Best Bomber of ww2

Another disconcerting fact about the B-29 was on July 29th 1944, one of these aircraft was hit by Jap flak attacking Anshan, Manchuria, which started a chain of events that ultimately lead to the 'cocky stance' of Russia with the start of the Cold War, and cost to the N.American taxpayers of billions of dollars....

This aircraft, followed by two others at later dates, were to be forced-down on entering Soviet Airspace, and became destined to provide Russia with ALL that fantastic, sophisticated technology that embodied the B-29, to be copied into the Tupelov Tu-4, followed by the Tu-20, which was the only Soviet bomber capable of performing strikes across the Polar regions....

This sole factor was to cost Billion$ in creating immense chains of radar installations and interceptor bases, intended to shield the North American continent from potential manned air attack......it afforded the Soviet Union a major economic victory - a few hundred aircraft demanding a totally disproportionate counter-effort, on the part of the USA and Canada.....

We all love America, but sometimes it just can't seem to 'see the wood from the trees....'
From before the start of WWII, Russia being run by a meglamanic dictator, not unlike Hitler [but unfortunately worse], had an ambivelant attitude to Hitler's expansionist program in Europe, and the Allies [proper] should've realised when Russia and Germany made their non-aggression pact, that Russia wasn't chummy with the Allies....When Hitler reneged and attacked Russia, why oh why did we all rush in to help ?? - Anyone with a focus on history could see Hitler opening another front, like Napoleon, and without our help, Russia should've been left to lie in the bed they'd made with Germany.....All the Allied [proper] lives lost trying to supply Russia were wasted, we should have left them to their Isolationist attitude to duke it out with Germany, it would have saved millions of Allied lives....

The B-29 wasn't to blame as such, nor the unfortunately misplaced trust of their crews in an alleged Ally, but all the crews that perished getting this aircraft successfully operational paid with their blood, and although it finished-off Japan, there can't be any other aircraft that can be this controversial in what it took and what it gave......

Do you write articles for magazines or something? That writing is brilliant.

And, yes the Bull. Complete copy of the B-29 but with 23mm cannons instead of .50cals. It was the later Soviet bombers like the Tu-95 that were testing British airspace everyday!

Interesting that the Soviets never invested billions in espionage and engineering to produce a carbon copy of a Lancaster . . .

Dig at Lanc there...and it wouldn't have been THAT much to copy the B-29 seeing as they had a nice collection in Russia.

It still required a fair amount of work to reverse engineer the design. But the point remains valid that the B-29 was the only bomber of WWII that was able to function in the postwar world.

Well, there's no denying that.

Knowing the lanc he'll say otherwise

Then we can all gather today and give him a hefty back hand.

Nah I gots the feeling he'd enjoy having that done to him

I see... ...we'll avoid that then...and eeewww.

lol, it's ironic then that the lanc remained in service with the RAF till 1964...................

Then the Lincoln was based on it, then the Shackleton was based on that.

but the lancaster stil remeined in service 'til 1964, serving just as long as the lincoln..........

But not as a bomber. As has been noted, tanker and transport derivatives of the B-29 served even longer . . .

but the lancaser lived in spirit in the shackleton, which served longer than the B-29, and you can't say the B-29 lived on in the B-36 and B-52............

I was referring to the B-29 living on in the B-50 as well as the direct tanker and cargo developments.

The Russians didn't have the metalurgical savvy to duplicate the B-29 and maintain its structural strength so the Bull was somewhat of a Dog. The engines particularly were troublesome, even more so than the originals. The first Russian copy had American engines, "borrowed" from one of the interned aircraft, "Ramp Tramp" I think. Later on, the Russkies put turboprops on the AWACS version. Now there's a sight!

but the B-50 isn't a true B-29, the lancs serving in '64 were proper lancs..................

the lancaster kicks ass said:

but the B-50 isn't a true B-29, the lancs serving in '64 were proper lancs..................

Click to expand...

The B-50 is almost 90% B-29 with up rated engines, gun controls and avionics, it also has a bigger fin/rudder. The difference in designation was for getting funding from Congress for the aircraft.

K-97 has an upper deck that expands cargo space and the Guppie/super guppies havs a radicaly expanded upper fuselage for outsized cargo (like rockets) and are still flying today.

The last actual serving B-29 was retired in 1960 whereas the last B-50's were retired in 1967. But as others have said the B-29 lives on in the form of the Guppy as well as the Tu-95 Bear! Its an almost direct descendant of the B-29 as Tupolev used a lot of the design features from the Tu-4 in making the Bear. The cockpit layout is very similar and Ive read that even the fuselage diameter is the same!

Either way though I will say that the Best Bomber of WWII was definatley the B-29!