B-29 Superfortress
A USAAF B-29 Superfortress
Type	Strategic bomber
Manufacturer	Boeing
Maiden flight	21 September 1942
Introduced	8 May 1944
Retired	1960s
Status	Scrapped except for those in museums
Primary users	United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force Royal Air Force Royal Australian Air Force
Produced	1943 – 1946[1]
Number built	3,970
Unit cost	US$639,188[2]
Variants	All models KB-29 Superfortress B-50 Superfortress

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Military in World War II and Korean War, and by other nations afterwards. The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. The Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. See also B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants is an extensive list of all the Experimental and Production models that See also B-29 Superfortress WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E A heavy bomber is a Bomber aircraft of the largest size and typically longest ranges Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the The name "Superfortress" was derived from its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II. It was one of the most advanced bombers of its time, featuring innovations such as a pressurized cabin, a central fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine gun turrets. Cabin pressurization is the active pumping of compressed Air into an Aircraft cabin when flying at altitude to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. It was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, but flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. Incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are Bombs designed to start Fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as Napalm, Thermite It was the primary aircraft in the U. S. firebombing campaign against Japan in the final months of World War II, and B-29s carried the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Empire of Japan ( {{unicode|Kyūjitai}}: ja 大日本帝國 Shinjitai: ja 大日本帝国 pronounced Dai Nippon Teikoku A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The Japanese city of ( is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest of Japan 's ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Unlike many other bombers, the B-29 remained in service long after the war ended, a few being employed as flying television transmitters for Stratovision. Stratovision is an airborne television transmission Relay system from aircraft flying at high altitudes The type was finally retired in the early 1960s, with 3,960 aircraft excluding the Tu-4, having been built between 1943 and 1946.

Subsequent modifications lead to the USAF B-50. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Soviet Union reverse engineered several captured B-29s to produce the Tupolev Tu-4. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ^[3]

Design and development

Rare color photograph of olive-drab painted B-29s

Interior photo of the rear pressurized cabin of the B-29 Superfortress, June 1944

Manufacturing the B-29 was a complex task. It involved four main-assembly factories: two Boeing plants at Renton, Washington and Wichita, Kansas, a Bell plant at Marietta, Georgia ("Bell-Atlanta"), and a Martin plant at Omaha, Nebraska ("Martin-Omaha"). Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb situated 13 miles (21 km southeast of Seattle Washington, Renton Wichita (ˈwɪtʃɪtaː is the most populous City in the US state of Kansas, and the county seat of Sedgwick County. The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an Aircraft manufacturer of the United States, a builder of several types of Fighter aircraft for World War Marietta is a City located in central Cobb County Georgia, and is its County seat. The Glenn L Martin Company was an early US Aircraft company founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Luther Martin. Thousands of subcontractors were involved in the project. A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a Business that signs a Contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract Because of its highly advanced design, challenging requirements, and immense pressure for production, development was deeply troubled. On 18 February 1943 the second prototype crashed during testing due to an engine fire that spread to the wing, killing the entire 10 man crew and 20 others in the Frye meat packing plant just north of Boeing Field. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport is a two- Runway Airport owned and run by King County Washington, USA Changes to the production craft came so often and so fast that in early 1944, B-29s would leave the production lines and fly directly to modification depots for extensive rebuilds to incorporate the latest changes. This "Battle of Kansas" (a troubleshooting modification program to get four groups ready for combat by 1 January 1944) nearly ended the program, which was only saved by General Hap Arnold’s direct intervention. Group is a term used by different Air forces for an element of Military organization. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold GCB ( June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was a five-star General officer It would still be nearly a year before the aircraft was operated with any sort of reliability.

