Restored B-29
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Wow, she's beautiful. Great story.
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Many years ago "Fifi" the CAF B-29 flew over charlotte.. I had never seen a live B-29 but I heard her and knew. Was able to scoot into a parking lot and watch her make a 360 over downtown.
It's great to see another one fly
It's great to see another one fly
Someone famously said of the B-29...
"It has more bugs than the Entomology Department at the Smithsonian Museum"
It certainly was on the bleeding edge of technology, that's for sure. The B-29 program was 3x the cost of the Manhattan Project.
It's nice that SOME people recognize it for the absolutely astonishing treat it is. Last year our local air show was giving rides in a B-17 and B-25. The turn around point was right over our house, so we got to see a B-17 & B-25 flying overhead about a half dozen times. I made sure to bring my son out, and explain to him how fortunate he was to see what he was seeing...and that he may never see it again. God Bless those who keep that history alive!!
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Yep. Sometimes the shipping is more than the product.
I watched a documentary that was put together by the US Army Air Force in 1946 (I think), it was called "The Last Bomb". That documentary showed one of the first daylight B-29 raids on Tokyo. Over 300 B-29's and several squadrons of P-51's struck with incendiary bombs that basically erased several thousand acres of Tokyo.
Imagine 300+ bombers flying overhead!!
Imagine 300+ bombers flying overhead!!
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Good to see that my investment in Doc's restoration was well spent... 
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Although I'd love to see a B-29 fly today (I'd love to fly it even more), there was a time when it's genetic offspring flew overhead every day and most of the time I didn't even bother to look up.
I grew up in Dover, DE, and there was a SAC detachment there flying the KC-97. By that time it was considered a slow, lumbering bird awaiting replacement by the sexy new KC-135's. We also had C-124 Globemasters and C-133 Cargomasters at Dover. Two decades into the jet age propellers dominated our skies.
One day, the first operational C-141 showed up with great fanfare. Those turbofans hummed like a pipe organ, and you could see the sun glint off that shiny aluminum for miles. I never gave propellers a second thought after that, but now that I'm older I can sure appreciate those old girls and the guys who wrestled them through the sky.
I grew up in Dover, DE, and there was a SAC detachment there flying the KC-97. By that time it was considered a slow, lumbering bird awaiting replacement by the sexy new KC-135's. We also had C-124 Globemasters and C-133 Cargomasters at Dover. Two decades into the jet age propellers dominated our skies.
One day, the first operational C-141 showed up with great fanfare. Those turbofans hummed like a pipe organ, and you could see the sun glint off that shiny aluminum for miles. I never gave propellers a second thought after that, but now that I'm older I can sure appreciate those old girls and the guys who wrestled them through the sky.
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Would it be sacrilegious if I mentioned that the most fun I ever had was bringing Home a PBY which turned into a Florida static display. Perhaps I'm dating myself a bit (on this forum I might still be a wet behind the ears puppy) but I've logged more than a few hours on P-2's, and that was after I left the Mangroves. That's not to mention every C-130 & P-3 ever crafted, and perhaps a couple of hours in HELO's. But somehow the status of TUBERAT isn't that memorable. LOL.
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That's a beautiful aeroplane.
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"The PB2Y Coronado was a large flying boat patrol bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft. As of 2005, one surviving example of the Coronado remains at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_PB2Y_Coronado
That my be your bird, M118LR.
Dad's last tour was a Eglin AFB about 40 miles down the road.
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The one I rode back from South America sits in Heritage Park at NAS Jacksonville.
Suburban Parks: NAS Jacksonville Heritage Park | Metro Jacksonville
But I would advise anyone with a bent toward Old Navy Aircraft to visit the Museum in P-Cola.
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Can confirm: the Naval aviation museum at Pensacola is nothing short of amazing.
Almost as good is the memorabilia and the walls of photos at Trader Jon's, the fighter pilot hangout downtown. During it's heyday it was reputedly the scene of atrocities that made Tailhook look like a Boy Scout convention.
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Basically just more advanced in almost every category: bigger, larger payload, pressurized, remote control guns.
Also, much greater range. The distances in the Pacific are immense; for example, the one-way distance from Tinian Island to Tokyo is much greater than the round trip from London to Munich.
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As an aside, Mike Dillon's TT-1 Pinto is now at Pensacola. Didn't get to fly it but did pet her.
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