it in order to avoid the effects of the nuclear blast. These
practice bombs were called "pumpkins" because some were painted orange, and
because one of the two types being tested had a round shape.
The 215th Base Unit continued constructing prototype atomic weapons and drop
testing them. Still known as "Project W-47", at the time, little was known about
the flight characteristics of the prototype atom bomb designs and how the fusing
mechanism would work. Much time and effort was spent helping perfect the design
of the prototype bombs, later called Fat Man and Little Boy. Much of the
technical work was done outside the site but the prototype bombs were assembled
there. Once assembled the bombs were loaded into specially modified B-29s and
then dropped over Wendover's bombing ranges and elsewhere. The flight
characteristics of the bomb would he noted, analyzed at a different location by
scientists, and changes in design would be ordered. This continued right up to a
couple of days prior to the deployment of the Fat Man bomb on Nagasaki.
The aircrews of the 393rd trained continuously for the classified mission until
May 1945. In late April 1945, Colonel Tibbets declared the group combat ready
and the ground crew moved to its new home at North Field, Tinian, in the
Marianas, on May 29, 1945 with the air echelon following on June 11.
The state of Utah played an important role in training heavy bombardment crews
during the dawn of the atomic age. Twenty-one heavy bomb groups trained in
Wendover including the 306th, the 100th BG, and the Flying Tigers 308th Bomb
Group which served in China, Burma and India. Additionally, members of three
bomb groups trained in Wendover won the Medal of Honor. Here are some of the
groups that utilized the huge (3,000,000+ acre) Wendover Bombing and Gunnery
Range southeast of the airfield:
100th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 11/1942 – 1/1943
302nd Bomb Group B-24s Operational Conversion Unit 7/1942- 9/1942
306th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 4/1942 – 8/1942
308th Bomb Group B-24s Fourteenth Air Force for Pacific Theatre 10.1942 –
11/1942
379th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 12/1942 – 2/1943
384th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 1/1943 – 3/1943
388th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 2/1943 – 5/1943
393rd Bomb Group B-17s Operational Conversion Unit 4/1943 – 6/1943
399th Bomb Group B-24s Operational Conversion Unit 4/1943 – 12/1943
445th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 6/1943 - 7/1943
448th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 7/1943 - 9/1943
451st Bomb Group B-24s Fifteenth Air Force for European Theatre 7/1943 - 9/1943
456th Bomb Group B-24s Fifteenth Air Force for European Theatres 6/1943 - 7/1943
457th Bomb Group B-17s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 12/1943 - 1/1944
458th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 7/1943 - 9/1943
461st Bomb Group B-24s Fifteenth Air Force for European Theatre 7/1943
464th Bomb Group B-24s Fifteenth Air Force for European Theatre & U.S. duty
8/1943
467th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 8/1943 - 9/1943
489th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 10/1943 - 4/1944
490th Bomb Group B-24s Eighth Air Force for European Theatre 10/1943
494th Bomb Group B-24s Seventh Air Force for the Far East 12/1943 - 4/1944
509th Composite Group B-29s for atomic warfare 12/1944 - 4/1945
The training of B-29 aircrews and the testing of prototype atom bombs was the
last major contribution of Wendover Field during World War II. After the end of
the war with Japan, some crew training continued, but at a reduced level. For a
while, B-29s were stored there and later, transferred to the Strategic Air
Command.
In the summer of 1946 the Ogden Air Technical Service Command assumed
jurisdiction over all operations at Wendover Field except engineering and
technical projects. In March 1947, 1,200 personnel from Wendover Field in Utah
were relocated to Alamogordo to conduct guided missile research projects. Three
ongoing projects were transferred: Ground-to-Air Pilotless Aircraft (GAPA) Jet
Bomb-2 (JB-2), and TARZON.
Wendover Air Force Base, renamed in 1947, was inactivated in 1949. It was then
transferred to the Ogden Air Material Area in 1950. The range continued to be
utilized for bombing and gunnery practice.
