The aircraft was accepted by the USAAF on and assigned to the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, 509th Composite Group. Tibbets, Jr., commander of the 509th Composite Group, on, while still on the assembly line. Enola Gay was personally selected by Colonel Paul W. These modifications included an extensively modified bomb bay with pneumatic doors, special propellors, modified engines and the deletion of protective armor and gun turrets. Enola Gay was one of 15 B-29s with the "Silverplate" modifications necessary to deliver atomic weapons. Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) at its Bellevue, Nebraska plant, at what is now known as Offutt Air Force Base.
#Enola gay crew members names serial number#
The Enola Gay (B-29-45-MO, AAF Serial Number 44-86292, Victor number 82) was built by the Glenn L. Since 2003, the entire restored B-29 has been on display at NASM's Steven F.
The exhibit was changed due to a controversy over original historical script displayed with the aircraft. The Enola Gay gained additional attention in 1995 when the cockpit and nose section of the aircraft were exhibited during the bombing's 50th anniversary at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution in downtown Washington, D.C. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and caused unprecedented destruction. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb on an enemy target in a war.
It was standardized as a bombardment group and redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 10 July 1946.Įnola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel (later Brigadier General) Paul Tibbets.
In the postwar era, the 509th Composite Group was one of the original ten USAAF bombardment groups assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946, the only one equipped with specially-configured B-29 Superfortress capable of delivering atomic bombs. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The 509th Composite Group (509th CG) was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons.