Saturday, May 14, 2016

Preparing for takeoff

Who says all good things must end? A group of men are restoring the ultimate toy: a B-29 Superfortress that has not flown since 1956.  See what they did.



7 comments:

Dan Hise said...

Great to see this. My father was in the Army Air Corps in WWII, and had the "privilege" to be a test pilot on the B-29, flying out of Eglin Field into the Midwest and back. It was rushed into production, for good reason, but that meant that life for the test pilots was even more stressful than usual. There were many problems. For one thing, one or more of the engines routinely caught on fire, a problem that persisted after the 29 went into combat. My father's best friend, a fellow test pilot, had a severe nervous breakdown. The project was top secret, of course; my mother did not know what was going on until after the war. Even though test pilots reportedly had a higher mortality rate than combat pilots, my father survived, remaining in what became the Air Force, only to die in a plane crash in 1948 while logging hours in a C-47 (DC-3), one of the safest planes ever to fly. A rookie in a trainer got off course. I just hope I live long enough to fly with Doc.

Anonymous said...

That is fantastic!

Anonymous said...

that is so cool!!

Anonymous said...

Many years ago I read a book by a Japanese fighter pilot. He wrote that they were on a routine mission when they spotted an enormous bomber that they had never seen before. Nevertheless, he went into their standard attack, flying up into the underbelly of the plane, failing to inflict any significant damage. He saw one of the crew through a machine gun port eating a sandwich and waving at him. He wrote that he knew, at that moment, that Japan was doomed...

Anonymous said...

You can help fund the project here:

http://www.b-29doc.com/donate/

B29 crews (if they survived being shot down) were routinely tortured, used in "medical experiments" by the Japanese, and several died in a prison fire when their captors refused to open their cells. With so much emphasis placed on remembering the sacrifices of those in the European theatre, it's nice to see such a spectacular flying museum devoted to the brave airmen of the Pacific.

Here are a couple of really good resources to get you history buffs started:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/B29-Superfortress/info

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ny330bg/home.htm





Anonymous said...

Only one B-29 flying at this time, I think it's domiciled in TX. It was at the airshow a couple of weeks back at Barksdale AFB. A real site to behold

Anonymous said...

The B29 FiFi is the Commemorative Air Force's/nee Confederate Air Forces airplane.
It's based in Ft Worth Texas and fly's a limited airshow circuit.
I'm very happy to see Doc ready to fly.
FiFi will love some company !



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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