Where to See B-29 Plane Enola Gay That Dropped Atomic Bomb in WW2

A second “Fat Man” atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, by another Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Bockscar, which is on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

The emperor of Japan announced the country’s surrender on August 15.

Tibbets commanded the Air Force’s 509th Composite Group in charge of deploying nuclear weapons. The hand-picked squadron trained at an abandoned airfield in Windover, Utah.

To make the B-29 aircraft capable of carrying the atomic bomb, all of its protective and defensive armament, except for the 50-caliber tailguns, were removed to get rid of excess weight. It was also left unpainted, which saved the 850 pounds that the paint would have added.

At least 70,000 people died in the initial blast from the bombing of Hiroshima, and the death toll over five years may have exceeded 200,000 people due to the aftereffects, according to the US Department of Energy’s Office of History and Heritage Resources.

Japan and anti-nuclear weapons scientists released an updated higher estimate in the 1970s that counted 140,000 deaths at Hiroshima.

The Enola Gay was rattled by shockwaves from the explosion, even as it had already flown 11.5 miles away.

It took museum staff 300,000 hours to reassemble and restore the Enola Gay, with 12 truckloads transporting all of its parts.

In 1995, the fuselage and other parts of the Enola Gay were displayed at the National Air and Space Museum’s flagship location in Washington, DC, in an exhibit tied to the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The script of the exhibit was rewritten several times as various interest groups debated how it was presented and how the decision to drop the bomb was framed, according to the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Veterans’ groups pushed for the exhibit to emphasize Japanese aggression and present the narrative that dropping the atomic bomb saved lives by ending the war. Anti-war activists opposed having the exhibit justify the use of the bomb and sought to highlight its victims by protesting with alternative exhibits on the sidewalk outside the museum.

Weighing 137,500 pounds with a wingspan of 141 feet, the fully assembled plane is too large for the National Air and Space Museum’s flagship location on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, offers more room with 340,000 square feet of exhibit space.

The Enola Gay is displayed among other aircraft from World War II, including the Northrop P-61C Black Widow, the first US aircraft designed for combat at night.

Over 80 years after the bombing of Hiroshima, the Enola Gay remains not just a World War II artifact, but a symbol of a turning point that ushered the world into the nuclear age.

After years of debate over how to present the aircraft, the permanent exhibition takes a minimalist approach, leaving visitors to decide how to understand its legacy.