Can you stand some good news? A group of men spent sixteen years restoring a B-29 Superfortress. It made its first flight since restoration yesterday. Fightersweep.com reported:
It truly is a labor of love. 16 full years to get only the second airworthy B-29 SuperFortress up and flying again–but Doc’s friends did it on Sunday July 17.
The Wichita-built bomber lifted off from a McConnell Air Force Base runway this morning. Tony Mazzolini, a former flight engineer led the effort to bring it to Wichita for restoration. Mazzolini found Doc sitting in the Mojave Desert and decided to start an effort to bring the SuperFortress back to life.
Doc is one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It rolled off the assembly line in March of 1945. In May 2000, Doc returned in sections to Wichita via flat bed truck. The restoration project involved hundreds of volunteers providing countless hours of work to get Doc airworthy again. Restoration volunteers even included some who worked on the original Boeing production line or were B-29 crew members. Rest of article.
The bomber made it first taxi after restoration in May.
6 comments:
What a great plane! Sends chill bumps up my spine watching it take off and fly!
Ditto 10:04. I'd love to see one of these in person. Never will forget the first time I saw a B-17 in person. I was shocked at how small it was vs. my expectations and modern planes. Obviously the B-29 is larger, but not by that terribly much.
My dad was a B24 pilot in the pacific. I was fortunate enough to be able to board and view both a B24 and B29 with my him at Hawkins field when these aircraft came through Jackson back in the 90's. When flight crew of the the B24 became aware there was a B24 pilot from the 380th Bomb Group 528th Squadron looking at their aircraft they all but gave him the keys to the thing!
We were allowed in to the cockpit where Pop slid in to the left seat. I got in the right. I was expecting Pop to tell me somethings about the plane and maybe a story or two. I didnt get either. He looked around, placed his hands on the yoke and throttles and never said a word until he said he'd seen enough and we left. I respected the fact that he'd spent the most frightening times of his life in a seat exactly like the one he was sitting in while he was in his early 20's and I didnt ask.
Love and Miss you Pop.
Weird Thought. Wonder how much they have the plane insured for?
Amazing aircraft. And the fact that they could restore it to such quality speaks volumes about their dedication.
Wonder, though, why they didn't retract the gear in the flight. Don't know if this is standard for a 'first test flight' - but sooner or later it would seem that they have to test their operational status as well.
Hmmmm... well this is interesting, at least to me. When I saw that B-17 at Hawkins Field years ago, it was one of the planes owned by a group out of Texas calling itself the Confederate Air Force. That group has apparently since changed its name (wisely!) to the Commemorative Air Force, and they were also involved in Doc's restoration.
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