[csmkersh]

B29 - Must see!

Great story!

B29

 

[CaptainGyro]

Magnificent.

 

[stand watie]

csmkersh,

BEAUTIFUL big bird, that is.

My dad, who was "in B17s" always laughed when he recounted the story that the new B29 folks were FEARFUL of flying the then new B29.

So a crew of WASPS took the first one up & ferried it cross country to its first base, W/O incident. - This shamed the men into flying the B29, W/O further complaints.
(Even when he was stationed in Tucson, AZ he said that the B-17 crews were still laughing about that incident.)

yours, sw

 

[TommyGunn]

csmkersh,

BEAUTIFUL big bird, that is.

My dad, who was "in B17s" always laughed when he recounted the story that the new B29 folks were FEARFUL of flying the then new B29.

So a crew of WASPS took the first one up & ferried it cross country to its first base, W/O incident. - This shamed the men into flying the B29, W/O further complaints.
(Even when he was stationed in Tucson, AZ he said that the B-17 crews were still laughing about that incident.)

yours, sw

Bet that stung......

 

[stand watie]

TommyGunn,

YEP. My dad said that for MONTHS afterward, that if anyone mentioned being a B29 crewmember, they said, "WOW. You sure don't look like a WASP." - Then he said that the B17 folks would LOL.

yours, sw

 

[WaltGraham]

That is indeed a beautiful aeroplane.

I'd pay a pretty penny for a check ride.

 

[stand watie]

To All,

What I'm wondering is how much per flight hour does a B29 cost to fly in 2018.

yours, sw

 

[Skeptic49]

Doc was at the big OshKosh show which ends today 7/29/18. Attendance is another item on my bucket list.

Geoff
Who has said, "Maybe next year" much too often.

 

[CaptainGyro]

Here is the story of the two WASPs who ferried early B-29's across New Mexico for a few days. Many experienced combat pilots considered the new Superforts unsafe because of a well-known and documented problem of engine fires. These men had risked their lives over Europe, but were reluctant to take needless risks in a new, hastily tested aircraft that had a habit of spontaneous combustion.

Col. Paul Tibbets recruited a couple of WASPs to check out in the B-29, but didn't mention the engine fires to them and had them skip pre-flight runups that often resulted in fires. Then he had them fly short ferry missions in lightly loaded bombers that (presumably) didn't require anywhere near full power for takeoff.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flygirls-wasp-and-b-29/

 

[William R. Moore]

I've gotta ask, how do you qualify a pilot to fly a 60 year old plane? Get someone who's flown another flyable one? Use a C-130 pilot? I'm sort of assuming at least some old manuals are around, but reading about it and doing it are two very different things.

I have a hazy-and possibly incorrect- memory of a full power magneto check before take off. Turning off either magneto shouldn't drop the engine rpm more than ??? rpm from with both magnetos. Is that the run up referred to?

 

[CaptainGyro]

I don't think the run-ups referred to in the article are mag checks. From the context it sounds like run-ups of the four engines one-at-a-time to check things like oil pressure and temp, cylinder head temps, and manifold pressure.

These were new engines that were temperamental thoroughbreds, pushing the envelope of what was possible with pistons. I think the run-ups were intended to identify potential failures prior to finding yourself nearing takeoff speed with not enough runway remaining to stop and not enough power to fly.

 

[stand watie]

CaptainGyro,

Fyi, my dad was aboard one of the very first B29 practice flights out of TUCSON AAC Airfield. = He said that he LOVED that "big bird" & wished that he could have "checked out" at least in the "MIGHTY 29".

yours, sw

 

[William R. Moore]

I did a lot of reading about the air war in WWII way back when. IIRC, the 18 cylinder radials had some issues. If you look carefully at the engines you see two sets of cylinder heads. It's been maybe 50 years, but I expect cooling for the back bank of cylinders was a big part of the problem.

I also expect walking the props before engine start was real fun with 18 cylinders to rotate through a full cycle.

 

[Diamondback]

My household was part of the fundraising campaign that helped get this bird back in the air.

You're all very welcome.

 

[stand watie]

Diamondback,

THANKS FOR HELPING.

yours, sw

 

[Skeptic49]

Thanks for all those who contributed!
Geoff
Who has seen FiFi in person.

 

[Diamondback]

I worked on the 50th Anniversary event where CAF flew FiFi back home to Boeing Field. Too bad Kee Bird burned beyond salvage and there's not another candidate for flight status... a full "bomber box" of three these birds would be a sight to see.

Well, technically MOF here believes they COULD make T-Square-54 airworthy for a third, but USAF Museum Program (the owners) won't let 'em.