The filmmakers had no reason to have the scene take place in daylight for filming purpose, since lights.
Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in the secondary target, Nagasaki, being bombed instead. However, the Enola Gay takes off in daylight. Interesting fact: Enola Gay also took part in the second atomic attack on Japan: it was used as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the original target of Kokura. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. In 2003, the fully restored Enola Gay went on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Work on restoring it – a project which spanned nearly twenty years – began in 1984. In order to carry such a heavy load as an atomic bomb, the Enola Gay was modified: new propellers. The Enola Gay was a B-29 Superfortress (aircraft 44-86292), part of the 509th Composite Group. Just before take-off, the planes nickname was painted on its side. Not just the Jewish but many cultures felt the horrific truth of. Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot, nicknamed the B-29 the 'Enola Gay' after his mother. The lives of these military men and civilians that lost their lives should never be forgotten. Little Boy exploded 1,900 feet (580 metres) above the city, killing tens of thousands of people and causing immense destruction.Įnola Gay remained in service until it was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1949. The Enola Gay Let me start off by saying this I think that in order to understand the Enola Gay and it’s mission you have to take into consideration that Japan and Germany had killed many many people in there attempt to rise to power. Tibbets checked his watch, which showed 2:45AM, the morning of August 6, 1945. Near the end of the 8500 foot runway, the B-29 lifted easily and steadily into the air. Tibbets held the plane on the runway until it reached 155 MPH, then eased back on the yoke. Tibbets instructed a maintenance man to paint the name "Enola Gay" on the aircraft's nose shortly before take-off on the Hiroshima mission. The Enola Gay picked up speed, 75MPH, 100, then 125. Lieutenant Colonel Tibbets flew the plane to Hiroshima where its deadly payload, an atomic bomb called Little Boy, was dropped from the plane and exploded over the city on August 6, 1945.Įnola Gay was a four-engine heavy bomber that had undergone a number of modifications, including reinforcements to its bomb bay. Hiroshima took off from Tinians North Field at Bockscar reached the rendezvous point and assembled with The Enola Artiste, but after circling for some model.
The B-29 bomber, Enola Gay, was named after the mother of pilot Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. We have just started engines, ready to take off at approximately 0235 aboard the B-29 bomber, or as we call her, Enola.
It was named after the pilot's mother (Pronounced en-oh-lah gay)Īll the engineers were old and gay (Enola Gay) who worked on the Enola Gay bomber plane. Enola Gay – The B-29 bomber that was used by the United States to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.