Tactical Air Command reactivated the base in 1954 and tactical units deployed
there for exercises, as well as utilizing the base for the next four years. TAC
invested several million dollars renovating facilities. Wendover was transferred
to Ogden in 1958 and renamed Wendover Air Force Auxiliary Field, and the range
was renamed Hill Air Force Range in 1960.
By 1965, the airfield was closed. The non-flying components were inactivated in
1969, and the entire facility declared surplus in 1976.
In July 1975, the base was officially listed on the National Register of
Historic Places. In 1977, the government deeded much of the airfield to the City
of Wendover. Tooele County took over ownership of the airport and base buildings
in 1998. The buildings are now being restored by the Historic Wendover Air Field
Museum, along with a few aircraft for the benefit of the public. They also
display maintenance and training equipment. This included the runways, the
former hospital complex and hangars. Some acres including the radar site were
retained by the military.
Beginning in 1980 the 4440th Tactical Fighter Training Group (Red Flag), Nellis
AFB, Nevada, used Wendover for exercises, but they were discontinued after 1986.
Today this former Air Force Base is used as a civil airport; the facility was
turned over to the town of Wendover as a municipal airport, named Decker Field.
Many of the buildings are leased for storage, and there is a daily 737 flight
into the airport carrying casino gambling charter passengers. There are not a
lot of General Aviation aircraft based at the field. Located at the west end of
a corridor running between two restricted USAF gunnery ranges, it is used as a
refueling and lunch stop for light planes traveling between Salt Lake City and
Nevada or Northern California.
Wendover is one of the most intact World War II training airfields. It is also
one of the most historic. The airfield is very isolated in northwest Utah,
sitting in the middle of a vast wasteland miles away from any major population
center. It is probably for this reason, and the dry hot climate, that much of
the airfield remains today.
Still-extant facilities include the vast runway system, numerous ramps,
taxiways, dispersal pads, and most of the original hangars (including the "Enola
Gay" B-29 hangar). Most of the hospital complex and many barracks remain, as
does a chow hall, chapel, swimming pool and many other WW2-era buildings. The
control tower is still in use and overlooks the remains of the former secret
"Technical Site". There is much preservation work being carried out at the
airfield, thanks to a local group "Historic Wendover Airfield" is hard at work
preserving the former base.
Numerous films and television shows have been filmed using Wendover Field. One
of these was the 1973 TV-movie Birds of Prey, in which stunt pilots flew and
maneuvered helicopters inside one of the large hangars, the first time ever
done.
Several flying scenes for the 1997 movie "Con Air" were filmed at Wendover,
using Fairchild C-123K Providers one of which was modified into a nonflying
"prop" mounted on a bus chassis. Abandoned following the filming, it now remains
on the ramp as an attraction for visitors. A non-profit group, Historic Wendover
Airfield, is attempting to restore the historic elements of the field. Wendover
Field also stood in for the exteriors of Area 51 in the 1996 film Independence
Day.
The northeast/southwest runway (3/21) has been pulverized and was used for base
course material for the new 8/26 runway. The old east/west runway (7/25) was
used by USAF engineers training for runway demolition and repair and is
unusable. A joint program with the National Guard will attempt to turn this into
an assault training landing strip for C-130 and other aircraft. The east/west
runway (8/26) is new, constructed in 1998 and is used as the main precision
runway for the commercial 737 flights.
The operations center, fueling service and museum are open from 8:00am to 6:00pm
daily. A self-guided driving tour is available and guided tours can be arranged
by calling in advance.
Some views of and from the tower.
The main hangers and pilot briefing areas
The "Jail Bird" the C-123 used for the ground shots from the movie Con Air.
The firehouse
Our Cadillac for the tour in front of the bunker use to align the guns on aircraft.
One of the pits used for loading the atomic bombs in the B-29, they lowered the bombs in to the loading area and the pulled the B-29 over the hole and raised the bomb to the aircraft.
| Munitions Storage Bunkers | Rifle and Pistol ranges | Looking across the runways back to the hangers |
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| Special research habitat | Rocket pad used by NASA |
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