The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engine. Though the Wright R-3350 would later become a trustworthy workhorse in large piston-engined aircraft, early models were beset with dangerous reliability problems, many caused by demands that the B-29 be put in operation as soon as possible. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout It had an impressive power-to-weight ratio, but this came at a heavy cost to durability. Power-to-weight ratio (specific power is a calculation commonly applied to Engines and other mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another Worse, the cowling Boeing designed for the engine was too close (out of a desire for improved aerodynamics), and the early cowl flaps caused problematic flutter and vibration when open in most of the flight envelope. A cowling is a covering of a vehicle's Engine, most often found on automobiles and aircraft Aircraft engine controls provide a means for the pilot to control and monitor the operation of the aircraft's powerplant In Aerodynamics, the flight envelope or performance envelope of an Aircraft refers to the capabilities of a design in terms of speed and altitude The 18 radial cylinders, compactly arranged in front and rear rows, overheated because of insufficient flow of cooling air, which in turn caused exhaust valves to unseat.

These weaknesses combined to make an engine that would overheat regularly at combat weights, particularly during climbs after takeoff. Unseated valves released fuel-air mixtures during engine combustion that acted as a blowtorch against the valve stems. When these burned through the engines disintegrated and caught fire. A fire that was not immediately contained in the forward part of the engine by fire extinguishers became impossible to put out. An accessory housing manufactured of magnesium alloy in the back of the engine would often catch fire and produce heat so intense it burned through the firewall to the main wing spar in no more than 90 seconds, resulting in catastrophic failure of the wing. Magnesium (mægˈniːziəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Mg, Atomic number 12 Atomic weight 24 An alloy is a Solid solution or Homogeneous mixture of two or more elements, at least one of which is a Metal, which itself has

This problem would not be fully cured until the aircraft was re-engined with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" in the B-29D/B-50 program, which arrived too late for World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See also B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants is an extensive list of all the Experimental and Production models that WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Interim measures included cuffs placed on propeller blades to divert a greater flow of cooling air into the intakes, which had baffles installed to direct a stream of air onto the exhaust valves. Oil flow to the valves was also increased, asbestos baffles installed around rubber push rod fittings to prevent oil loss, thorough pre-flight inspections made to detect unseated valves, and frequent replacement of the uppermost five cylinders (every 25 hours of engine time) and engines (75 hours). Asbestos is a group of Minerals with long thin fibrous Crystals The word "asbestos" (῾ἀσβεστος is derived from a Greek adjective An overhead valve (OHV engine, also called pushrod engine or I-head engine is a type of Piston engine that places the Camshaft ^[4]

Pilots, including the present-day pilots of the Commemorative Air Force’s Fifi, describe flight after takeoff as being an urgent struggle for airspeed (generally, flight after takeoff should consist of striving for altitude); radial engines need that airflow to keep cool, and failure to get up to speed as soon as possible could result in an engine failure and risk of fire. The Commemorative Air Force (CAF, formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is a Texas -based Non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central One helpful technique was doing a rolling start, rather than a braked start, and checking the magnetos while already in motion.

In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight up to 40,000 feet (12,000 m), at speeds of up to 350 mph (true airspeed). True airspeed ( TAS) is the speed of an aircraft relative to the airmass in which it flies i This was its best defense, for fighters of that day could barely get that high, and few could catch it, even if they were at altitude and waiting. Only the heaviest of anti-aircraft weapons could reach it, and as Axis forces did not have proximity fuzes, hitting the aircraft was next to impossible. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze for "variable time" is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance

