75 Years Ago: The Flight of the Enola Gay | Natnal Air and Space Mm

Contents:

• ENOLA GAY
• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• THE REAL MEANG BEHD THE NAME ENOLA GAY, THE PLANE THAT DROPPED THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB
• TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA
• THE CREW OF THE ENOLA GAY ON DROPPG THE ATOMIC BOMB
• HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON
• THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY
• ENOLA GAY FACTS
• THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON
• ENOLA GAY: THE B-29 AIRPLANE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
• EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY
• TOURG THE SMHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MM’S ENOLA GAY EXHIB
• THE HISTORY OF THE ENOLA GAY
• WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?
• THE ENOLA GAY

ENOLA GAY

Enola Gay, the B-29bomber that was ed by the Uned Stat on Augt 6, 1945, to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first time the explosive vice had been ed on an enemy target. The Enola Gay is a B-29 Superfortrs, which pilot Pl Tibbets named after his mother, and which had been stripped of everythg but the necsi, so as to be thoands of pounds lighter than an ordary plane of that make. In the aftermath of World War II, the Army Air Forc flew the Enola Gay durg an atomic tt program the Pacific; was then livered to be stored an airfield Arizona before beg flown to Illois and transferred to the Smhsonian July 1949.

On Augt 6, 1945, the crew of a modified Boeg B-29 Superfortrs named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb ed warfare, lled “Ltle Boy, ” on the cy of Hiroshima, Japan.

As a new and adly weapon, an atomic bomber, Enola Gay facilated a turng pot human history as hered the dawn of the Atomic Age and the threat of nuclear war. After “Ltle Boy” left the forward bomb bay, Enola Gay lurched upward, and Tibbets iated a high angle evasive manver to get as far away om Hiroshima as possible. Enola Gay tail gunner Bob Caron took this picture of the cloud of smoke billowg 20, 000 feet above Hiroshima after the explosn of the Ltle Boy atomic bomb on Augt 6, 1945.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB

The history and memory of Enola Gay and s part the atomic attacks on Japan, and their effect on endg the war the Pacific and the nuclear tensns of the Cold War, reflects differg viewpots. In a revised exhibn, Enola Gay’s forward felage and bomb bay, two eng, a propeller, and other ponents, cludg a activated Ltle Boy bomb, went on display the Natnal Mall Buildg om June 1995 to May 1998.

THE REAL MEANG BEHD THE NAME ENOLA GAY, THE PLANE THAT DROPPED THE FIRST ATOMIC BOMB

Udvar-Hazy Center opened December 2003, the fully-assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display the World War II Aviatn display area the Boeg Aviatn Hangar.

TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA

The display of the Enola Gay has generated a variety of rpons rangg om public protts  1995 and 2003 to opposg pots of view exprsed  alternative exhibns, petns, and reports, and ntu to serve as a se study  prentg history the public sphere that is vigoroly discsed and bated to this day. However, several plane nam of the World War II-era are known exclively by their name, cludg the famo Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber that was ed to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan (via Branni).

13 died last weekHiroshima bombg anniversaryTake a tour of the Enola Gay, the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 69 years agoOn Augt 6, 1945 the U. (Associated Prs)At the time of s missn, the Enola Gay was among the most sophistited, propeller-driven bombers the sky durg the Send World War, acrdg to the Smhsonian.

THE CREW OF THE ENOLA GAY ON DROPPG THE ATOMIC BOMB

"Colonel Ferebee died Florida 2000, at the age of Air Force radar specialist Jab Ber was the only man who served on both the Enola Gay the Hiroshima bombg missn and the Bock's Car three days later when s crew bombed Nagasaki.

While this exhib is now closed, Mm specialists ntued to rtore the remag ponents of the airplane, and after an addnal ne years the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm’s Steven F.

HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON

Another portn of the exhib tailed the pastakg efforts of Smhsonian aircraft rtoratn specialists who had spent more than a rtorg parts of the Enola Gay for this exhibn.

THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY

Tibbets Jr., 30, had handpicked the airplane on the assembly le Nebraska three months before and had jt had his mother’s name, “Enola Gay, ” pated black letters on the the plane mbled down the airstrip at over 100 mph, he had his lucky cigarette se wh him one pocket, and a box ntag 12 cyani psul Aug. ”Fifteen hundred to the north-northwt, unr a wang crcent moon, lay a 400-year-old Japane cy most Amerins probably had never heard of but whose name was about to be etched to the pag of was an important enemy ary se wh a wartime populatn about 280, 000, acrdg to the historians Gordon Thomas and Max half of them were about to be cerated, cshed, and irradiated by the c atomic weapon named “Ltle Boy” that the Enola Gay of thoands more would die the same way at Nagasaki a few days later, and the world would subsequently be hearg about megatons, mutual assured stctn, proliferatn, nuclear wter, meltdowns and dirty would be the start of a ightful era of weapons that uld fy ntrol and menace as “Dimpl Eight Two” picked up speed that morng, s missn was born of s time: liver a blow that the Uned Stat hoped might fally end the global butchery of World War II.

ENOLA GAY FACTS

)This week, memoratns are schled across the untry, wh socially distanced ndlelight vigils and the tollg of bells, and bee of the vid-19, ceremoni and remembranc have moved Enola Gay, the Boeg B-29 Superfortrs that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, is seen on display July 29, 2020, at the Steven F.

William Parsons, who flew on the missn as the bomb bee of that risk, the 10-foot-long “Ltle Boy” had not yet been was a “gun-type” bomb, one which an explosive charge would fire a “subcril” piece of uranium 235 down a six-foot-long “gun” barrel to a send subcril piece of uranium, acrdg to Thomas and created cril mass and the explosive nuclear cha reactn that would lay waste to four cloth bags of explosive and the tonator would not be serted until the plane was the Enola Gay was now dog 180 mph but was nng out of ground. So had an ternal radar system that tected the ground, tripped the tonator at that altu, and iated the tonatn bomb traveled for six and explod jt short of the Enola Gay, meanwhile, lurched upward on sheddg the weight of the bomb and executed a hairp turn to pe the expected shock wave of the first, the crew saw and felt nothg.

In 1995, a 50th anniversary exhibn of the end of World War II, anized by curators and the director at the Natnal Air and Space Mm and displayg the felage of the Enola Gay, met wh unprecented cricism after veterans groups cricized the exhibn’s script for beg overly sympathetic to the Japane and the mm’s historians for beg misleadg and unpatrtic.

THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON

The Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima named by ’s pilot Col Pl Tibbets, after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets, who was named after a character of the book, *Enola; or, Her fatal mistake. He appeared on the Amerin televisn show This is Your Life, where the host surprised him by brgg out the pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb.

A survivor of the bombg of Hiroshima, Rev Tanimoto, was on an Amerin televisn show 1955 to raise money for the victims and was forced to meet and listen to the -pilot of the Enola Gay talk about what he did. - sourceThe battle ciser USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japane sub as attempted to return to the fleet after had livered s rgo of the first atomic bomb "Ltle Boy" to Tian Island sted to be load on the Enola Gay and dropped on Hiroshima--out of 1, 196 crew, only 317 survived - sourceThe plane that rried the atomic bomb to Hiroshima was lled the Enola bomber ed to drop the first atomic bomb was named after the pilots mother, Enola Gay - sourceHow high was the enola gay when dropped the bomb? Pl Tibbets on natnal televisnThe last Hiroshima bomber om Enola Gay mented that "the Japane today are nice people", has hosted Japane stunts his California home and uldn't ask for better onHiroshima bomber and Enola Gay crew member Theodore Van Kirk has hosted Japane exchange stunts who stayed at his homePl Tibbets, one of the pilots flew the Enola Gay to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, lerally took a nap on the flight back om the bombg.

ENOLA GAY: THE B-29 AIRPLANE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Seventy-five years ago, the Uned Stat dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, brgg an end to a long and vastatg World War II and makg the Enola Gay, the B-29 that livered , one of the most famo history. After the bombgs and the war’s quick end, the Enola Gay remaed wh the Army Air Forc, takg part the Biki Atoll atomic tts before beg shipped to the Smhsonian 1960. Many veterans had advoted for the display of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortrs ed to drop the bombs, as a celebratn of Amerin triumph over Japan, but there were already ncerns that the Smhsonian was creatg a polilly rrect, revisnist terpretatn of the events.

