The last flying B29
Discussion
Popped into the very excellent Commemorative Air Force Museum in Midland, Texas last week, part of a road trip in the States
We'd hoped to see Fifi, the last flying B29 Superfortress but as we arrived she was being towed away from the museum hangar
There was plenty of other fantastic stuff to savour from WWII warbirds to a Vietnam exhibition, and a simply magnificent exhibition of WWII Nose art, several stunning examples saved after a guy responsible for scrapping hundreds of aircraft post war decided to cut out 34 sections to make a fence! His family donated the art to the museum and it is stunning stuff.
As we were leaving the museum the lady manning the ticket booth asked if we'd enjoyed it - We had, but said we were sorry to miss seeing Fifi up close - God bless her she got one of her colleagues to walk us across the airfield to the B29s dedicated hangar (Fifi was being put to bed to avoid the back end of Hurricane Odell which passed through the following day.
Stunning plane, and wonderful Texan hospitality
We'd hoped to see Fifi, the last flying B29 Superfortress but as we arrived she was being towed away from the museum hangar
There was plenty of other fantastic stuff to savour from WWII warbirds to a Vietnam exhibition, and a simply magnificent exhibition of WWII Nose art, several stunning examples saved after a guy responsible for scrapping hundreds of aircraft post war decided to cut out 34 sections to make a fence! His family donated the art to the museum and it is stunning stuff.
As we were leaving the museum the lady manning the ticket booth asked if we'd enjoyed it - We had, but said we were sorry to miss seeing Fifi up close - God bless her she got one of her colleagues to walk us across the airfield to the B29s dedicated hangar (Fifi was being put to bed to avoid the back end of Hurricane Odell which passed through the following day.
Stunning plane, and wonderful Texan hospitality
ash73 said:
Amazingly advanced design for its era, much as I love the Lanc it looks quite agricultural next to one of these.
It was a major advance on anything that had gone before. Boeing were one of the world leaders in pressurisation techniques. They had built the worlds first pressurised airliner, the Boeing 307, just before WW2 and this knowledge was put to good use in the B-29.The 307 used the wings, tail assembly and engines of the B-17 mated to a completely new, and pressurised, fuselage. The war intervened before it could gain any significant sales.
onyx39 said:
southendpier said:
Wasn't the B29 design cost (to drop atom bombs) astonishlingly expensive?
I would be very surprised if the designers knew what an atomic bomb was when they designed it (the B29).onyx39 said:
southendpier said:
Wasn't the B29 design cost (to drop atom bombs) astonishlingly expensive?
I would be very surprised if the designers knew what an atomic bomb was when they designed it (the B29).http://acepilots.com/planes/b29.html
Edited by southendpier on Thursday 25th September 14:03
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff