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The Enola Gay (/ əˈnoʊlə /) is a Boeing B Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August , during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. In the early morning hours of August 6, , a B bomber named Enola Gay took off from the island of Tinian and headed north by northwest toward Japan. The bomber's primary target was the city of Hiroshima , located on the deltas of southwestern Honshu Island facing the Inland Sea.
Enola Gay Flight Path
The Enola Gay is the B heavy bomber that was used by the United States on August 6, , to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first time the explosive device had been used on an enemy target, and it destroyed most of the city. The aircraft was named after the mother of pilot Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. Brake B Flight Engineer — Tinian On 6 August , piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Manhattan Project
Enola Gay Flight Path Hiroshima Log of the Enola Gay The Enola Gay left Tinian at am, accompanied by two other Bs: The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil. These planes rendezvoused over Iwo Jima and set course for Japan. At am (Tinian time), the bomb run began. The release at AM (Hiroshima time) went as planned, and the Little Boy bomb took 53 seconds to fall from the aircraft. Find out more at afa. The bomb had not yet been tested. Tinian Island – Nuclear Museum
Tinian Island was the launching point for the atomic bomb attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. One of three islands in the Northern Marianas, Tinian is less than forty square miles in size and located approximately 1, miles south of Tokyo. Hours before the sun would rise over Tinian island on the morning of August 6, , a B airplane was positioned above a specially built bomb-loading pit, as crews readied the aircraft with cargo unlike anything the world had ever known. And months before that, pilot Paul Tibbets Jr. The mission that changed the world
The atomic bomb did not win the war. Japan had been defeated already by the land, sea, and air campaign that went before. It is reasonable to conclude, however, that the bomb did force the Japanese surrender — and considerably sooner than it would have occurred otherwise. . The Decision That Launched the Enola Gay
At a.m. on August 6, , the Enola Gay, with Colonel Tibbets and a crew of eleven, took off from Tinian Island carrying the uranium bomb known as “Little Boy.” The aircraft was named in honor of Tibbets’ mother, and the name was painted on the nose just before takeoff. . 
Enola Gay
In late May , Tibbets and his unit transferred for additional training on Tinian island, where the Enola Gay would launch its mission several months later. “One of three islands in the Northern Marianas, Tinian was chosen as the launching point for both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions based on its proximity to Japan and easy sea. .
The Day the Enola Gay Arrived on Tinian North Field
Editor’s Note:The Enola Gay was a Boeing B Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August , piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. .