Boeing's B-29 was the single most complicated, sophisticated, and expensive weapon produced by the United States during World War II. Nearly 4,000 B-29s were built for combat in the Pacific theater, including the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima and is perhaps the best-known aircraft from World War II.
• On August 5, 1945, President Truman gave his approval to use Little Boy against the Japanese. It was late in the evening of this day Col Paul Tibbets decided to name his plane Enola Gay after his mother.
• At 11:30 PM, a special briefing was held to the crew for the first time and the breakfast was served in midnight. The crew reported to the airplane at 1:30 AM. They are:
Col. Paul W. Tibbets, 509th Group CO and pilot
Capt. Robert A. Lewis, co-pilot
Maj. Thomas W. Ferebee, bombardier
Capt. Theodore J. Van Kirk, navigator
S/Sgt. Wyatt E. Duzenbury, flight engineer
Sgt. Robert H. Shumard, assistant flight engineer
Sgt. Joseph S. Stiborik, radar operator
Pfc. Richard H. Nelson, radio operator
S/Sgt. George R. Caron, tail gunner
Lt. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer
Lt. Morris R. Jeppson, bomb electronics test officer
Navy Capt. William "Deak" Parsons, Manhattan Project Scientist
- In addition to the flight gear and surviving gear, every crewmember carried a suicide pill in their pocket.
- They started engines at 2:30 AM in the morning. Fifteen minutes later, the Enola Gay, which was carrying an atomic bomb, started on the 6 and a half hours long flight journey from Tinian Island in the Central Pacific. Two observation planes carrying cameras and scientific instruments followed behind her.
- Three hours after takeoff, they flew over Iwo Jima at dawn. They adjusted course and headed northwest. At 7:30, Captain Parsons completed his adjustments; the atomic bomb was live. The Enola Gay climbed slowly to their bombing altitude of 32,000 feet. At 8:30 they received the coded message from the advanced reconnaissance airplane that cloud cover over Hiroshima was less than three-tenths. Tibbets gave the word to his crew, "It's Hiroshima."
- As they reached the coastline of Japan, no interceptors challenged them; the Japanese had become indifferent to small groups of B-29s. They crossed Shikoku and the Iyo Sea. They looked down at the city below. The other crewmen verified that it was indeed Hiroshima. They spotted the Initial Point. They turned and headed almost due west. Major Thomas Ferebee, the bombardier, peered into his Norden bombsight, and cranked in the information to correct for the south wind. Paul reminded the crew to put on their heavy dark goggles, to shield their eyes from the blinding blast.
- At 9:15 AM, they dropped "Little Boy" and made a 155-degree diving turn to the right, 42 seconds later, the bomb exploded at 1,890 feet above the ground. They flew away, shocked and horrified at the sight below. The city had completely disappeared under a blanket of smoke and fire. They radioed back to headquarters that the primary target had been bombed visually with good results. The mushroom cloud over Hiroshima was visible for an hour and a half as they flew southward back to Tinian.
- Twelve hours after they had taken off, Paul and the crew of the Enola Gay touched down, to be greeted by all the military brass. After the welcoming formalities, they were debriefed and given a quick medical checkup. The news of the atomic bomb was promptly announced to the world. Three days later, Chuck Sweeney, in Bock's Car, dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
- After the participating in several atomic bomb tests, the plane was sent to Arizona for storage in 1946. Three years later, she was retrieved from storage by Tibbets and flown to Park Ridge, Illinois, to be restored and displayed by Smithsonian Institution.
- Only 32 B-29s still exist and 25 of those are in museums. Of the 15 B-29s built for atomic bombing missions, only two exist-Enola Gay and Bockscar.
- The Enola Gay has been in the Smithsonian collection since 1949. Some people have wanted to know: What was the total cost to restore the Enola Gay? It is impossible to calculate this because restoration occurred as many estimated man-hours were volunteered. The restoration of the Enola Gay is the largest restoration project ever undertaken by the Museum. Restoration work on began in 1984 and involved a total of some 300,000 staff hours. The forward fuselage alone took nearly 10 years and 44,000 staff hours.
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