Col. Paul W. Tibbets, 509th Group CO and pilot
Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot
Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Manufacturer:
Boeing
Designation:
B-29
Nickname:
Superfortress
Type:
Bomber
Specifications
Length:
99' 0" ( 30.17M)
Height:
27' 9" ( 8.46M)
Wing Span:
141' 3" ( 43.05M)
Wing Area:
1739.00 Sq Ft ( 161.54Sq M)
Empty Weight:
69,610.0 lbs (31569.0Kg)
Gross Weight:
140,000 lbs (63492.0Kg)
Max Weight:
141,100 lbs (63990.0Kg)
Propulsion
No. of Engines:
4
Powerplant:
Wright R-3350-23
Horsepower
2200 each
Performance
Range:
5830 miles (9388.00 Km)
Cruise Speed:
220.00 mph ( 354.00 Km/H / 191.35 Kt)
Max Speed:
365.00 Mph ( 587.00 Km/H / 317.30 Kt)
Ceiling:
31,850.0 Ft (9707.40M)
Enola Gay Chronology
May 18, 1945
Aircraft 44-86292 delivered to U.S. Army Air Forces
Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Factory, Omaha, Nebraska
June 14, 1945
Aircraft ferried to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah,
by pilot-in-command Capt. Robert A. Lewis
June 27, 1945
Aircraft and 11 man crew depart Wendover for South Pacific
July 6, 1945
Aircraft arrives at Guam, where additional modifications to the
bomb bay are made, then flies on to Tinian Island in the Marianas
July 12, 1945
Aircraft and crew resume training
ENOLA GAY CREW
Flight Crew
Col. Paul W. Tibbets, 509th Group CO and pilot
Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot
Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer
Navy Capt. William "Deak" Parsons, Manhattan Project Scientist
Sgt. Joseph S. Stiborik, radar operator
S/Sgt. George R. Caron, tail gunner
Pfc. Richard H. Nelson, radio operator
Sgt. Robert H. Shumard, assistant engineer
S/Sgt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury, flight engineer
Lt. Col. John Porter, ground maintenance officer
Capt. Theodore J. Van Kirk, navigator
Maj. Thomas W. Ferebee, bombardier
Ground Crew
Technical Sgt. Walter F. McCaleb
Sgt. Leonard W. Markley
Sgt. Jean S. Cooper
Cpl. Frank D. Duffy
Cpl. John E. Jackson
Cpl. Harold R. Olson
Pfc. John J. Lesniewski
Aug. 5, 1945
Aircraft 44-86292 formally named Enola Gay after Col. Paul Tibbets' mother
Ground crew works feverishly to prepare it for the next day's mission
Aug. 6, 1945
Enola Gay departs at 2:45 a.m. for Hiroshima, Japan.
The atomic bomb is released over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time.
"A bright light filled the plane"
said Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay,
the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb.
"We turned back to look at Hiroshima, the city was
hidden by that awful cloud...boiling up, mushrooming"
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then everyone was talking.
"Look at that, look at that! look at that"
exclaimed the co-pilot, Robert Lewis, pounding on Tibbets's shoulder.
Lewis said he could taste atomic fission, it tasted like lead.
Then he turned away to write in his journal.
"My God," he asked himself, "what have we done"
A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki
three days after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
The aircraft returns to Tinian at 2:58 p.m.,
twelve hours and thirteen minutes after takeoff
Aug. 9, 1945
Flight report and operations order indicate that Enola Gay flies as
weather plane on the Nagasaki atomic mission
Sept. 2, 1945
Japan formally surrenders aboard the battleship
U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay
Nov. 6, 1945
Enola Gay departs Tinian for Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico
where most of the 509th is based after the Japanese surrender
April 29, 1946
Enola Gay is flown to Kwajalein Island by Col. Tibbets for
"Operation Crossroads" nuclear tests
July 24, 1946
Enola Gay, bearing "Operation Crossroads" special insignia, is flown to
Davis-Monthan Army Air Field, Arizona, for storage
July 3, 1949
Enola Gay is retrieved from storage and flown to Orchard Place Army Air Field,
now O'Hare International Airport, near Chicago by Colonel Tibbets
July 3, 1949
Enola Gay is formally accepted by the Smithsonian Institution
for the National Air Museum
Jan. 12, 1952
Enola Gay is flown to Pyote Air Force Base, Texas
for temporary storage
Dec. 2, 1953
Enola Gay is flown from Pyote Air Force Base Texas,
to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland and placed in storage
Aug. 10, 1960
Workers begin disassembling Enola Gay
July 21, 1961
Enola Gay is moved overland to National Air Museum's storage facility
in Suitland, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.
Dec. 5, 1984
National Air and Space Museum crews begin restoring Enola Gay
Nov. 22, 1994
Forward fuselage of the Enola Gay is moved from Suitland, Maryland
to the National Air and Space Museum
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