With the revolutionary Central Fire Control System (CFCS), the B-29 had four remote controlled turrets, each armed with two . 50 cal M2/AN machine guns. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. ^[5] Four gunners were able to control these turrets with the use of four General Electric made analog computers, one above the Norden bombsight in the nose^[6] and three in a pressurized compartment in the rear fuselage which incorporated clear blown sighting blisters. An analog computer (spelt analogue in British English is a form of Computer that uses continuous physical phenomena such as electrical mechanical The Norden bombsight was a Bombsight used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the The gunner manning the sight in the upper rear station was the "Central Fire Control gunner" whose job was to allocate turrets to each of the other three gunners, avoiding confusion in the heat of battle. The CFCS had (at that time) a highly advanced analogue computer which corrected for the B-29's airspeed, the target's speed, target lead, gravity, temperature, barrel wear, and humidity. Because of this, the . 50 caliber machine guns of the B-29 had a maximum effective range of 1,000 yards, double the range of the manually aimed machine guns of the B-17 Flying Fortress. The tail gunner could only control his own weapons (two M2/AN Brownings plus, in early production B-29s, a 20mm M2 cannon) and the lower rear turret. The Hispano-Suiza HS404 Autocannon was one of the most widely used aircraft weapons of the 20th century used by British, American The tail guns eventually got their own APG-15 gun control radar. This is a list of radars. A Radar is an electronic system used to detect range (determine the distance of and map various types of targets ^[7]

The crew enjoyed, for the first time in a bomber, full pressurized comfort. This first-ever cabin pressure system for an Allied production bomber was developed for the B-29 by Garrett AiResearch Manufacturing Co.^[8] The nose and the cockpit were pressurized, but the designers were faced with deciding whether to have bomb bays that were not pressurized, between fore and aft pressurized sections, or a fully pressurized fuselage with the need to de-pressurize to drop their loads. Garrett by Honeywell is the consumer brand of Honeywell Turbo Technologies a subsidiary of Honeywell Corporation. The fuselage (from the French fuselé "spindle-shaped" is an Aircraft 's main body section that holds crew and passengers or Cargo The decision was taken to have a long tunnel over the two bomb bays so that crews could crawl back and forth between the fore and aft sections, with both areas and the tunnel pressurized.

Flying characteristics

A Superfortress returns from a training mission, to its base at this Army Air Field Training Command B-29 Transition School

In flight, the pilot called for engine and flap settings instead of moving the throttles and the flap levers himself. Another innovation was the number of calculations the crew had to perform before and during the mission. Prior to the B-29, flight manuals provided only approximate performance figures and pilots relied largely on instinct and experience. The B-29 manual had charts to compute takeoff and landing speeds based on weight, elevation and temperature. Finding the optimum power settings for cruise required consideration of cruise altitude, outside temperature, aircraft weight, and desired true airspeed. The power settings were recalculated every two hours or with every change in altitude. These types of computations are routine in modern civil and military aviation, but were an innovation in 1944. The benefits of improved range and performance were irrefutable.

Most pilots found the B-29 relatively mild-mannered, though its unboosted controls were extremely heavy and required considerable physical strength to operate. ^[9] Though it could be flown with only two engines once airborne, the bomber suffered from engine overheating issues throughout its service; several B-29s crashed in Saipan after a single engine failure on takeoff at full gross weight.

Operational history

World War II

Enola Gay, a Silverplate version of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress landing after delivering Little boy over Hiroshima

The initial plan, implemented at the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a promise to China and called Operation Matterhorn, was to use B-29s to attack Japan from four forward bases in southern China, with five main bases in India, and to attack other targets in the region from China and India as needed. Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Little Boy was the Codename of the Atomic bomb, developed via the "Manhattan Project" which was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6 1945 by the The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at This article deals with the World War II Operation Matterhorn Guangxi (or Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region;) is a Zhuang autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ inc-Latn Bangladesh) officially The Chengdu region was eventually chosen over the Guilin region to avoid having to raise, equip, and train 50 Chinese divisions to protect the advanced bases from Japanese ground attack. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. Guilin ( Pinyin: Guìlín) is a city in China, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the west bank of the The XX Bomber Command, initially intended to be two combat wings of four groups each, was reduced to a single wing of four groups because of the lack of availability of aircraft, automatically limiting the effectiveness of any attacks from China. The XX Bomber Command (XX BC is an inactive United States Air Force unit

This was an extremely costly scheme, as there was no overland connection available between India and China, and all supplies had to be flown over the Himalayas. B-29s started to arrive in India in early April 1944. The first B-29 flight to airfields in China (over the Himalayas, or "The Hump") took place on 24 April 1944. The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew from India Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The first B-29 combat mission was flown on 5 June 1944, with 77 out of 98 B-29s launched from India bombing the railroad shops in Bangkok (Five B-29s were lost to non-combat causes). Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Bangkok, known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔn) or Krung Thep ( for short is the Capital, largest

On 15 June 1944, 47 B-29s launched from Chengdu, China, bombed the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Japan. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. This was the first attack on Japanese islands since the Doolittle raid in April 1942. The Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese home island of Honshū The first B-29 combat losses occurred during this raid, with one B-29 destroyed on the ground by Japanese fighters after an emergency landing in China, one lost to anti-aircraft fire over Yawata, and another, "Stockett's Rocket" B29 #42-6261, disappeared after takeoff from Chakulia, India, over the Himalayas (12 KIA, 11 crew and one passenger)(Source: 20th Bomb Group Assn. ) Because of the extreme cost of operations, the raids against Japan from Chinese airfields continued at relatively low intensity. Japan was bombed on: 7 July 1944 (14 B-29s), 29 July (70+), 10 August (24), 20 August (61), 8 September (90), 26 September (83), 25 October (59), 12 November (29), 21 November (61), 19 December (36) and for the last time on 6 January 1945 (49). Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a Events 764 - Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar B-29s were withdrawn from airfields in China by the end of January 1945. Throughout this period B-29 raids were also launched from China and India against many other targets throughout Southeast Asia. However, the entire B-29 effort was gradually shifted to the new bases in the Marianas, with the last B-29 combat mission from India flown on 29 March 1945. Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar

B-29 on a long range mission in late 1945.

The need to use inconvenient bases in China for attacks against Japan ceased after the capture of the Marianas islands in 1944. The Mariana Islands (also the Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called Ladrones Islands, from Spanish Islas de los Ladrones meaning On the islands of Tinian, Saipan and Guam five major airfields, each constructed as a base for a four-group wing of B-29s, became the launch sites for the large B-29 raids against Japan in the final year of the war. Tinian (ˈtɪniən /ˌtiːniˈɑːn/ is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (14°59’51”N 145°37’39”E Saipan (saɪˈpæn /saɪˈpɑn/ or /ˈsaɪpæn/ in English is the largest Island and Capital of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Guam ( Chamorro: cha Guåhån) officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated The islands could be easily supplied by ship. The first B-29 arrived on Saipan on 12 October 1944, and the first combat mission was launched from there on 28 October 1944, with 14 B-29s attacking the Truk atoll. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Chuuk &mdash formerly Truk, Ruk, Hogoleu, Torres, Ugulat, and Lugulus &mdash is an island group in the south western The first mission against Japan from bases in the Marianas was flown on 24 November 1944, with 111 B-29s sent to attack Tokyo. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. From that point, ever more intense raids were launched regularly until the end of the war. These attacks succeeded in devastating all large Japanese cities (with the exception of Kyoto) and gravely damaged Japan's war industries. Although less appreciated, the aerial mining program carried out by B-29s against Japanese shipping routes and harbor approaches had profoundly degraded Japan's ability to support its population and fight the war.

Perhaps the most famous B-29 is the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Little Boy was the Codename of the Atomic bomb, developed via the "Manhattan Project" which was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6 1945 by the The Japanese city of ( is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest of Japan 's Events 1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Bockscar, another B-29, dropped 'Fat Man' on Nagasaki three days later. Bockscar, sometimes called Bock's Car or Bocks Car, is the name of the United States Army Air Forces B-29 Bomber that "Fat Man" is the codename for the Atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9 ( is the Capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. These two actions brought Japanese surrender and the official end of World War II. Both aircraft were handpicked for modification from the assembly line at the Omaha plant that was to become Offutt Air Force Base.

Following the surrender of Japan, VJ Day, B-29s were also used to supply American POWs with food and other supplies by dropping barrels of rations on Japanese camps.

