On July 16 , 1945 , at Kirtland Field , two B-29 Superfortress observation planes had set out early in the morning with instructions from Oppenheimer to steer a course at least 15 miles west of the atomic detonation point , Trinity Site . Because of thunderstorms , the planes dropped from 23,000 to 18,000 feet before circling the Trinity Site during the first atomic bomb detonation . While " The Gadget " underwent field-testing at Trinity , the nuclear components for the bombs and the active materials were being sent piecemeal to Tinian . Shortly before the bomb testing at the Trinity site , components of Little Boy were driven from Los Alamos to Kirtland Field and then flown to San Francisco . This included some of the U-235 . From San Francisco , they were transported to Hunters Point to board the cruiser , bound for Tinian . Following that , the Fat Man plutonium core and its initiator were driven down to Albuquerque . They left Kirtland Field on 26 July and were flown in a C-54 Skymaster to Tinian , where they arrived 28 July . Such was Kirtland Field 's last important role in the U.S. defeat of Japan , thereby ending World War II
first atomic bomb detonation
Trinity (nuclear test)
Kirtland Air Force Base