Originally Posted by
Heidhurtin
IIRC Enola Gay had to undergo significant modification in order to accomodate the bomb; related to dimsions and size of the bomb bay, not weight. I think these mods included changes to the wing structure where the spar(s) passed through the original bomb bay.
A little known part of that story relates to some level of uncertainty as to whether the modified B29 would be ready in time. To that end, the RAF was asked to and formed an Avro Lancaster “black squadron” which was tasked with preparing to drop the first atomic bomb should that be required. The training included inflight refueling techniques as well as the bomb blast escape manoeuvre - the Lancaster, flying considerably lower and slower than the B29, had a 12 second bomb blast escape window.