Although considered for other theatres, and briefly evaluated in England, the B-29 was predominantly used in World War II in the Pacific Theatre. The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO was the World War II military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it a geographic scope (The use of YB-29-BW 41-36393, the so-named Hobo Queen, one of the service test aircraft flown to RAF Bovingdon Airfield, was thought to be as a "disinformation" program intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the B-29 would be deployed to Europe. RAF Bovingdon was a Royal Air Force station, located at Bovingdon, two miles south east of Berkhamsted and 7 miles west of Watford in )^[10] The Hobo Queen even seems to have been featured in a photo in the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter-the German newspaper's headline showing the photo of the Hobo Queen soon appeared in Boeing factory posters of the era. The Völkischer Beobachter (" Völkisch Observer" or less strictly "People's Observer" was the newspaper of the National

Soviet copy

Tupolev Tu-4

Main article: Tupolev Tu-4

On three occasions during 1944, individual B-29s made emergency landings in Soviet territory after bombing raids on Japanese Manchuria and Japan. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout In accordance with Soviet neutrality in the Pacific War, the bombers were interned and kept by the Soviets, despite American demands for their return. Tupolev OKB dismantled and studied them, and Stalin ordered Tupolev and his design bureau to copy the B-29s down to their smallest details, and produce a design ready for quantity production as soon as possible. In 1947, the Soviets debuted both the Tu-4 copy of the B-29, and the Tupolev Tu-70 transport variant. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Tupolev ( Туполев) is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Moscow. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Similar tailgunner positions would be incorporated in many later bombers and transports.

Korean Conflict and Postwar Service

19th Bomb Group B-29 in action in Korea, August 1951

The B-29 was later used in the Korean War. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the At first, the bomber was used in normal strategic daylight bombing missions, though North Korea's few strategic targets and industries were quickly reduced to rubble. More importantly, in 1950 numbers of Soviet MiG-15 "Fagot" jet fighters appeared over Korea (an aircraft specifically designed to shoot down the B-29), and after the loss of several aircraft, future B-29 raids were restricted to night-only missions, largely in an interdictive role. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Over the course of the war, B-29s flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000 tons (180,000 tonnes) of bombs. B-29 gunners were credited with shooting down 27 enemy aircraft. ^[11]

The B-29 was soon made obsolete by the development of the jet engine. specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to With the arrival of the mammoth Convair B-36, the B-29 was reclassified as a medium bomber with the new Air Force. However, the later B-50 variant (which was initially designated B-29D) was good enough to handle auxiliary roles such as air-sea rescue, electronic intelligence gathering, and even air-to-air refueling. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See also B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants is an extensive list of all the Experimental and Production models that The B-50D was replaced in its primary role during the early 1950s by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which in turn was replaced by the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The final active duty variants were phased out in the mid 1960s. 3,970 B-29s were built before they were retired in 1960.

Variants

Bell X-1 and its B-29 mother ship

Main article: B-29 Superfortress variants

Unlike many other aircraft designed to play a similar role, the variants of the B-29 were all essentially the same. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout See also B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants is an extensive list of all the Experimental and Production models that The developments made between the first prototype XB-29 and any of the three versions flown in combat were all minuscule, excluding the Silverplate models built for the Manhattan Project. Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. The World War II Manhattan Project developed the first Nuclear weapon (atomic bomb The biggest differences were between variants modified for non-bomber missions. In addition to acting as cargo carriers, rescue aircraft, weather ships, and trainers, some were used for odd purposes such as flying relay television transmitters under the name of Stratovision. Stratovision is an airborne television transmission Relay system from aircraft flying at high altitudes

An example of a later variant of the B-29, the B-50 (which was powered by four 3,500 hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 Wasp Major engines), acted as the mothership for experimental aircraft, including the Bell X-1, the XF-85 Goblin and F-84s as in flight lock on and offs. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout It was also used to develop the Airborne Early Warning program; it was the ancestor of various modern radar picket aircraft.

