B 29 superfortress enola gay

On August 6,Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. Three days later, Major Charles W. Sweeney piloted the B Bockscar and dropped a highly enriched plutonium, implosion-type atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B found its niche on the other side of the globe.

On 6 Augustduring the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. This wing design allowed the B to cruise at high speeds at high altitudes but maintained comfortable handling characteristics during slower airspeeds necessary during takeoff and landing.

Several years of preliminary studies paralleled a continuous fight against those who saw limited utility in developing such an expensive and unproven aircraft but the Air Corps issued a requirement for the new bomber in February It described an airplane that could carry a maximum bomb load of kg 2, lb at a speed of kph mph a distance of at least 8, km 5, miles.

Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. Boeing, Consolidated, Douglas, and Lockheed responded with design proposals. Boeing's B Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments.

The Enola Gay (/ əˈnoʊlə /) is a Boeing B Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 14,the Japanese accepted Allied terms for unconditional surrender. Gay days later, Bockscar on display at the U.

Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. Displaying Controversy: Exhibiting the B Superfortress Enola Gay On the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Adam Estes examines the complex history and enduring controversy surrounding the display of the B Enola Gay, exploring how this iconic aircraft continues to spark debate over memory, history, and interpretation.

A third B, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions. Your support will help fund exhibitions, educational programming, and preservation efforts. Watch U.S. B Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War The B Superfortress Enola Gay took off from the Mariana Islands on August 6,bound for Hiroshima, Japan, where, by dropping an atomic bomb, it heralded a new and terrible concept of warfare.

Among the design's innovations was a long, narrow, high-aspect ratio wing equipped with large Fowler-type flaps. Boeing's B Superfortress was the most sophisticated, propeller-driven, bomber to fly during World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments.

The B Superfortress 'Enola Gay' dropped the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima, signalling a shift in how warfare was conducted. Boeing installed very advanced armament, propulsion, and avionics systems into the Superfortress. Boeing's B Superfortress was the most sophisticated, propeller-driven, bomber to fly during World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments.

During the war in the Pacific Theater, the B delivered the superfortress nuclear weapons used in combat. In the Pacific, Bs delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

The Army was impressed with the Boeing design and issued a contract for two flyable prototypes in September In Aprilthe Army issued another contract for aircraft plus spare parts equivalent to another 25 bombers, eight months before Pearl Harbor and nearly a year-and-a-half before the first Superfortress would fly.

For the crew, flying at altitudes above 18, feet became much more comfortable as pressure and temperature could be regulated in the crew work areas. A third B, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation enola on both missions.

Enola Gay Wikipedia

More revolutionary was the size and sophistication of the pressurized sections of the fuselage: the flight deck forward of the wing, the gunner's compartment aft of the wing, and the tail gunner's station. In the late s, U. Army Air Corps leaders recognized the need for very long-range bombers that exceeded the performance of the B Flying Fortress.

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