The U-235 weapon was considered very inefficient, with only 1.7% of its fissile material fissioning. The detonation created a blast equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT (67 TJ). Although buffeted by the shock, neither Enola Gay nor The Great Artiste was damaged. Enola Gay traveled 11.5 mi (18.5 km) before it felt the shock waves from the blast. The release at 08:15 (Hiroshima time) went as planned, and the Little Boy took 43 seconds to fall from the aircraft flying at 31,060 feet (9,470 m) to the predetermined detonation height about 1,968 feet (600 m) above the city. Jeppson, removed the safety devices 30 minutes before reaching the target area. His assistant, Second Lieutenant Morris R. "Deak" Parsons of Project Alberta, who was in command of the mission, armed the bomb during the flight to minimize the risks during takeoff. The aircraft arrived over the target in clear visibility at 9,855 meters (32,333 ft). On request, he gave a friendly wave for the cameras.Īfter leaving Tinian, the aircraft made their way separately to Iwo Jima, where they rendezvoused at 2,440 meters (8,010 ft) and set course for Japan. When he wanted to taxi, Tibbets leaned out the window to direct the bystanders out of the way. Groves, Jr., wanted the event recorded for posterity, so the takeoff was illuminated by floodlights. The director of the Manhattan Project, Major General Leslie R. Enola Gay, piloted by Tibbets, took off from North Field, in the Mariana Islands, about six hours' flight time from Japan, accompanied by two other B-29s, The Great Artiste, carrying instrumentation, and a then-nameless aircraft later called Necessary Evil, commanded by Captain George Marquardt, to take photographs. Hiroshima was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on 6 August, with Kokura and Nagasaki as alternative targets. Following delivery to the US Twelfth Air Force, the aircraft was assigned to the 393rd Bombardment Squadron (VH) of the 315th Bombardment Wing, receiving individual aircraft number 82. The aircraft was named for the mother of Colonel Paul Tibbets, who flew the aircraft on the Hiroshima mission.Įnola Gay was one of the 536 B-29s built at the Martin-Omaha plant from mid 1944. It is famed for dropping the world's first nuclear bomb used in warfare, which was dropping the Little Boy on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. You can help the Aircraft Wiki by expanding it.Įnola Gay on the ground, showing the arrowhead painted on the tail in place of the group letter Udvar-Hazy Center in December 2003.This article is a stub. While this exhibit is now closed, Museum specialists continued to restore the remaining components of the airplane, and after an additional nine years the fully assembled Enola Gay went on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. The exhibition text summarized the history and development of the Boeing B-29 fleet used in bombing raids against Japan.Īnother portion of the exhibit detailed the painstaking efforts of Smithsonian aircraft restoration specialists who had spent more than a decade restoring parts of the Enola Gay for this exhibition. The components on display included two engines, the vertical stabilizer, an aileron, propellers, and the forward fuselage that contains the bomb bay.Ī video presentation about the Enola Gay's mission included interviews with the crew before and after the mission including mission pilot Col. It contained several major components of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber used in the atomic mission that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. This past exhibition, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, told the story of the role of the Enola Gay in securing Japanese surrender.