Some B-29s were modified to act as test beds for various new systems or special conditions, including fire-control systems, cold weather operations, and various armament configurations. Several converted B-29s were used to experiment with aerial refueling and re-designated as KB-29s. Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling ( IFR) air-to-air refueling ( AAR) or tanking, is See also B-29 Superfortress WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended Perhaps the most important tests were conducted by the XB-29G; it carried prototype jet engines in its bomb bay, and lowered them into the air stream to conduct measurements. specific --->A jet engine is a Reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of Fluid to

Operators

Main article: List of B-29 Superfortress operators

 Australia

• Royal Australian Air Force

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force

 United States

• United States Army Air Forces
• United States Air Force

Survivors

Main article: Boeing B-29 survivors

Three other B-29 projects are being restored for flight. See also B-29 Superfortress The List of B-29 Superfortress operators is a list of nations their air forces and the unit assignments that used the B-29 during World For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF) is the Air Force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. Another 25 confirmed B-29s are preserved at various museums worldwide, along with known wreck sites of three more.

One B-29 "Fifi" is currently registered as "airworthy", but is presently grounded due to costly engine problems. In a joint press release^[12], dated 21 January 2008, the Commemorative Air Force and the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, announced a pledge of $1. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The Commemorative Air Force (CAF, formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is a Texas -based Non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and The Cavanaugh Flight Museum is an Aviation museum in Addison Texas, with a non-profit 501(c(3 status for aviation educational 2M USD to re-engine FiFi.

Specifications (B-29)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Boeing B-29 Superfortress displayed at March Field Air Museum in 2007. The March Field Air Museum is an air museum in Riverside, California, adjacent to March Air Reserve Base.

Data from Quest for Performance^[13]

General characteristics

• Crew: 11: (A/C)Airplane Commander, Pilot, flight engineer, bombardier, navigator, radio operator, radar operator, blister gunners (two), CFC upper gunner, and tail gunner
• Length: 99 ft 0 in (30. In Aviation, a flight engineer is a member of the aircrew of some Aircraft. A bombardier ( French for " bomberman " in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer The title Flight Officer can refer to a functional (occupational job title as an aircrew member or it can refer to a military rank previously used by the U An air gunner ( AG) is a member of an Air force Aircrew who operates flexible-mount or Turret -mounted Machine guns or Autocannons 2 m)
• Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 1 m)
• Height: 29 ft 7 in (8. 5 m)
• Wing area: 1,736 ft² (161. 3 m²)
• Empty weight: 74,500 lb (33,800 kg)
• Loaded weight: 120,000 lb (54,000 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 133,500 lb (60,560 kg)
• Powerplant: 4× Wright R-3350-23 and 23A turbosupercharged radial engines, 2,200 hp (1,640 kW) each
• * Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0. The Maximum Takeoff Weight or Maximum Takeoff Mass of an Aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot of the aircraft is allowed to attempt to take off WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A turbocharger, or turbo, is an air Compressor used for forced-induction of an Internal combustion engine. The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion Engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central In Aerodynamics, the zero-lift drag coefficient C_{D0} is a dimensionless parameter which relates an aircraft's zero-lift drag Force to its 0241
• Drag area: 41. In Aerodynamics, the zero-lift drag coefficient C_{D0} is a dimensionless parameter which relates an aircraft's zero-lift drag Force to its 16 ft² (3. 82 m²)
• Aspect ratio: 11. In Aerodynamics, the aspect ratio of a wing is defined as the square of the wing span divided by the wing area 50

