Udvar Hazy Center of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and can be viewed by the public. As of, the fully restored Enola Gay is located at the Steven F. Work on its preservation and reconstruction did not begin until 1984 and the first phase lasted ten years after which parts of it were put on display between June 1995 and May 1998. In 1961 it was disassembled by the Smithsonian and moved to a restoration facility. It last flew on when it landed at Andrews AFB in Maryland where it was left to rust in outdoor storage until 1961. John Porter (ground maintenance officer)įollowing the end of the war, the Enola Gay took part in the nuclear program known as Operation Crossroads and was placed in storage at an Arizona airfield after being retired on before being given to the Smithsonian on. William Parsons, (Scientist on the Manhattan Project) Jacob Beser, radar (countermeasure officer) Tibbets ( pilot and CO of the 509th Group) The crew of the Enola Gay on that fateful Monday morning were: His crew members evaluated weather conditions over Hiroshima, and radioed the Enola Gay to proceed with the plan to release the atomic bomb over the city. Three days later it flew again, this time towards Nagasaki, supporting the second atomic bomb drop with weather reconnaissance. This was the bomber's thirteenth mission and third combat mission, following raids on Kobe and Nagoya during the last eight days of July. By the time it returned at 1458 local time, the world had changed. Stiborik, radar operator Staff Sgt George R. Jacob Beser, radar countermeasure officer. 'Dutch' Van Kirk, navigator Major Thomas W. He gave it the name and had it painted on the plane before taking off from Tinian Island in the Marianas at 0245 local time amidst a media circus. The flight crew of the Enola Gay with ground maintenance officer, Lt. Wikimedia Commons The crew of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay was among the few to witness the first use of the atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. Tibbets as a tribute for her support of his becoming an aviator. Among others personally recruited by Tibbets for the 509th were the Enola Gay copilot, Lewis, Caron, tail gunner, Duzenbury, flight engineer, radar specialist. The plane was named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the bomber's captain, Col. The Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress Bomber, was responsible for dropping the atomic bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan. Įngines: Four 2200 HP Wright Cyclone R-3350īuilt at the Martin plant in Omaha, Nebraska, delivered and personally selected by Tibbets. Enola Gay was the name of the specially modified B-29 US Army Air Force long-range bomber of the 509th Composite Group that dropped the atomic bomb nicknamed Little Boy on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on the morning of.