So precious and critical was the sextant on this flight that the navigator, Theodore Van Kirk, held and cushioned it in his lap.Īt 130 mph Tibbets gingerly raised the nose just enough to elongate the nosewheel strut. When the tall rudder began to bite the air at 60 to 65 mph, he gave command of the throttles to his flight engineer, Wyatt Duzenberry, who set maximum power. Lined up with the runway, Tibbets “stood” the throttles, “walking” them differentially to keep the nosewheel on the centerline. There were uncertainties about this flight, explaining why in one pocket Tibbets carried a small box containing 12 cyanide tablets.
None of his 11 crewmembers knew the exact nature of this mission, and they would not know until after takeoff. Paul Tibbets steered the Superfortress onto the asphalt and crushed-coral runway. No one had ever tra This is an American story.Army Air Forces Col. A young boy learns to fly airplanes during the Depression. His parents want him to become a doctor, but he leaves school and he becomes a US Air Force pilot during WWII. He leads the first day light raid over Europe, and he is recognized as a superb pilot. He is quietly transferred to the Manhattan project where they are building the first atomic bomb, and he is picked to carry the bomb and drop it on Hiroshima. No one had ever transported a bomb such as this on a plane. They were afraid that if they activated it on the ground and they crashed on takeoff, the entire air base would be obliterated. The bomb was activated on the flight to the Japanese mainland, not an easy task. They had to be 8 miles away when the bomb exploded or they would be subject to not only radiation but also the shock wave. They were shocked by the mushroom cloud and what they could see of the destruction, but Tibbets is proud of what he did. This is an excellent book about a member of the Greatest Generation who saved the world.more He feels like he ended the war and saved millions of American lives and Japanese lives from an invasion. Published in 1989, 'Flight of the Enola Gay' is the autobiography of Paul Tibbets, and covers his service with the USAAF in WW2 culminating in his piloting of the aircraft that dropped the first A-Bomb in anger. There are some very interesting events throughout this, but of course the defining events are the prep for and carrying out th Published in 1989, 'Flight of the Enola Gay' is the autobiography of Paul Tibbets, and covers his service with the USAAF in WW2 culminating in his piloting of the aircraft that dropped the first A-Bomb in anger. It then covers his subsequent service post-war with the USAAF and its successor the USAF, finishing with his civil aviation experience after leaving the service. There are some very interesting events throughout this, but of course the defining events are the prep for and carrying out the dropping of the weapon on Hiroshima. And that is the problem - opinion will be polarised on such a subject. The opinionated style resulting from it being an autobiography only adds to its impact, so I really enjoyed it.more Personally, I found it amazing for the many things that it said, and for the unique perspective which it offered on the dropping of the bomb.
In the some novels we read, we become intrigued by the intricacy of the plot and how it connects to our lives personally. I have found myself in situations where I can relate a character’s actions and thoughts to myself. I’ve found myself easily tied to a story if it in some way relates to me and tells me things that I didn’t know before. I appreciate stories that bring me into the character’s world and show appropriate attention to detail throughout the story.