Boeing B-29 Superfortress ENOLA GAY is a piece of digital artwork by Arthur Eggers which was uploaded on June 28th, 2020.
Boeing B-29 Superfortress ENOLA GAY
The B-29 Superfortress is one of the largest airplanes to see service during World War II. A very advanced bomber for this time period, it included... more
Title
Boeing B-29 Superfortress ENOLA GAY
Artist
Arthur Eggers
Medium
Digital Art - Color Print
Description
The B-29 Superfortress is one of the largest airplanes to see service during World War II. A very advanced bomber for this time period, it included features such as a pressurized cabin, an electronic fire control system, and remote controlled machine-gun turrets. Alhough it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. By 1946, more than 3,900 B-29s had been built and delivered into service. The 509th Composite Group was constituted on 9 December 1944, and activated on 17 December 1944, at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah. It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Tibbets. The 509th Composite Group (509 CG) was a unit of the United States Army Air Forces created during World War II and tasked with the operational deployment of nuclear weapons. It conducted the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The 509th Composite Group began deploying to North Field on Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands, in May 1945. In addition to the two nuclear bombing raids, it carried out 15 practice missions against Japanese-held islands, and 12 combat missions against targets in Japan dropping high-explosive pumpkin bombs. Special Mission 13, attacking Hiroshima, was flown as planned and executed without significant problems or diversion from plan. Enola Gay took off at 02:45, 7.5 long tons (7.6 t) overweight and near maximum gross weight. Arming of the bomb began eight minutes into the flight and took 25 minutes. The three target-area aircraft arrived over Iwo Jima approximately three hours into the mission and departed together at 06:07. The safeties on the bomb were removed at 07:30, 90 minutes before time over target, and 15 minutes later the B-29s began a climb to the 30,000-foot (9,100 m) bombing altitude. The bomb run began at 09:12, with the drop three minutes later, after which the B-29s immediately performed steep diving turns. The detonation followed 45.5 seconds after the drop. Primary and "echo" shock waves overtook the B-29s a minute following the blast, and the smoke cloud was visible to the crews for 90 minutes, by which time they were almost 400 miles (640 km) away. Enola Gay returned to Tinian at 14:58.
Uploaded
June 28th, 2020