Hopes high that restored B-29 ‘Doc’ will fly in 2014

[Alex .]

The Wichita-built vintage Boeing B-29 Superfortress under restoration inside a Boeing hangar may fly as soon as this summer, volunteers on the project say.
The plan is to fly the historic plane to AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., in July, where the public can view it.
"I think it's doable," said T.J. Norman, the volunteer project manager. "I can't promise we'll make it, but we're sure going to try."
The plane will be one of only two restored B-29s in flying condition.
The massive restoration project began in Wichita in 2000 but was on hiatus for a few years, the victim of a poor economy and lack of hangar space


Restoration restarted early this year after a group of business leaders and aviation enthusiasts formed a nonprofit organization, Doc's Friends, and acquired the airplane from Tony Mazzolini.
About 50 to 60 volunteers, including a core group of about 30, have been working on the plane since the project restarted.
Boeing donated a military hangar on the east side of Oliver, providing a work space that would facilitate completion of the restoration.
"The biggest challenge is just getting everybody back in the groove of working … and remembering where we were at three or four years ago when we stopped work," Norman said.
Mazzolini rescued the B-29 from the Mojave Desert in California in 1998, where it had spent 42 years as a sanctuary for birds and other desert creatures.
It was trucked in pieces to Wichita in 2000.
The bomber, nicknamed "Doc," was built in Wichita in 1944 inside Boeing Wichita's Plant II. It was one of a squadron of eight airplanes named for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Hopes high that restored B-29 'Doc' will fly in 2014 | Wichita Eagle

The proper way of restoring an aircraft, taking a lot of time and work to get everything perfect. Unlike the one those chaps destroyed 'bodge jobbing' on Greenland.

 

[Crimea_River]

Great news. Will be great to see it flying.

 

[Shinpachi]

Cool.

 

[GrauGeist]

...The proper way of restoring an aircraft, taking a lot of time and work to get everything perfect. Unlike the one those chaps destroyed 'bodge jobbing' on Greenland.

In all fairness, the salvage/recovery of the "Kee Bird" wasn't a restoration, it was intended to get the B-29 out of the harsh Arctic climate and back to where she could be actually cleaned up.

Unlike the B-17s and P-38s that landed on a glacier that eventually swallowed them up, the "Kee Bird" landed near a lake in a different area that didn't see her get buried under snow. The recovery attempts were dictated by nasty weather conditions that forced them to work quickly, improvise and make numerous attempts over a period of time. They also had to borrow from existing collections to get her airworthy.

As luck would have it, the "Kee Bird" would have made it out, if it wasn't for the fuel spill that ignited and destroyed her.

 

[Alex .]

My views on it echoed on another website after I'd watched the documentary

Their failure was not performing a preflight/pretaxi check of the aircraft. The ladder left in place was noted from the start and not only was the apu and its fuel supply jury rigged, it was needlessly left running. If it was switched off as soon as the first engine was started, it might have cooled sufficiently following engine start sequence was completed so as not to have ignited any spilled fuel to begin with. That small gasoline engine was a major fire risk that should have been dealt with. Leaving it poorly installed and left running while ship was moving was a major screw-up that was too painful to watch. The access ladder could have clipped the ground and damaged the hatchway or airframe if torn away from its points of attachment. The crew were talented, highly skilled men, but none the less careless knuckleheads. I would like to point out that it was knuckleheaded of them to have relied on another antique aircraft, the '62 Caribue, that was in marginal condition to rely upon as their lifeline and only source of transportation. That ship was not air-worthy and could have crashed a more than one occasion, especially the zero-flap landing with the bulldozer on board!

I wanted to see that old bird fly, and it had an excellent chance to make it. The pilot and crew failed to exercise reasonable care in pre-flighting that ship. They got impatient and very sloppy at the last minute, and it cost them dearly. Very frustrating to watch them watching their ship needlessly burn with out even attempting a take-off.

They rushed it and made a hash out of the attempt. There's a P-38 by where I study in Harlech, North Wales, which was discovered years ago. It's been left there, despite the risks to it, as it's future would be uncertain once recovered. That's what should have been done to this B-29 IMO.

