America’s First Atomic Bomber

The Enola Gay is, perhaps, one of the most historic aircraft in history. The B-29 Superfortress named for the mother of pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets, was the first of only two aircraft in history to drop an atomic bomb against an actual military target. The bomb, nicknamed “Little Boy”, was dropped at 8:15am local time on the morning of August 6th, 1945 at an altitude of 31,060 feet over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The blast followed 53 seconds later at a height of 1,968 feet above the city. Approximately 30% of the population of Hiroshima, between 70,000-80,000 were killed as a result of the blast. The Enola Gay never dropped another bomb in war, being retired from service and transferred to the Smithsonian Institution’s collection on August 30th, 1946. After several transfers and nearly two decades sitting in a remote area of Andrews Air Force Base (Maryland), the Enola Gay was dismantled and moved to the Smithsonian’s storage facility in Suitland, Maryland at the direction of Paul E. Garber, the first Director of the National Air Museum (now Air & Space) at the Institution. Following first years of political arguing, then restoration, the craft was finally placed on display as it is seen here on December 15, 2003 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.