About This File
FS2004 Scenery--Tinian Island and North Field. Sixty years ago, the U.S. transformed Tinian from a quiet Pacific island into the biggest and busiest airport in the world. From this base, B-29 bombers launched almost daily missions in an effort to end the war against Japan. In August, they finally succeeded when B-29s from Tinian dropped the first (and hopefully the last) atom bombs. This archive contains a unique reproduction of North Field as it appeared in 1945. Unlike most other reproductions, this airfield is not placed on an artificially flattened surface, but is designed to conform to the terrain. This approach highlights one of the prominent features of the airfield - the upward sloping runways. On most missions, the aircraft would take off from the west, heading east. This was into the prevailing winds. It was also uphill, which meant that the takeoff ended with a leap into space. The runways and taxiways have been converted to Gmax and "hardened". A small convoy of WWII ships is now traveling around the island and a couple of ships are parked at the docks. By Phil Crowther.