Harw rigned on May 2, 1995, jt days before he was schled to ttify Senate June 28, 1995, an exhibn, simply tled "Enola Gay, " opened at the Natnal Air and Space Mm. Only the felage was on display, acpanied by basic facts and rmatn about the plane's entire Enola Gay bomber is currently on display the "World War II Aviatn" exhibn at the Natnal Air and Space Mm's Steven F. Related RourcCollectns related to the Enola Gay, Smhsonian Instutn ArchivThe Enola Gay: A Natn's, and a Mm's, Dilemma, Edorial by Mart Harw, The Washgton Post, Augt 7, 1994Special Report: The Smhsonian and the Enola Gay, Air Force Associatn, March 15, 1994Smhsonian Cancels Exhib on Atomic Bomb, The Baltimore Sun, January 31, 1995Recent Acquisn - Rerds om Mart Harw, Director, NASM, 1986-1995, The Bigger Picture, Smhsonian Instutn Archiv.

EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY

The Enola Gay is the B-29 Superfortrs bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb, -named "Ltle Boy", to be ed war, by the Uned Stat Army Air Forc (USAAF) the attack on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 Augt 1945, jt before the end of World War II.

The Enola Gay gaed addnal natnal attentn 1995 when the ckp and nose sectn of the aircraft was exhibed at the Natnal Air and Space Mm (NASM) of the Smhsonian Instutn downtown Washgton, D. The Enola Gay was acpanied by two other B-29s, Necsary Evil which was ed as a mera plane to photograph the explosn and effects of the bomb and rry scientific observers, and The Great Artiste which was the blast measurement stmentatn aircraft.

Durg July of that year, after the bomber flew eight trag missns and two bat missns to drop pumpk bombs on dtrial targets at Kobe and Nagoya, Enola Gay was ed on 31 July on a rehearsal flight for the actual missn.

TOURG THE SMHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MM’S ENOLA GAY EXHIB

On 5 Augt 1945, durg preparatn for the first atomic missn, pilot Colonel Pl Tibbets who assumed mand of the aircraft, renamed the B-29 after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets (1893–1983), who, cintally, had been named for the heroe of a novel. Enola Gay beme the center of a ntroversy at the Smhsonian Instutn 1994, when the mm put s felage on display as part of an exhib memoratg the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombg of Hiroshima. The exhib, "The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War", was drafted by the Smhsonian's Natnal Air and Space Mm and arranged around the rtored Enola Gay.

For famo reasons, only is one of jt 26 Boeg B-29 bombers still existg, but is also the plane that dropped the nuclear bomb over Hiroshima to the effort of the Smhsonian staff members, Enola Gay is on public display today. It stood for s abandoned, left outsi to the elements, souvenir hunters, and the Enola GayEnola Gay is a Boeg B-29 Superfortrs bomber aircraft manufactured B-29 Superfortrs was a 4-enge, propeller-driven bomber aircraft and was one of the most advanced aircraft World War II.

THE HISTORY OF THE ENOLA GAY

When the B-29 entered service 1944, was one of the largt aircraft all of World War Gay left the assembly le on 18 May 1945 Bellevue, Nebraska, and stayed service until s retirement on 24 July 1946.

WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?

It is one of only 65 B-29s built unr the "Silverplate" specifitns, makg them pable of rryg nuclear Enola Gay on Tian the Marianas Islands where took off before bombg Hiroshima Gay beme the first aircraft to drop a nuclear bomb warfare spe s short service life. Wh the nuclear bomb over Nagasaki three days later, the attacks ultimately end World War Bombg of HiroshimaWhile still on the assembly le, Enola Gay, pilot Pl W. When livered to the USAF on 18 May 1945, they assigned to 393d Bombardment July 1945, Enola Gay flew eight trag flights and two missns to drop nventnal bombs over Kobe and 5 Augt, Tibett assumed mand of the B-29 and named after his mother.

Enola Gay took off om the Northern Mariana Islands on 6 Augt, piloted by Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay wav om the ckp before takg off to Hiroshima on 6 Augt other B-29s rted Enola Gay on the missn and provid measurg and photography equipment. 000 people, 30% of the cy's populatn, were Gay returned safely to the Northern Mariana Islands to great applse 12 hours after the war, Enola Gay was a ndidate for the nuclear tt program at the Biki Atolls but was ultimately not selected.

THE ENOLA GAY

Enola Gay did not serve aga and retired 2003, the Enola Gay has been on public display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm Washgton, 1946 the Air Force cid to prerve Enola Gay.

The Air Force gave the aircraft to the Smhsonian Instutn, but they lacked Gay was left outdoors durg s storage as the Air Force had no hangar space available. The bomber airplane beme the first to drop a nuclear weapon warfare when the Uned Stat bombed Hiroshima on 6 Augt World War 2, Enola Gay was left outsi for s, exposed to weather, souvenir hunters, and animals.