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

Contents:

• ENOLA GAY TIBBETS PHOTOS & HIGH-R PICTUR
• RARE PHOTOS SURFACE OF ENOLA GAY, BOCKSR
• ENOLA GAY
• TOURG THE SMHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MM’S ENOLA GAY EXHIB
• TAKE A TOUR OF THE ENOLA GAY, THE U.S. PLANE THAT BOMBED HIROSHIMA
• WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ENOLA GAY AFTER IT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY
• THE ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON
• INSI THE ENOLA GAY
• 69 ENOLA GAY PLANE STOCK PHOTOS & HIGH-R PICTUR
• HIROSHIMA’S ENOLA GAY RRIED 12 MEN, HOPE AND THE WORLD’S ADLIT WEAPON
• ENOLA GAY: WE VISED WH THE PLANE THAT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB
• ENOLA GAY: THE B-29 AIRPLANE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
• THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY
• WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?
• FILE:ENOLA GAY (PLANE)

ENOLA GAY TIBBETS PHOTOS & HIGH-R PICTUR

Johns’ hband Erw was statned the Pacific 1945 and enuntered the two plan that dropped the bombs, the Enola Gay and Bocksr, days before they rried out the missn. The Enola Gay was the B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, on Augt 6, 1945.

In the vio Erw said he and the other men statned on Tian were aware the Enola Gay and Bocksr were not beg load wh the typil ordance. Johns took hundreds of photos durg his time the Pacific and managed to photograph the Enola Gay before s famo missn.

For this reason alone, the photos taken by Erw are valuable to historians, but is the pictur of the Enola Gay and Bocksr that are most imprsive. 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.

RARE PHOTOS SURFACE OF ENOLA GAY, BOCKSR

” The Enola Gay—Tibbets had a matenance man pat that name on the aircraft’s nose shortly before takeoff—was acpanied by var other plan. Tibbets flew the Enola Gay back to Tian, where he was award the Distguished Service Cross. Three days later the Enola Gay nducted weather rennaissance the lead-up to the bombg of Nagasaki, Japan.

Japan officially surrenred on September 2, Enola Gay remaed service for several years before beg given to the Smhsonian Instutn on July 3, 1949. Enola Gay: Today, Enola Gay -- the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima -- is parked at the Smhsonian Air and Space Mm Chantilly, Virgia. A somber artifact: Jeremy Kney, curator at the Smhsonian Air and Space Mm, stands ont of Enola Gay.

The ckp: Visors to the Smhsonian Air and Space Mm Chantilly, Virgia, n look down to the ckp of Enola Gay.

ENOLA GAY

Terntental bomber: Enola Gay was signed to be an terntental bomber, one that uld fly om the ntental US to Europe se Bra fell to Nazi Germany. Bomber Enola Gay dropped the first ever Atomic bomb on the Japane cy of Hiroshima. 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.

Natnal Air and Space the vio above, the CBC’s Meagan Fzpatrick gets a tour of the Enola Gay at the Steven F. (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. Tibbets, Jr., mand of the Superfortrs Enola Gay, dropped a highly enriched uranium, explosn-type, "gun-fired, " atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

The airplane's last flight end on December 2 when the Enola Gay touched down at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. 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. While did not drop the bomb on Nagasaki, the Enola Gay did take flight to get data on the weather the lead-up to the send strike on Japan.

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

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.

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

But even unr the ctody of the mm, the Enola Gay remaed at an air force base Texas.

The Commtee for the Rtoratn and Display of the Enola Gay now has 9, 000 signatur of prott. Adams, who is leavg his job after 10 relatively ntroversy-ee years, sent back a three-page answer stiffly turng down her requt for the Enola Gay.

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

Demonstrators prott at the Enola Gay exhib at the the Smhsonian Natnal Air and Space Mm's Steven F. And as long as is on display, the qutns rais are likely to ntue — after all, they have been wh the Enola Gay sce first beme a hoehold name. 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.

EXHIBG THE ENOLA GAY

This past exhibn, cidg wh the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay securg Japane surrenr. It ntaed several major ponents of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber ed the atomic missn that stroyed Hiroshima, Japan. A vio prentatn about the Enola Gay's missn clud terviews wh the crew before and after the missn cludg missn pilot Col.

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 ENOLA GAY'S HISTORY LIV ON

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. Unlike the ncelled exhibn, "Enola Gay" ntaed no terpretatn, no graphic imag, and no melted objects.

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. 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.

INSI THE ENOLA GAY

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. Upon visual lotn of Hiroshima, Tom Ferebee aimed for the cy center and Enola Gay dropped the “Ltle Boy” bomb om 31, 000 feet at 9:15 am. 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.

69 ENOLA GAY PLANE STOCK PHOTOS & HIGH-R PICTUR

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. 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.

The Smhsonian has been at the center of bat over those differg perspectiv terms of the terpretatn and public display of Enola Gay. Enola Gay was to be the central artifact a planned exhibn at the Mm examg the atomic bombgs durg the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.

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

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. 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.

ENOLA GAY: WE VISED WH THE PLANE THAT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB

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. The flight of the Enola Gay on Augt 6, 1945, signifi an end and a begng terms of our evolvg unrstandg of technology and warfare the twentieth century. 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).

Yet the Enola Gay, another animate object, had a dark tentn — the vice was schled to drop an atomic bomb on an enemy target. It's important to note that durg the war, not many plan which were mass-produced were given as much fanfare, so the Enola Gay stood out om the pack.

On Augt 5, 1945, the 29-year-old Tibbets formally named his B-29 "Enola Gay" after his mother (née Haggard). In 1995, the Natnal Air and Space Mm hosted a ntroversial exhib of the Enola Gay to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII.

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

The fully reassembled Enola Gay is now on display permanent display at the Natnal Air and Space Mm's Steven F. 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.

THE INLIBLE ENOLA GAY

He handpicked the plane the night before the missn, to the surprise of s crew, and had his mother’s name -- Enola Gay -- pated on s si.

WHERE IS THE ENOLA GAY TODAY?

It was a moment for which none of the Enola Gay’s crew -- away by then, but still rocked by the blast -- was que prepared. Some fly ahead to check the weather to see what ’s like at the actual target, and Enola Gay was part of that for Nagasaki, " Kney said. 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.

While no members of the crew that flew the Enola Gay rema to tell s story, the aircraft liv on for visors. "Enola Gay is a regnized airplane of World War II, and people want to see , " Kney said. "They want to see the spachip Disvery, they want to see the [SR-71] Blackbird, and they want to see the Enola Gay.

FILE:ENOLA GAY (PLANE)

"Of all the World War II aircraft  the llectn of the Natnal Air and Space Mm, the most signifint is the Enola Gay. See the gallery below for more imag of the Enola Gay, which are om the book unls otherwise noted.