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Enola Gay There on the ‘North Field’ tarmac of Tinian Island, Marianas; Taxis the sleek designed ‘Boeing B-29 Superfortress’ to ready for take-off. 1 Glistening, polished aluminum under the blaring floodlights filmed for posterity, Maneuvers' the ‘Enola Gay’, chosen by the pilot and named after his mother. 2 With the ‘Victor number’ on the fuselage and ‘bomb group marking’ on the tail. 3 & 4 Built in Nebraska to ‘Silverplate’ specifications void of encumbrances, 5 In participation with the ‘Manhattan Project’ for atomic weapon’s delivery. 6 The bomber with pressurized cabin is stripped of gun turrets and protective armor; While the bomb bay is modified to accommodate the payload with pneumatic doors fitted, And a British bomb attachment and release system installed for reliance. The four prop drive-engines are fuel-injection improved with better cooling, And redesigned with reverse pitch propellers for braking power upon landing; The ‘Enola Gay’ weighs in at 69,000 pounds empty, (sixty-tons fully loaded), And cruises at 220 miles-per-hour at a surface ceiling of 32,000 feet altitude, Within a combat radius of 2,900 miles; costing $782,000 US (1945) dollars. The mission; to drop a 16 kiloton, atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, Located fifteen hundred miles North from the island to the target area. Overloaded, the B-29 bomber uses more than two miles of runway to liftoff, And is escorted by two other ‘Superfortresses’ to record the historical event; 7 On a flight to terminate war with the Japanese, and changes world perspective. Reality of annihilation is a possibility realized by the global community, And that this remarkable planet or ours, is a lifeboat orbiting in the universe. And usher’s in mankind’s genius to the nuclear age of devastating weaponry. As the ‘Enola Gay’s’ bomb bay doors open and ‘Little Boy’ is dropped. 8 Then the pilot at full speed throttle veers the aircraft, to avoid aftershock. ‘Little Boy’ descends its six mile journey in forty-three seconds, To detonate at a preset interval, two thousand feet over the cityscape. A flash! Then a mushroom cloud balloons in the backdrop, While the crew remain oblivious to the destruction incurring on the ground: And compare the shock to the ack-ack of flak, from an anti-aircraft gun. Twelve hours later, from ‘take-off to landing’ the bomber descends Out of the afternoon sky and touches down safely; the mission a success. 9 A welcome party is present on Tinian Island with Top Brass dignitaries, Who are cognizant of human cost in a ground invasion for Japan’s surrender, On an island of limited logistics access and enemy preparedness. *** Notes: 1) Bomb Group (Bombardment Group): During World War II, US aircraft were categorized into four bomb group. Boeing B-29 Superfortresses were classified as very heavy. 2) Enola Gay: The ‘Enola Gay’ B-29 Superfortress (model-B29-45-MO, serial #44-86292) was built by the Glenn L. Martin Co. at its Bellevue plant in Nebraska, Ohio. It was accepted by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) on May 18, 1945. Colonel Paul Tibbets had earlier selected the B-29 Superfortress bomber design with the necessary alterations and modifications for the mission, and named it after his mother. In 1949, the air force donated the ‘Enola Gay’ to the Smithsonian Institution. The restored ‘Enola Gay’ is on exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). 3) Victor number: The ‘Victor number’ was an identifier assigned to the aircraft and frequently used for radio communications. The Enola Gay’s’ radio code was Victor 12. For security reasons for the mission, Colonel Tibbets changed the call sign to ‘Dimples 82.’ 4) Tail markings: 'USAAF unit identification aircraft markings (aka ‘Tail markings)’ was a system of identification (numbers, letters, symbols, and colors) painted on the aircraft that was used by the US Army Air Forces during World War II indicating the aircraft’s most frequent location. Enola Gay’s tail markings indicated 6th Bomb Group, 313th Wing, North Field, Tinian (Circle R). It had been changed from the 509th planes of the Marianas-based bomb groups (circle-forward pointing arrow) to avoid easy recognition. 5) Silverplate: 'Silverplate' was the code reference name given for the US Army Air Forces participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. 6) Manhattan Project: The 'Manhattan Project' was the code name given for the World War II secretive undertaking by the U.S.A. (with Great Britain and Canadian consent and contribution) to develop and produce the world’s first atomic weapon. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Alamogordo, New Mexico test-facility. 7) Escorts: Two B-29 Superfortresses escorted the ‘Enola Gay’ during its mission: The Great Artiste (observation instrument plane), and Necessary Evil (camera plane). 8) Little Boy: Little Boy’ was the code name given for the uranium-235 enriched nuclear fission bomb; (10 feet long by 28 inches in diameter and weighing 9,700 pounds). It was filled with 140 pounds of the nuclear material, detonating the equivalent of 15 kilotons of TNT of explosives plus heat and radiation. In 1982, using mockup tests and evaluation, it was revealed that 1 pound of uranium-235 undergoing complete fission yields 8 kiloton TNT explosives. It was then estimated that approximately 2 pounds (1.5%) of the material underwent fission, yielding 15 kilotons of TNT explosives. 98.5% of the uranium-235 contributed nothing. The bomb was dropped from an altitude of 31,060 ft. @ 0915 hrs. (0815 JST), August 6, 1945. In a blast area of 1 mile in diameter with subsequent fires across 4.4 square miles; estimates in 1945 put casualties at 66,000 dead (of which 20,000 were Japanese military) and 69,000 injured. ‘Enola Gay’ was 11.5 miles away when the bomb detonated. 9) Take-off to landing: ‘Enola Gay’ left North Field @ 0235 hrs. and landed twelve hours and 13 minutes later back on Tinian Island @ 1458 hrs..
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