Performance

• Maximum speed: 357 mph (310 knots, 574 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 220 mph (190 knots, 350 km/h)
• Stall speed: 105 mph (91 knots, 170 km/h)
• Combat range: 3,250 mi (2,820 nm, 5,230 km)
• Ferry range: 5,600 mi (4,900 nm, 9,000 km)
• Service ceiling 33,600 ft (10,200 m)
• Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4. In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such For other uses see Stall. In Aerodynamics, a stall is a sudden reduction in the lift forces generated by an Airfoil For Aircraft, ferry range means the maximum range the aircraft can fly In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions In Aerodynamics, the rate of climb RoC is the speed at which an Aircraft increases its Altitude. 6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 69. In Aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing 12 lb/ft² (337 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0. Power-to-weight ratio (specific power is a calculation commonly applied to Engines and other mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another 073 hp/lb (121 W/kg)
• Lift-to-drag ratio: 16. In Aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio, or L/D ratio ("ell-over-dee" in the US "ell-dee" in the UK is the amount of lift generated 8

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 12× .50 in (12. 7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns in remote controlled turrets
  • 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail (removed shortly after put into service, and later replaced by 2× .50 (12. This article is about the.50 caliber M2 machine gun For the.30-06 M2 machine gun see M1919 Browning machine gun. The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of Cannon or Autocannon ammunition commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon (or more commonly today autocannon The Hispano-Suiza HS404 Autocannon was one of the most widely used aircraft weapons of the 20th century used by British, American 7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns. )
• Bombs: 20,000 lb (9,000 kg) standard loadout, could be modified to externally carry two 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) T-14 "Earthquake" bombs. The Grand Slam was a 22000 lb Earth quake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War.

See also

• B-29 Superfortress variants
• Island hopping
• Kee Bird
• AN/APQ-13
• United States v. Reynolds
  

Related development

• Boeing KB-29
• XB-39 Superfortress
• XB-44 Superfortress
• B-50 Superfortress
• C-97 Stratofreighter
• Boeing 377
• Tupolev Tu-4
  

Comparable aircraft

• Lockheed XB-30
• Douglas XB-31
• B-32 Dominator
• Messerschmitt Me 264
• Junkers Ju 390
  

Related lists

• List of bomber aircraft
• List of military aircraft of the United States
  

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The length of the 141-foot (43 m) wing span of a Boeing B-29 Superfortress based at Davis-Monthan Field is vividly illustrated here with the cloud topped Santa Catalina Mountains as a contrasting background

• Baugher, Joe. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base adjacent to Tucson, Arizona. The Santa Catalina Mountains are located north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Aircraft. Retrieved: 11 August 2007. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
• National Museum B-29 Superfortress Official Fact Sheet] Retrieved: 11 August 2007. Events 2492 BC - Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
• Deakin, John. "Superfortress. " Pelican's Perch Issue 56, 24 June 2002, Aviation Publishing Group. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Superfortress Retrieved: 15 January 2006. Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
• 330th BG 330th, 20th AF, 314th BW, 330th BG history and first-hand accounts
• 315th BW at Guam 20th AF, photographs, history, first-hand accounts, reunion information
• B-29 "DOC" Restoration Project, the restoration of Doc
• National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian page on Enola Gay
• Preserved Aircraft, status of preserved B-29s
• Russian B-29 Clone, the reverse-engineered Tu-4
• Bombers Over Japan, development, photos, and history
• Warbirds Resource Group, specifications and photos
• "Birth of the B29", film with anti-Japanese propaganda; footage of B-29 construction and testing begins at 4:00
  • film thumbnail gallery
• Pelican's Perch #56:Superfortress!, Article wrote by John Deakin, one of the pilots who regularly fly the world's only remaining flyable B-29
• WarbirdsRegistry.org B-29/B-50, Listing of surviving B-29s
• B-29.org, history and first-hand accounts
• New England Air Museum's B-29 "Jack's Hack"
• Annotated bibliography on the B-29 from the Alsos Digital Library
• T-Square-54: The Last B-29 website, by Tom Mathewson
• Museum of Flight
• China Lake Alumi Website by China Lake Museum Foundation, desert photos of aircraft under web sections: B-29s #1 and B-29s #2.
• US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division
• A childhood memory of B-29s
• National Museum of the USAF, New official website. Access on 11 August 2007
• USAAF/USAF serials 1922 to present day.