Enola Gay, heroism or insanity?

pampa14

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Enola Gay, undoubtedly the most famous B-29 bomber ever built. The big question, his fame comes from an act of heroism or insanity? Click on the link below, answer this poll and leave your opinion. The link also contains a full report and photos about this important chapter of WW2. Be sure to visit and participate.


Aviação em Floripa: Enola Gay

Translation:
The 8:15 of the day August 6, 1945, a silent glare he ascended into heaven in the city of Hiroshima in Japan. At least 100 thousand people died in the first attack on atomic bomb in history, a tragedy that sparked unprecedented and terrifying forms of suffering and marked the end of the second world war.



The bomb uranium 235, entitled Little Boy, cost 2 billion dollars in research and had never been tested. It was launched from American B-29 bomber serial number 44-86292, plane chosen two months earlier by Colonel Paul Tibbets, who piloted the day of the attack. The official named the Enola Gay aircraft, the name of his mother, a homemaker from Florida. It was a greatly modified model of the B-29 that had bomb compartments specifically adapted to carry one bomb of about 4.5 tons. Its defensive armament was removed to relieve weight and improve the performance of the aircraft.




Colonel Paul W. Tibbets



The aircraft was accepted formally by the US Army Air Force (USAAF) on May 18, 1945 and transferred to the base of 509º CG in June 14, 1945. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Robert a. Lewis, but was commanded by Colonel Tibbets himself on Atomic mission over Hiroshima, leaving Lewis as co-pilot.



The attack, from a technical point of view, was a success. The plane took off at 2:45 Air Base Tinian, an island the 2,400 miles of Japan, and at 2:58 pm I was back. On 9 August, the Enola Gay was flying in support of the attack on Nagasaki and, the following year, Tibbets led him to Kwajalein Atoll, an atoll in the Marshall Islands that served as the basis for tests of atomic bombs in the years 40 and 50.




Little Boy bomb, dropped on Hiroshima.




"Fat Man" bomb, dropped on Nagasaki.



After the end of the war, the aircraft returned to the United States in November 6, 1945 to the new 509º base in Roswell, New Mexico. Participated, although without throwing any artifacts from the atomic operation Crossroads, the Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, in which the Americans made two nuclear tests in 1946.



The aircraft was disabled by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in July 24, 1946 and donated to the Smithsonian Institution on the same date, being removed to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan, in Tucson, Arizona, for storage. The plane was delivered to the Smithsonian in July 3, 1949 by Colonel Tibbets in person and then was hangarada in various locations until the beginning of its restoration, in December 5, 1984, in Suitland, Maryland.



Currently the aircraft is fully restored and on display at the Steven f. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles International Airport in Washington DC, being severely guarded to prevent attacks due to its high historical value.

Cheers.
 

W.G.Ewald

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"Fat Man" was the codename for the type of atomic bomb that was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki by the United States on 9 August 1945. It was the second of only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the first being Little Boy, and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. It was dropped from the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bockscar, named after its pilot, Captain Frederick C. Bock. For the Fat Man mission, Bockscar was piloted by Major Charles W. Sweeney.
Fat Man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

Zebra

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Ray

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The military man has no option but to obey.

Call it Heroism or Insanity.
 

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