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The B-29 Superfortress

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The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States in World War II and during the Korean War. It has four 2,200-horsepower Wright Double Cyclone engines. This bomber has a wingspan of 141 feet 3 inches, and is 99 feet in length. It has a gross weight of 105,000 pounds (140,000 pounds postwar), an empty weight of 69,610 pounds. The B-29 has a top speed of 365 miles per hour, and a cruising speed of 220 miles per hour. It was also armed with twelve .50-caliber machine guns, one 20 mm cannon, a 20,000-pound bomb load, and carried a crew of ten. The first prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field in Seattle, WA on September 21, 1942.
In the beginning, manufacturing an airworthy B-29 Superfortress proved to be a difficult task. Changes to the production craft came so often and so quickly that in early 1944, B-29’s flew from the production lines directly to United States Air Force modification depots for extensive rebuilds, and to incorporate the latest changes. By the end of 1943, just over 100 B-29’s were delivered, and only fifteen percent were airworthy. General Hap Arnold had a plan to resolve the problem, with production personnel being sent from the factories to the modification centers to speed modification. 150 aircraft were airworthy six weeks.
The B-29 Superfortress revolutionized World War II-era bombers, enabling long-range missions over Japan. The "super bomber" could carry more payload and fly faster than the Army's B-17 or B-24 heavy bombers. B-29’s 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. On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later a second B-29, Bockscar, dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki. (Currently the Bockscar is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio)
After the war, B-29’s were used by the military for several functions. A number supplied P.O.W.’s with food and other necessities by dropping barrels of rations on Japanese P.O.W. camps. B-29’s were also used for in-flight refueling, anti-submarine patrol, weather reconnaissance, and rescue duty. In September 1945 the B-29 completed the first-ever nonstop flight from Japan to the United States, landing in Washington D.C. The B-29 also carried Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1 rocket plane aloft for the first supersonic flight in 1947. A few B-29s were even used as flying television transmitters for the Stratovision company. The B-29 was the beginning of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft and trainers including the B-50 Superfortress, (the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop) which was essentially a re-engined B-29.
Boeing produced 3,970 of the B-29 Superfortress with production ending in 1946. The last B-29 Superfortress in squadron use retired from service in September 1960. Currently only one B-29 Superfortress, Fifi, is airworthy today. It is owned by the Commemorative Air Force, currently based at Addison, Texas. Fifi tours the United States. and Canada, taking part in air shows and offering flight experiences.

Works Cited
B-29 Superfortress History. Web Boeing. 19, August, 2013 <http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/boeing/b29.page> "B-29 Gunnery Brain Aims Six Guns at Once." Popular Mechanics, February 1945, p. 26 Web 19 August, 2013 <http://books.google.com/books?id=h98DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&hl=en&ei=eQ6ITrr5C-Xv0gGm0M3lDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBjgo#v=onepage&q&f=true>
Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Web The Museum of Flight 19 August, 2013 <http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-b-29-superfortress>
Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The Official website of the National Museum of the USAF. 04 February, 2011 Web 19, August 2013 <http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=527>

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