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The Enola Gay (/ əˈnoʊlə /) is a Boeing B Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.

The Enola Gay: The B that changed warfare - Nuclear Companion: A nuclear guide to the cold war

On 6 August , during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. Enola Gay, the B heavy bomber that was used by the United States on August 6, , to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first time the explosive device had been used on an enemy target, and it destroyed most of the city.

The Enola Gay, a B Superfortress, is renowned for its role in World War II as the aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan. On August 6, , this historic bomber made a crucial mark in history by attacking Hiroshima, Japan, with the bomb named “Little Boy.”. After dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in , the Enola Gay underwent decades of relocation and restoration.

You’ll find this historic B Superfortress bomber at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, D.C., where it rests as a fully restored centerpiece.

Seventy-five years ago, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, bringing an end to a long and devastating World War II and making the Enola Gay, the B The Enola Gay, the most famous U. Army Air Corps requested bids for a multiengine bomber that could carry a bomb load of 2, pounds kilograms for at least 1, miles 1, kilometers at a speed of miles per hour kilometers per hour.

Little Boy was a nuclear bomb, designed to explode with unimaginable force when two masses of highly enriched uranium were forced together at very high speed. By Javier Guerrero. Tibbets Jr. Boeing received a contract for 38 BCs the blisters were replaced with flat glass and self-sealing fuel tanks were added. More would follow over the next few years. Visitors can enjoy a range of experiences, such as observing planes taking off and landing at Dulles from the observation tower, piloting a jet or taking a spacewalk in a simulator, or watching shows at the on-site Airbus IMAX Theater.

In , the plane was mobilized to participate in nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll.

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The projectile was 7 inches It was also 7 inches long, and had an outside diameter of 4 inches. For the first two test flights, the plane flew satisfactorily, and Donald Putt claimed it was easier to fly than the B New York: Doubleday, Sections U. The famous bomber, which had been taken apart into 52 pieces and stored, was in poor shape by this time. Eventually, two American planes were designed that embodied the qualities of the perfect bomber--the Boeing B and B These tests helped the crews prepare for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions.

Flying Fortress. For decades it sat in storage at different locations around the country, but finally a total restoration was performed. With a wingspan of feet and a foot-long fuselage, it could carry up to 22, pounds of bombs and had an effective combat range of 3, miles. Javier Guerrero Javier is the editor Nuclear Companion and loves to investigate and write about the cold war. The projectile weighed During a test flight on February 18, , an engine fire spread into the wings, forcing the plane to crash into a meat packing plant, killing the crew of eleven and 20 on the ground.

A full story of the Enola Gay must include Paul W. It contained The mission involved seven Silverplates B planes. Reynoldsburg, Ohio: Buckeye Aviation Books,