Editing Enola Gay (section)

{{Short description|US Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb}}
{{About|the bomber|other uses|Enola Gay (disambiguation)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Italic title}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}

{{Infobox aircraft
| name = ''Enola Gay''
| image = Tibbets-wave.jpg
| size = 240px
| caption = [[Paul Tibbets]] waving from ''Enola Gay''{{'}}s cockpit before taking off for the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|bombing of Hiroshima]] in 1945
| sole example of type? = N
| type = [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|B-29-45-MO Superfortress]]
| other_names = <!--Other names (nicknames, nose art names) this aircraft is known by-->
| manufacturer = [[Glenn L. Martin Company]], [[Omaha, Nebraska]]
| construction_number = <!-- manufacturer's construction number -->
| construction_date = {{start date and age|1945|5|18|df=y}} <!-- either roll-out date or span of time for lengthy projects, whichever seems more appropriate -->
| civil_registration = <!-- any civil registrations carried by this aircraft -->
| military_serial = 44-86292
| radio_code = Victor 12 (later changed to Victor 82)
| first_flight = <!-- date of first flight -->
| owners = [[United States Army Air Forces]]
| in_service = 18 May 1945 – 24 July 1946<!-- time in military or revenue service, as a range of dates -->
| flights = <!-- number of flights made by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
| total_hours = <!-- the total number of hours flown by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
| total_distance = <!-- total distance flown by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
| fate = <!-- fate/disposition of this aircraft -->
| preservation = [[National Air and Space Museum]]'s [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]]
}}

The '''''Enola Gay'''''  ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|n|oʊ|l|ə}}) is a [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress]] [[bomber]], named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Paul Tibbets]]. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of [[World War II]], it became the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare]]. The bomb, code-named "[[Little Boy]]", was targeted at the city of [[Hiroshima]], Japan, and destroyed about three-quarters of the city. ''Enola Gay'' participated in the second nuclear attack as the weather reconnaissance aircraft for the primary target of [[Kokura]]. Clouds and drifting smoke resulted in [[Nagasaki]], a secondary target, being bombed instead.

After the war, the ''Enola Gay'' returned to the United States, where it was operated from [[Walker Air Force Base|Roswell Army Air Field]], [[New Mexico]]. In May 1946, it was flown to [[Kwajalein]] for the [[Operation Crossroads]] [[nuclear test]]s in the Pacific, but was not chosen to make the test drop at [[Bikini Atoll]]. Later that year, it was transferred to the [[Smithsonian Institution]] and spent many years parked at air bases exposed to the weather and souvenir hunters, before its 1961 disassembly and storage at a Smithsonian facility in [[Suitland, Maryland]].

In the 1980s, veterans groups engaged in a call for the Smithsonian to put the aircraft on display, leading to an acrimonious debate about exhibiting the aircraft without a proper historical context. The cockpit and nose section of the aircraft were exhibited at the [[National Air and Space Museum]] (NASM) on the [[National Mall]], for the bombing's 50th anniversary in 1995, amid controversy. Since 2003, the entire restored B-29 has been on display at NASM's [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]]. The last survivor of its crew, [[Theodore Van Kirk]], died on 28 July 2014 at the age of 93.