They were protesting Rockwell's part in assembling the B-1 bomber. One day a group of demonstrators circled the walkway in front of a Rockwell International plant not more than a mile from his office. Sometimes the reminders can be quite nearby. But sometimes - as now, on its anniversary - he is again reminded of his explosive moment in history. Tibbets today works in a large, immaculate office near a runway at Port Columbus Airport. 6, 1945, it was just 17 seconds behind schedule.
And although he was simply following orders with devastating precision, Tibbets accepts that people will forever think of him as the pilot of that B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, that carried the world's first atomic bomb used in war.Īnd after his 11 months of training and planning, maintaining a ruthless security network, watching as the B-29 was modified to accept the new weapon and as a team of nuclear scientists assembled the volatile components, when the bomb finally exploded over Hiroshima on Aug. That was 40 years ago, in the last throes of World War II. But in his past is a single act that marked him for controversy for the rest of his life. For many years his parents lived quietly in Orlando, where he often came to visit. He grew up in Miami, where his first experience flying was as a 12-year-old, in a biplane with a barnstorming pilot, dropping Baby Ruth candy bars on tiny parachutes to a crowd at the Hialeah Race Track.
He is the president of Executive Jet Aviation, an airborne taxi service for corporate big shots in Columbus, Ohio. He is a polite, almost courtly gentleman. One thing I won't do: Years ago I ran into people who wanted me to defend what I had done, and I won't do it." I understand, and I respect everybody's opinion. "In the course of the years that have gone by, I've gotten some hate letters.