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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.
Boeing submitted the prototype for the
B-29 long-range heavy bomber to the Army in 1939, before the United
States entered World War II.
The B-29 had many new features,
including guns that could be fired by remote control. The crew areas
were pressurized and connected by a long tube over the bomb bays.
The tail gunner had a separate pressurized area that could only be
left during unpressurized flight. The B-29 was also the heaviest
production plane because of increases in range, bomb load and
defensive requirements.
The B-29 used the high-speed
Boeing 117 airfoil, and its larger Fowler flaps added to the wing
area as they increased lift. Modifications led to the B-29D,
upgraded to the B-50, and the RB-29 photo reconnaissance aircraft.
The Soviet-built copy of the B-29 was called the Tupolev Tu-4.
The earliest B-29s were built
before testing was finished, so the Army established modification
centers where last-minute changes could be made without slowing
expanding assembly lines
Boeing built a total of 2,766
B-29s at plants in Wichita, Kansas, (previously the Stearman
Aircraft Co., bought by Boeing in 1929) and in Renton, Washington.
The Bell Aircraft Co. built 668 of the giant bombers in Georgia, and
the Glenn L. Martin Co. built 536 in Nebraska. Production ended in
1946.
B-29s were primarily used in the
Pacific theater during World War II. As many as 1,000
Superfortresses at a time bombed Tokyo, destroying large parts of
the city. Finally, on Aug. 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay
dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later
a second B-29, Bockscar, dropped another atomic bomb on
Nagasaki. Shortly thereafter, Japan surrendered.
After the war, B-29s were adapted
for several functions, including in-flight refueling, anti-submarine
patrol, weather reconnaissance, and rescue duty. The B-29 saw
military service again in Korea between 1950 and 1953, battling new
adversaries: jet fighters and electronic weapons. The last B-29 in
squadron use retired from service in September 1960.
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First
flight: |
Sept. 21, 1942 |
|
Model
number: |
345 |
|
Classification: |
Bomber |
|
Span:
|
141 feet 3
inches |
|
Length:
|
99 feet |
|
Gross
weight: |
105,000 pounds
(140,000 pounds postwar) |
|
Top speed:
|
365 mph |
|
Cruising
speed: |
220 mph |
|
Range:
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5,830 miles |
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Ceiling:
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31,850 feet |
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Power:
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Four
2,200-horsepower Wright Double Cyclone engines |
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Accommodation: |
10 crew |
|
Armament: |
12 .50-caliber
machine guns, 1 20 mm cannon, 20,000-pound bomb load |
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