abstract
| - Testing began with scale models at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia in August 1943. Modifications began on a prototype Silverplate B-29 known as the Pullman in November 1943, and it was used for bomb flight testing at Muroc Army Air Field in California commencing in March 1944. The testing resulted in further modifications to both the bombs and the aircraft. Seventeen production Silverplate aircraft were ordered in August 1944 to allow the 509th Composite Group to train with the type of aircraft they would have to fly in combat, and for the 216th Army Air Force Base Unit to test bomb configurations. These were followed by 28 more aircraft that were ordered in February 1945 for operational use by the 509th Composite Group. This batch included the aircraft which carried out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Including the Pullman B-29, a total of 46 Silverplate B-29s were produced during and after World War II. An additional 19 Silverplate B-29s were ordered in July 1945, which were delivered between the end of the war and the end of 1947. Thus, a total of 65 Silverplate B-29s were made. The use of the Silverplate codename was discontinued after the war, but modifications continued under a new codename, Saddletree. Another 80 aircraft were modified under this program. A last group of B-29s were modified in 1953, but never saw further service.
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