Hangar Flying: Gen. Tibbets’ 90th
About 800 people gathered in Atlanta in late February to celebrate the 90th birthday of the man who, by following his military orders on Aug.
About 800 people gathered in Atlanta in late February to celebrate the 90th birthday of the man who, by following his military orders on Aug. 6, 1945, is widely remembered for bringing World War II to an end. Gen. Paul Tibbets was 30 years old when he flew a B-29 over Hiroshima, Japan, so that it could release the first of only two atom bombs ever dropped in anger.
Today, Gen. Tibbets wears his 90 years well. The accumulated decibels of all his flying have impaired his hearing to the point that he listens with the help of a transmitter sending signals to his hearing aids, but he looked spry in his Enola Gay bomber jacket as he signed copies of his book in the Mercury Air Center facility at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport.
