USA/JAPAN: PLANE THAT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA "THE ENOLA GAY" UNVEILED TO THE MEDIA AFTER COMPLETING ITS RESTORATION

Record ID: 358546

  • Title: USA/JAPAN: PLANE THAT DROPPED THE ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA "THE ENOLA GAY" UNVEILED TO THE MEDIA AFTER COMPLETING ITS RESTORATION
  • Date: 18th August 2003
  • Summary: (W7) DULLES, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 18, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. PAN OF THE ENOLA GAY FROM NOSE TO REAR OF AIRCRAFT 0.19 2. VIEW OF PLANE FROM ABOVE FROM REAR TO FRONT OF PLANE 0.33 3. CU: GUNS POSITIONED AT REAR OF PLANE; PULL OUT TO FULL VIEW OF PLANE 0.47 4. SLV: DR. DIK DASO CURATOR OF ENOLA GAY EXHIBIT APPROACHING PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: DULLES, VIRGINIA UNITED STATES/UNKNOWN LOCATION/ HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAAAFS95C6WNFJ2BFLWVDDHAUCI
  • Story Text: Restoration of the Enola Gay is complete and the
    plane is on display at the Smithsonian's Air and Space
    Museum.


    The Enola Gay carried the most destructive weapon of
    World War Two and now the the aircraft that dropped an
    atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, is going on display at the
    Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.

    The reassembled B-29 Superfortress was unveiled to the
    media on Monday (August 18) in a hangar near Dulles
    International Airport at the museum's new annex which which
    is s scheduled to open on December 15, 2003.

    "This airplane is a part of our history and it is a
    part of who we are," said Dik Daso, curator of the
    aeronautics division of the museum.

    The Enola Gay unleashed an atomic bomb nicknamed
    "Little Boy", on the Japanese port city of Hiroshima,
    killing more than 140,000 people and leaving tens of
    thousands disfigured and suffering from lingering radiation
    illness.

    The doors to the "bomb bay" that once held the atomic
    weapon were swung open for television cameras but Daso said
    a decision had not been made on whether to leave them open
    when the plane goes on public view.

    The bombing was carried out on a sunny day at 8:15 a.m.

    from an altitude of 31,600 feet (9,632 metres). The Enola
    Gay was then used as the advance weather reconnaissance
    aircraft for the follow-up attack on Nagasaki that killed
    70,000 people. Six days after that, Japan surrendered.

    Nearly a decade ago, an exhibit in Washington about the
    atomic bomb and the Enola Gay -- named after the pilot's
    mother -- was met with a storm of controversy because many
    U.S. veterans felt the Japanese were cast as victims of
    U.S. aggression. A smaller, less interpretative exhibit
    finally opened several months later.

    The current text for the Enola Gay exhibit does not
    include casualty figures from Hiroshima or show any
    photographs of the devastation the bomb caused.

    Daso told Reuters that death toll estimates varied
    widely and the exhibition space did not lend itself to a
    complicated display including details of the human cost.

    "Our role is to provide, artefact and restore it (the
    Enola Gay) as best we can and allow people to come to see
    it and let it speak to them. They can come up with what it
    means to them. I don't need to tell them," said Daso.

    The Air Force Association, which took up the cause a
    decade ago for veterans, said it approved of the new
    exhibit.

    With a wingspan of 141 feet (43 metres) and a gross
    weight of 137,500 pounds (62,370 kilogram), the Enola Gay
    was too large and heavy to be housed at the museum's
    flagship building on the National Mall.

    The museum has spent more than 300,000 man hours
    restoring the Enola Gay, which was one of
    15 B-29s modified specifically for the secret atomic bomb
    missions.

    The planes were fitted with special engines, propellers
    and faster-acting bomb bay doors. They were also the first
    successful large-scale use of pressurized crew
    compartments.

    The plane was donated to the Smithsonian in 1949 and
    was stored at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for a
    while before being disassembled in 1960 and its components
    taken to the Smithsonian's Garber facility in nearby
    Suitland.



  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register