B-29 with Eagle Shield which unit?

[mokyme]

I suspect this B-29 unit motif might be the so called Eagle Wing which used APQ-7 Radar to bomb through clouds. Can anyone confirm and point me to a picture?

Image credit the Jeffrey Ethell Collection F Schirmer

Thanks

Darryl

 

[fubar57]

I notice on the stencilling to the right that this is a TB-29A

 

[mokyme]

I notice on the stencilling to the right that this is a TB-29A

Yes, but the conversion to TB-29 Trainer would have taken place post war. The photo was taken at the Davis-Monthan AZ strorage center in 1946 - 1947 period.

Not enough resolution to see the serial number in the Data Stencil.

Darryl

 

[LarryJ]

The 315th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 unit the use the APQ-7, Eagle RADAR. The antenna appeared as a 16 ft wing below the fuselage between the bomb bay. It replaced the APQ-13 RADAR. Both RADARS were considered Bombing Through Overcast or BTO RADARS. The 315th only flew the B-29B, which differed from the B-29 and B-29A in that it had no fuselage guns, the APG-15 Tail Gun RADAR, and the APQ-7. I never heard of the 315th being called "the Eagle Wing." (The Siverplates used by the 509th for the atomic missions also were void of fuselage armament, but they used the APQ-13 RADAR, and their model was not a B model. All 509th atomic airplanes were built in Omaha, the B model only built in Bell Atlanta) There were other airplanes that were modified to use the Eagle RADAR that did not fly the B model B-29. I know that the 316th Bomb Wing had some, if not all, of their airplanes equipped with the APQ-7. The fact that this is identified as a TB-29A, tells me it was not an airplane of the 315th Bomb Wing. After the war several of the B models were converted to TB-29s, and refeuling models, but they would have retained the 29B part of their model number. From the little i can see of the serial number, it wasnt in the sequence of the B models.

LM, 315th Bomb Wing (VH) and Northwest Field, Guam, WWII

 

[mjfur]

Some clues to work with,

B-29A's were produced at the Renton Plant, designated by BN at the end of the s/n. B-29 Production & Assembly Plants

The block number looks like -20 or -25, e.g. TB-29A-20-BN.
Boeing B-29A-20-BN Superfortress 42-93974/94023 (Possibly 42-939??)
Boeing B-29A-25-BN Superfortress 42-94024/94073 (The photo doesn't look like it could be 940??.)
http://joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_5.html

FYI - Just because there is a Unit motif painted on the aircraft, it's possible the aircraft was never actually in combat. It may have been a Stateside Trainer assigned to the Unit after the war and the motif was added then. Additionally, the eagle also holds a camera in one talon (Photo Recon, F-13, etc.).

 

[Jim MacDonald]

Is it known for sure that the "Unit" insignia is in fact a unit insignia and not just nose art that that particular crew added to their plane? Is there photos of more than one plane with the same insignia on it? Not all nose art was of the Vargas variety.

Mac

 

[mokyme]

Thanks for the replies which now makes me think it is not the 315th BW. I will wade through the Maurer Maurer (Ed) book "WWII Combat Squadrons of the USAF" and try to match that Unit motif with a squadron. So many B-29 squadrons though

Mac, yes it could be just individual aircraft nose art but on balance considering the design I feel it is more likely unit insignia for a particular Bomb Group or Bomb Squadron.

Darryl