Mystery Airplane Contest - May 2025

The end of WWII marked the beginning of the "Atomic Age." The Army Air Force, later the United States Air Force, finished the war with the only atomic bombing capability, the 509th Composite Group, made up of 15 Martin-built B-29s. Not to be outdone, Navy Rear Admiral Daniel Gallery proposed a Navy model for atomic bomb delivery. The initial proposal would have created a bomber too large for any existing aircraft carrier. Even the still-born CVA-58, the United States of over 80,000 tons and in excess of 1000 feet long, would not work.

The first naval aircraft designed and produced with the cap...