The Great Artiste

The Great Artiste
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	1945-1948
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 aircraft was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, in reference to his bombing talents. 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 have participated in both the bombings of Hiroshima and 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.