The Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in warfare. The bomb, code-named "Little Boy", was targeted at the city of Hiroshima, Japan, and caused the destruction of 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.
Sarpy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 190,604, making it the third-most populous county in Nebraska. Its county seat is Papillion.
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC), the latter serving as the host unit.
The Glenn L. Martin Company, also known as The Martin Company from 1957 to 1961, was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin, which operated from 1917 to 1961. The Martin Company produced many important aircraft for the defense of the US and allies, especially during World War II and the Cold War. During the 1950s and '60s, the Martin Company moved from the aircraft industry into the guided missile, space exploration, and space utilization industries.
Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the Enola Gay when it dropped a Little Boy, the first of two atomic bombs used in warfare, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
The Great Artiste was a U.S. Army Air Forces Silverplate B-29 bomber, assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group. The aircraft was named for its bombardier, Captain Kermit Beahan, in reference to his bombing talents. It flew 12 training and practice missions in which it bombed Japanese-held Pacific islands and dropped pumpkin bombs on targets in Japan. It was the only aircraft to have participated in both the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, albeit as an observation aircraft on each mission.
The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company.
The Martin XB-33 Super Marauder was a proposed World War II American bomber aircraft. It was designed by the Glenn L. Martin Company as the Martin Model 190 and was a high-altitude derivative of the company's B-26 Marauder. Two different designs were developed, first as a twin-engined aircraft and then as a four-engined aircraft. The four-engined version was ordered by the United States Army Air Forces, but the program was cancelled before any aircraft were built.
Straight Flush was the name of a B-29 Superfortress that participated in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Full House was the name of a B-29 Superfortress participating in the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
Up An' Atom was the name of a B-29 Superfortress configured during World War II in the Silverplate project to carry an atomic bomb.
Laggin' Dragon was the name of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress configured to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces' participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project which enabled a B-29 Superfortress bomber to drop an atomic weapon, "Silverplate" eventually came to identify the training and operational aspects of the program as well. The original directive for the project had as its subject line "Silver Plated Project" but continued usage of the term shortened it to "Silverplate".
Next Objective was the name of a Boeing B-29-36-MO Superfortress, 44-27299, Victor 86, modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Top Secret was the name of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II. It served with the Army Air Forces and United States Air Force from 1945 until 1954.
Strange Cargo was the name of a B-29 Superfortress modified to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Luke the Spook was the name of a Boeing B-29-50-MO Superfortress configured to carry the atomic bomb in World War II.
Bockscar, sometimes called Bock's Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 bomber that dropped a Fat Man nuclear weapon over the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II in the second – and most recent – nuclear attack in history. One of 15 Silverplate B-29s used by the 509th, Bockscar was built at the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Plant at Bellevue, Nebraska, at what is now Offutt Air Force Base, and delivered to the United States Army Air Forces on 19 March 1945. It was assigned to the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, 509th Composite Group to Wendover Army Air Field, Utah in April and was named after captain Frederick C. Bock.
Cape Air Force Base also known as Fort Glenn Army Air Base, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting, operating alongside Naval Air Facility Otter Point.
Air Force Plant 6, known during World War II as the Bell Bomber Plant, is a government-owned, contractor-operated aerospace facility at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, currently owned by the United States Air Force and operated by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. The plant, originally occupied by Bell Aircraft, began operation in April 1943 and was intended specifically to produce B-29 Superfortresses under license from Boeing. During the course of the War, the factory produced 668 B-29s for the United States Army Air Forces, and at its peak had a work force of approximately 28,000. After the War the factory was mothballed, but with the United States's entrance into the Korean War, in January 1951 the plant was turned over to Lockheed who began refurbishing B-29s. The plant remains in use today by Lockheed.