 

[GrauGeist]

Well, there's always risks involved in any recovery. Especially in harsh climates or dangerous settings.

Just imagine what people would have said if the Do17 recovery went afoul (fuselage breaking, slipping it binders and resettling, etc.), the people would have been unforgiving. Same goes for the Fw190 recovered recently or any tricky salvage operation.

When they succeed, they're demi-gods and heros but when they fail, they're idiots, bungling fools and mouth-breathers

 

[Alex .]

It's just a bl**dy shame that something which could produce a hazard like that was overlooked, and was so close to getting home

But to the point - we have another B-29 to look forward to, whether it's this year or in the next!

 

[GrauGeist]

Exactly and even now, 70+ years later, we're still having great discoveries:

P-40 in Libya, Do17 off the British coast, Me323 off the coast of Greece, another B-17 home from the Pacific (Swamp Ghost) and the list goes on!

Looking forward to seeing Doc form up with FiFi for a flight (or a dozen)!

 

[Gnomey]

Great news!

 

[DBII]

Doc and FiFi fly by, cool .

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

That would be exciting!

 

[GregP]

The chaps who bodged-jobbed it on Greenalnd did that on purpose for the insurance money. They figured out they could not make money off it and burned it down. Greenameyer could have rescued it but didn't have the money to sustain it until a profit could be made, and elected the next best choice. Otherwise there was NO reason to even mess with a volatile heater that hadn't run in 50 years. Easy alternate heat provisions could have been made cheaply. I have a cheap heater at my workbench that could have been used and it doesn't burn.

That's the story I get from people who knew the group for years and their credibility is VERY good.

 

[Alex .]

Exactly and even now, 70+ years later, we're still having great discoveries:

P-40 in Libya, Do17 off the British coast, Me323 off the coast of Greece, another B-17 home from the Pacific (Swamp Ghost) and the list goes on!

Looking forward to seeing Doc form up with FiFi for a flight (or a dozen)!

I hadn't heard of the Greek Me323 before.

There is a P-38 buried near to where I study, in Harlech. Hopefully it'll be recovered soon The ghost rises: Ambitious plan to salvage WW2 Lightning fighter from sea off Welsh coast | Mail Online

 

[GrauGeist]

I hadn't heard of the Greek Me323 before.

Yep, and it's much like the Do17 in the fact that it's one of the world's only surving examples.

The thread from last Summer: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/messerschmitt-323-found-33961.html

 

[Balljoint]

The chaps who bodged-jobbed it on Greenalnd did that on purpose for the insurance money. They figured out they could not make money off it and burned it down. Greenameyer could have rescued it but didn't have the money to sustain it until a profit could be made, and elected the next best choice. Otherwise there was NO reason to even mess with a volatile heater that hadn't run in 50 years. Easy alternate heat provisions could have been made cheaply. I have a cheap heater at my workbench that could have been used and it doesn't burn.

That's the story I get from people who knew the group for years and their credibility is VERY good.

Wasn't the offending pyro device a gasoline powered generator? There's a similar story about the F-104 with the reluctant landing gear that had to be abandoned in flight. This was after the speed record was established.

 

[GrauGeist]

The chaps who bodged-jobbed it on Greenalnd did that on purpose for the insurance money. They figured out they could not make money off it and burned it down. Greenameyer could have rescued it but didn't have the money to sustain it until a profit could be made, and elected the next best choice. Otherwise there was NO reason to even mess with a volatile heater that hadn't run in 50 years. Easy alternate heat provisions could have been made cheaply. I have a cheap heater at my workbench that could have been used and it doesn't burn.

That's the story I get from people who knew the group for years and their credibility is VERY good.

The F104 was for insurance, Greg, the Keebird wasn't insured and was a total loss financially to the investors and the people/institutions that loaned equipment...

 

[GregP]

Right ... a lot of people say otherwise. Either way, it's a shame a B-29 was lost from the meager population.

I look forward to seeing and hearing of this new B-29 return to the sky.