Where was enola gay built

It also had remote-controlled machine gun turrets that allowed aerial gunners to operate their weaponry from within the bomber. Restoration began in the 1980s and continued into the 1990s.

For the 50th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing in 1995, the cockpit and nose section were displayed at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C., sparking significant controversy regarding the historical context of the exhibit.

On that day it was selected as the strike plane for OPERATION CENTERBOARD I, the first atomic attack mission against Japan, by Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets, the 509th commander.

Tibbets renamed the plane the Enola Gay after his mother, over the objections of the plane's usual pilot Robert A. Lewis. In July 1946, it was transferred to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for storage.

Little Boy was armed at 0730. The exhibition of the aircraft was highly controversial, with many critics arguing that it celebrated the bombing of Hiroshima and was insensitive to the victims of the attack.

In response to the controversy, the Smithsonian altered the exhibition to provide more context and information about the decision to drop the bomb, as well as the devastating effects of the attack on Hiroshima.

An approaching typhoon required postponing the planned attack of Hiroshima on 1 August.

Among her accomplishments are being the Founder of the true crime blog, Stories of the Unsolved, which garners between 400,000 and 500,000 views annually, and a contributor for John Lordan’s Seriously Mysterious podcast.

Named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of its pilot, Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the bomber was instrumental in the mission that devastated Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945.

Built by the Glenn L. Martin Company at its Bellevue, Nebraska, plant, the Enola Gay was one of the first fifteen B-29s modified under the "Silverplate" specifications.

It was one of 65 built with the “Silverplate” specification, a modification program specifically tailored for atomic bombing missions.

Speaking of armament, the aircraft was equipped with 10 Browning M2 machine guns and a 20 mm cannon, and it had the ability to hold up to 20,000 pounds on munitions, making it a formidable force.

The B-29’s capabilities made it a crucial asset for the Allies fighting in the Pacific Theater. While the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay didn’t carry the bomb this time around, it did play an important role as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the original target, Kokura.

The B-29 Bockscar, piloted by Maj.

Charles W. Sweeney, carried Fat Man, with the intention of dropping it on Kokura. It was initially assigned the Victor number 12, but this was later changed to Victor 82, to avoid misidentification.

In July 1945, Enola Gay conducted eight practice flights and two combat missions, dropping conventional pumpkin bombs on industrial targets in Kobe and Nagoya, Japan.

Paul Tibbets personally chose the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay

Col.

The name was painted on the aircraft just before the historic flight.

One of the notable early missions undertaken by Enola Gay occurred on July 31, 1945, when it participated in a rehearsal flight for the upcoming atomic bombing operation. In the 1980s, veterans’ groups began lobbying for the aircraft to be restored and exhibited, leading to a debate regarding how to present the bomber, given its involvement in the atomic bombings of Japan.

However, poor visibility meant the mission was diverted to Nagasaki. Several days are required for weather to clear, and on 4 August the date was set for two days later. The aircraft was assigned to the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, 509th Composite Group, which was based at Tinian Island in the Pacific Ocean. The bomb's projectile and uranium-235 target discs arrived by the USS Indianapolis and several aircraft in late July.

In May 1946, it was flown to Kwajalein Atoll for Operation Crossroads, but it didn’t participate in the drops at Bikini Atoll.

The decision to preserve Enola Gay was made in 1946, at which point the aircraft was moved to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for storage. One such B-29, Enola Gay, went down in history on August 6, 1945, when it dropped the atomic bomb Little Boy over Hiroshima, marking the first time an atomic munition had been deployed in warfare.

The fall to the burst altitude of 600 meters lasted 43 seconds, at that moment Little Boy had a vertical velocity of 335 meters/second, just a bit faster than sound.

As soon as the bomb was released Tibbets took control and the Enola Gay began its escape maneuver.