B-29 Engineering Flight book

Interesting stuff syscom doesn't seem like they had any problems from rapid depressurisation.

Interesting. Where is this B-29 discussion forum?

http://b-29.org/

Remember to get on their mailing list. There are several B29 veterans who would bve happy to answer your questions.

Right now theyre discussing the food (crap? hehehehehe) they had to endure in the Mariana's and on their "flight lunch box's"

I saw this on the B29 website.

Here is a list of work done on FIFI the last 18 months. Gary Austin, crew
chief B29/B24 Squadron says the Lady will fly in about 30 days. The main focus of current work is the left wing and tail/fuselage.
The remaining ribs for the lft wing arrived last Friday and a full crew has
been installing them and the new skin.This work should finish this week and rehanging the 24' of trouble will start next week.
The tail section/tailgunner area is being completely refurbished
structurally. Making it look as good as the Enola Gays will be an ongoing
project. For those who visited FIFI's aft section and found a hodgepodge
mess will be delightfully surprised at the transformation Gary and his crew
have accomplished.
All engines were run last week with some minor bugs worked out. These
engines are purring and are anxious to return the skies.But.. they still
leak.. haha.
If any of you are in the Midland area before we leave on tour contact me and
I will see that you get a VIP tour of the Queen of the CAF's fleet of
Warbirds.

Bill Copeland
CAF main hangar
Midland, Tx.
432-413-4100
"Bill Copeland" <b29bill@hotmail.com>

Radial engines leaking? They aren't leaking, they're marking their territory.

Thats funny!!!

From the B29 website:
B-29 Page: http://b-29.org/

Here are some pics of work in progress on FIFI's left wing and tail.These
are from yesterday.

Still lots to do.. grab a wrench and bucking bar and come on down.

Bill Copeland
CAF main hangar
Midland, Tx
"Bill Copeland" <b29bill@hotmail.com>

WOW! They're going to town!

Looks like it, though as was said there is still a lot of work to do.

They even have a beagle with a tennis ball helping.

If I was living near their hanger, I sure would help out.

Here is another update from Bill Copeland as posted on the B29 website. (http://b-29.org/)

Interestingly, he went to an old AAF base nearby and took alook at it. It used to be a B29 training field.

"I made a furtive visit to Peyote AAFB yesterday. The 3,000 plus acres sits in the middle of the Permian Basin adjacent to a prison for juvenile
delinquents. The only life Amos and I saw were deer and rabbits.. no snakes.
The runways and flightline are still intact but need a good mowing. Hundreds of concrete slabs that were the foundations for housing ,offices and shops are everywhere. Two walls of the largest hangar still stand.. The rails and reveals for the doors are intact but the huge glass doors are gone. 3 murals are barely visible in what were the corners of the hangar. One remembers Pearl Harbor. One shows Rosenthal's picture of the Marines raising the Flag on Suribachi. The last shows a Crocker Spaniel resting it's head on a coffin..barely visible are the words "Because Somebody Talked".
The mile long flightline is intact but every crack and seam has desert grass growing in it. Eye level looking outward it looks like a sea of grass. As you walk you can see the cement below you. We walked out to the runways and the story was much the same but the grass didn't have seams to get started in. The asphalt is puckering and cracked but looks like it could still be used as intended.
Adjacent to the hangar is the steam plant. It is intact and waiting for a
load of coal to heat the hangar. On a raised slab is a bunker like building
with one steel and cement door that still swings easily. I think this vault
was enclosed in another building and probably used for ammo. Bomb bunkers are not visible. The main gate is now a Texas History stop. The low walled portal was built by German Pows that were interned nearby.
The modest museum is about a mile away from the the old base. Mrs. Rivas is the caretaker and is helpful after you warm her up a bit. Like Bud said, the 19th is well represented re it's early service in the Pacific and a couple of pictures from the Korean war are displayed. If you are going to visit it is open Saturday 9 to 6 and Sunday 2 til 6. No admission fee.. they run strictly on donations.

FIFI is improving.. the wing should go on in a couple of days.
The pic of the cracked fitting shows one of the problems found with the bomb doors.. no wonder they wouldn't work. Fixed now.

Best to all,
Bill&Amos
CAF main hangar
Midland

Interesting pics syscom, good to see it coming along well.

Great stuff! My hat's off to those guys. We are working on a PBJ at Camarillo and it is a lot of work. That's about half the work of the B-29 though. Big job, and I am glad that these guys are dedicated enough to do it, especially since they are all volunteers.

Very cool! I like the wing tooling they have to move those outter wings around, the photos that shows the wing being stripped shows pretty beefy tooling I wonder if that's original production tooling??

evangilder said:

Radial engines leaking? They aren't leaking, they're marking their territory.

Click to expand...

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, that's awesome stuff!!!!!

:{)

FLYBOYJ said:

Very cool! I like the wing tooling they have to move those outter wings around, the photos that shows the wing being stripped shows pretty beefy tooling I wonder if that's original production tooling??

Click to expand...

They probably bought it from a surplus sale at Willow Run, heheheheheheh

Good stuff thanks for keeping us posted on it.

While looking for some data for Deradler regarding B29 loss's, I found this neat story.

Physics Today August 2001

The long ranges the B29 flew meant fuel consupmtion figures and optimum settings for cruise were extremely important. The author of this story developed some very handy slide rules that undoubtabley made the difference in whether a crew was going to make it back to base, or go for a swim.

"Plucked out of graduate school after Pearl Harbor, a young physicist designed specialized slide rules for military aircraft. Trying them out aboard B-29s in the war against Japan, he had some hair-raising adventures."

Read the rest of the story at his website.

syscom3 said:

While looking for some data for Deradler regarding B29 loss's, I found this neat story.

Physics Today August 2001

The long ranges the B29 flew meant fuel consupmtion figures and optimum settings for cruise were extremely important. The author of this story developed some very handy slide rules that undoubtabley made the difference in whether a crew was going to make it back to base, or go for a swim.

"Plucked out of graduate school after Pearl Harbor, a young physicist designed specialized slide rules for military aircraft. Trying them out aboard B-29s in the war against Japan, he had some hair-raising adventures."

Read the rest of the story at his website.

Click to expand...

These are still used today insome aircraft.

The P-3 and the C-130 has one to figure fuel consumption and weight and balance, the most common one still used today by private pilots is the old E6B, it is just about unchanged since WW2, basically a circular slide rule...