{"id":58694,"date":"2025-02-11T21:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=58694"},"modified":"2026-02-11T00:34:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:34:41","slug":"a-flight-aboard-doc-one-of-only-two-airworthy-b-29-superfortress-bombers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/02\/11\/a-flight-aboard-doc-one-of-only-two-airworthy-b-29-superfortress-bombers\/","title":{"rendered":"A flight aboard 'Doc', one of only two airworthy B-29 Superfortress bombers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manufactured during World War II, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a very popular strategic bomber.<\/p>\n

A formidable aerial display of 'Doc', one of the last two B-29 bombers still flying<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe interior of the B-29 'Bockscar', the bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Nearly 4,000 units of this aircraft were built,<\/strong> which served in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), as well as the Soviet Air Force, which kept three American aircraft<\/strong> that landed in the Soviet Union and never returned them, manufacturing from them, through reverse engineering, the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber, almost identical to the B-29 and of which 847 units were built.<\/p>\n

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During that war, the B-29 became famous for being the type of aircraft chosen to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nakasaki<\/strong>, missions assigned, respectively, to the B-29 \"Enola Gay\" and the B-29 \"Bockscar\"<\/a>, both of which are now preserved in US museums. After World War II, Boeing made a new version of the B-29, the B-50 Superfortress<\/strong>, with more powerful engines, longer range, and a reinforced structure. These aircraft were operational from 1948 to 1965<\/strong> in the United States Air Force (USAF).<\/p>\n

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Today, only 26 B-29s and 5 B-50s remain in existence,<\/strong> all of them in the United States, except for two B-29s that are in museums in the United Kingdom and South Korea. Of these, only two are still airworthy:<\/strong> the B-29A-60-BN 44-62070 \"Fifi\" and the B-29-70-BW \"Doc\", both built in 1944. \"Doc\" was grounded from 1956 to 2016,<\/strong> after being restored by the Doc's Friends<\/a> association, which owns the aircraft and is based in Wichita, Kansas.<\/p>\n

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Flying in these planes is a very exclusive experience<\/strong>, as there are fewer and fewer aviators who still live from those who flew in B-29s when they were operational, and with only two left in flying condition<\/strong>, taking to the skies in one of these planes is something that very few lucky ones can tell. However, thanks to the Internet, this experience can be shared by many. A few weeks ago, the YouTube channel Turn & Burn<\/a> published a 34-minute video showing a flight aboard the B-29 \"Doc\"<\/strong>, recorded from the cockpit of the plane:<\/p>\n