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Boeing B-29 Superfortress
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Check out a super model B-29 with X-1 rocket plane...~Click Here~
The Boeing B-29 was designed in 1940 as an eventual replacement for the B-17 and B-24. The first one built made its maiden flight on September 21, 1942. In December 1943 it was decided not to use the B-29 in the European Theater, thereby permitting the airplane to be sent to the Pacific area where its great range made it particularly suited for the long over-water flight required to attack the Japanese homeland from bases in China. During the last two months of 1944, B-29s began operating against Japan from the islands of Saipan, Guam and Tinian.
With the advent of the conflict in Korea in June 1950, the B-29 was once again thrust into battle. For the next several years it was effectively used for attacking targets in North Korea.
The B-29 on display, named "Bockscar," was flown to the U.S. Air Force Museum on September 26, 1961. It is the airplane from which the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 141 ft. 3 in.
Length: 99 ft. 0 in.
Height: 27 ft. 9 in.
Weight: 133,500 lbs. max.
Armament: Eight .50-cal. machine guns in remote controlled turrets plus two .50-cal. machine guns and one 20mm cannon in tail; 20,000 lbs. of bombs
Engines: Four Wright R-3350s of 2,200 hp. ea.
Cost: $639,000
Serial Number: 44-27297
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 357 mph.
Cruising speed: 220 mph.
Range: 3,700 miles
Service Ceiling: 33,600 ft.12:28 8/25/2004
Retired Col. Robert Morgan, pilot of the famed World War II b-17 "Memphis Belle," died in Asheville, North Carolina, at the age of 85. Morgan successfully piloted his B-17 through 25 dangerous daytime bombing runs against Nazi Germany.
"Memphis Belle" was the first Army Air Forces bomber to complete 25 mission, and its crew returned to the United States in 1943 for promotional purposes.
Later in the war, Morgan returned to combat as a B-29 pilot against Japan. Morgan's first combat mission in the Pacific Theater was also the first B-29 attack directed against Tokyo.
-- Air Force Magazine, July 2004BOMBER ACE
This fuselage is painted in the markings of "Command Decision," the famous B-29 Superfortress. During the Korean War, gunners on the "Command Decision" shot down five Soviet-built MiG-15 jet fighters. This qualified the aircraft for unofficial recognition as a bomber "ace".
The crew is shown in this photograph.
Standing, left to right:
Technical Sergeant Carl W. Ayers, flight engineer
Sergeant Stanley Smigel, radio operator
Staff Sergeant Michael R. Martocchia, central fire control
Sergeant John J. Nally, left gunner
Private First Class Henry E. Ruch, right gunner
Sergeant Merle A. Goff, tail gunner
Kneeling, left to right
Captain Donald M. Covic, aircraft commander
Captain David P. Self, pilot
Lieutenant Daniel M. Price, navigator
Lieutenant William M. Hammond, bombardier
Lieutenant Bernard G. Stein, radar observer
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