At 0913.30 the bombadier, Thomas Ferebee, took control of plane in preparation for release. The weather plane over the primary target radioed good conditions at 0830 and Tibbets announced that Hiroshima would be their destination. The Enola Gay came within sight of the Empire, as bombing crews called it, at about 0750 as it approached the southern tip of Shikoku Island. At 0741 Tibbets began the climb to the drop altitude above 30,000 feet. The Enola Gay rendezvoused with the observation planes over Iwo Jima at 0605. Just before 0200 the crew boarded the Enola Gayy takeoff was at 0245. At 0015 on 6 August assembly on the flight line began. The flight briefings for the weather planes occurred at 2300 the strike plane flight briefing was at midnight. The preflight briefing for the seven flight crews began at about 2000. At 1730 the Enola Gay taxied on to the pad for pre-mission testing. At 1600 Tibbets had his mother’s name, Enola Gay, painted on the strike plane. At 1530 Parsons began practicing his new task of in-flight propellant insertion. Little Boy was loaded on the plane the same day.Īt 1400 on 5 August the first combat atomic bomb Little Boy was loaded onto a trailer and taken to the loading pit where a hydraulic lift raised it into the bomb bay of the Enola Gay. 82 for the mission, renamed the Enola Gay after his mother, over the objections of its pilot Robert A. Tibbets, the 509th commander, selected B-29 No. Several days are required for weather to clear, and on 4 August the date was set for two days later. An approaching typhoon required postponing the planned attack of Hiroshima on 1 August.
At 1600 (Tinian time) "Enola Gay" was painted on its nose.īomb unit L11 was selected for combat use and on 31 July the U-235 projectile and target were installed along with the four initiators – making Little Boy ready for use the next day. Tibbets renamed the plane the Enola Gay after his mother, over the objections of the plane's usual pilot Robert A. On that day it was selected as the strike plane for OPERATION CENTERBOARD I, the first atomic attack mission against Japan, by Lt. One of fifteen "Silverplate" B-29s assigned to the 393rd Bombardment (Very Heavy) Squadron of the 509th Composite Group of the XXI Air Force on Tinian Island, the bomber now know as the Enola Gay was designated simply as No. On 31 July the Enola Gay carried out a practice drop of the Little Boy weapon, dropping bomb unit L6 which was a complete bomb lacking only the highly enriched uranium to make it active. The Enola Gay bombed Kobe on 24 July and Koriyama on 26 July. Prior to flying the first atomic combat mission the Enola Gay flew eight practice missions from Tinian, then two conventional bombing missions over Japan using the 6300 pound "pumpkin" high explosive bomb, designed to simulate the characteristics of the Fat Man bomb. The Enola Gay arrived on Tinian on 6 July 1945. When deployed to the Pacific the Enola Gay was assigned a Victor number, originally No.
#ENOLA GAY CREW STILL ALIVE SERIAL NUMBER#
The Enola Gay's complete serial number (B-29-45-MO, 45-86292) indicated that it was a B-29 built at the Martin Omaha plant built in block 45, and was ordered in fiscal year 1945. The Enola Gay was part of a second batch of fifteen improved Silverplate bombers built between February and June 1945.
#ENOLA GAY CREW STILL ALIVE CODE#
The Enola Gay was built under a program code named "Silverplate" to produce B-29 bombers specially modified for atomic bombing missions. Last changed 13 January 2007 Enola Gay- The Airplane Model: