Enola Gay facts for kids

Tibbets waving from the Enola Gay to photographers before taking off on the mission to drop the atmoic bomb on Hiroshima.

The Enola Gay is a B-29 Superfortress Bomber. This plane is famous for dropping the first atomic bomb (named Little Boy) over the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II. The Bomber is named after its Pilot, Paul Tibbets' mother Enola Gay Tibbets. The plane was used from 18 May 1945 to 24 July 1946, after which it was stored at Suitland, Maryland.

Images for kids

Enola Gay after Hiroshima mission, entering hardstand. It is in its 6th Bombardment Group livery, with victor number 82 visible on fuselage just forward of the tail fin.
Little Boy unit on trailer cradle in pit on Tinian, before being loaded into Enola Gay's bomb bay
Hiroshima explosion
Enola Gay landing at its base
Bombardier Thomas Ferebee with the Norden Bombsight on Tinian after the dropping of Little Boy
Cockpit section of Enola Gay in the Smithsonian storage facility at Suitland, 1987
Enola Gay nose, port side, at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
The Enola Gay on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center