Steven Lewis said he is putting the second world war documents up for sale ahead of his plans to publish his father’s manuscript of wartime experiences in a book at a later date. The other Lewis items for auction include personal photographs from the war and his hand-drawn diagram of the Hiroshima bombing run showing the bomb blast’s expected shock wave range and the evasive flight path the Enola Gay would take after detonation. The detonation was equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT. Little Boy took 53 seconds to reach detonation height 600 meters above the city. As planned, Enola Gay released the 'Little Boy' bomb at 8:15 am local time. Enola Gay navigator Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, the last surviving crew member, died in Georgia in 2014. The flight to Japan took about 6 hours, and Enola Gay arrived over Hiroshima in clear weather at 32.333 feet (9.855 meters).
Photo about superfortress, museum, corporate, bomb, pressure, dropped. Robert Lewis died in Virginia in 1983, Tibbets in 2007 in Ohio. WASHINGTON DC, USA - JUNE 21 2015: Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay at air museum. Japan surrendered six days later, ending the war. Three days after the Hiroshima bombing, another US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Today was the grand opening of the new Smithsonian building. Committee for a National Discussion of Nuclear History and Current Policy Statement of Principles. “People don’t realise how many times he flew aboard the Enola Gay,” Steven Lewis said. Photograph of the Enola Gay plane, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, which was used to. But Tibbets only flew the Enola Gay a couple of times, while Lewis had piloted the aircraft 16 times during test flights leading up to the Hiroshima mission. The move made Tibbets a household name after his crew completed the world’s first atomic bombing mission, which destroyed much of the Japanese city and killed tens of thousands of its citizens. Photograph: NY Daily News via Getty ImagesĪs commander of the Hiroshima mission, Colonel Paul Tibbets was also the pilot of the Enola Gay, relegating the lower-ranked Lewis to co-pilot. The pilot of the Enola Gay is General Paul Tibbets, leader of the 509th Composite Group. Becoming the first plane to drop an atomic bomb. The crew of the Enola Gay, with Captain Robert Lewis third from right. in the morning, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress codenamed Enola Gay dropped on 50 kilo ton atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.