Enola Gay is a B-29 Superfortress Bomber of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) that dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare ("Little Boy"). The Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, just before the end of World War II. The Enola Gay became famous for its part in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In the past it was displayed in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., but that exhibit closed on May 18, 1998. In 2003, the Enola Gay was once again viewable to the public at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport.
The Enola Gay was assigned to the USAAF's 509th Composite Group and flew the August 6 mission out of Tinian, a small Island in the Mariana Islands chain. The plane, which bears serial number 44-86292, was one of only 15 B-29s modified to deliver nuclear bombs. The Enola Gay was modified at Offutt Air Force Base to hold the atomic bomb. Its crew had undergone training at Wendover Army Air Field in Wendover, Utah.
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Colonel Paul Tibbets, normally commander of the group, elected to fly the mission himself. Thus, he selected a plane from his group and renamed the plane after his mother Enola Gay Tibbets (1893-1983, who in turn had been named after the heroine of a novel). The Enola Gay was followed only three days later by another B-29 (Bockscar) (piloted by Major Charles Sweeney) which dropped a second nuclear weapon, "Fat Man", on Nagasaki. These two bombs have so far been the only nuclear bombs used deliberately against human targets.
The plane has been fully restored and is currently displayed as a major permanent exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. Its exhibition there, as well as the previous partial presentation in the original Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the National Mall, has been met with controversy. The airframe's instrumental role in the atomic bombings led many to challenge the Smithsonian's presentation displays around the aircraft. Some individuals, including many Hiroshima survivors, have called for more comprehensive language detailing the destruction caused by the bomb. The Smithsonian has largely refused to elaborate the language presented on the signage, on the basis that all aircraft in the museum are presented with the same succinct technical data.
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The Enola Gay's crew on August 6 1945 consisted of twelve men: