Two rectangular pits in a remote part of the flightline were used for loading prototypes and non-nuclear test versions of the Fat Man and Little Boy test bombs into the B-29 bombers, whose bellies were otherwise too close to the ground to have the bombs be wheeled under the planes, and loaded into the bomb bay. Instead, at the pits, a crane lifted the bombs from trucks onto a cradle atop a hydraulic ram, similar to a car mechanic’s garage lift, which lowered the bomb into the pit. The bomber would then park above the pit and the bomb would be raised into its bomb bay. There are two similar pits at Tinian, which were used by the Enola Gay for the atomic run on Hiroshima.
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