Well our time in Winnemucca was pretty much uneventful so we left the next morning for West Wendover, NV. Wendover Army Airfield was where the crew of the Enola Gay trained in their B-29 to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
A nice museum with plenty of photos and memorabilia is located in the restored John T. Brinkman Service Club. There’s an informative seven minute long video about the base that we’d highly recommend watching as well as several rooms dedicated to the young men who trained at Wendover as well as the civilians who supported them.
Just outside of the museum is the original control tower and base operations building. The base operations building is still the FBO for the active airfield and was originally used as the museum and is packed with more memorabilia.
If you’ve seen the film Con Air with Nicholas Cage you’ll recognize the Fairchild C-123 Provider next to base ops. Wendover Airfield was one of the filming locations for the movie.
As you take the short drive down the road you’ll pass original World War II hangars. At the far end you’ll see the hangar that housed the Enola Gay during her stay at Wendover before flying to Tinian Island for its historic mission.
If you’re a history buff you’ll get a kick out of the old WWII era buildings still standing. If you’re in the area it’s well worth your time.
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