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The first prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field in Seattle on September 21, 1942. Initial models were plagued with problems, and faced a constant series of modifications. The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engine.
A total of 3,970 B-29s were built. Boeing built 2,766 B-29s at plants in Wichita, Kansas and Renton, Washington. The Bell Aircraft Co. built 668 Superfortresses in Georgia, and the Glenn L. Martin Co. built 536 in at its plant in Omaha, Nebraska.
In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight up to 31,850 feet at speeds of 350 mph. Designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, the B-29 flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions.
The B-29 is most known by many for two missions that occurred in August 1945, over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that lead to the end of World War II.
The last B-29 in squadron use retired from service in September 1960.
B-29 "Bockscar" on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio |
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B-29 "Bockscar" on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio |
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B-29 "Bockscar" on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio |
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B-29 "Enola Gay" on display at the Udvar-Hazy Museum in Washington, D.C. |
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B-29 "Enola Gay" on display at the Udvar-Hazy Museum in Washington, D.C. |
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B-29 "Enola Gay" on display at the Udvar-Hazy Museum in Washington, D.C. |
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B-29 "Sentimental Journey" on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona |
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B-29 "Peachy" at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Musuem |
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B-29 "Raz'n Hell" on display at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California |
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B-29 Superfortress "Tinker's Heritage" S/N 427343
in the markings of the 57th Weather Recon Squadron
on display at the entrance to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City
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B-29 Superfortress "Tinker's Heritage" S/N 427343
at the Charles B. Hall Airpark at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
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B-29 "Hagarty's Hag" at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah at Hill Air Force Base |
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B-29 "Hagarty's Hag" at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah at Hill Air Force Base |
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B-29 "Hagarty's Hag" at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah at Hill Air Force Base |
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B-29 "Duke of Albuquerque" at the National Museum of Nuclear History in Albuquerque, New Mexico |
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B-29 "T-Square 54" at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington (May 2013)
(photo by the PlanesOfThePast staff) |
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Boeing WB-50D, S/N 49-0310, a later variant of the B-29, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force |
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Boeing XB-29 ... the B-29 prototype (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Assembly Line (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Assembly Line (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Assembly Line (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
Boeing B-29 Superfortresses parked on tarmac at the Boeing-Wichita Plant (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Superfortress "The Outlaw" (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Nose art on B-29 Superfortress "Sic 'Em" (Air Force Photo) |
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Boeing B-29s on the Tarmac (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29s parked on the tarmac during WWII (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29s on the Flight Line (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 "Bockscar" in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)
Now on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio |
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B-29s at the Iwo Jima airfield shortly after the United States captured the island, and built the airfield.
This photo was taken by a Navy Seebee working on the island building runways.
Photo has never been previously published.
Photo reprinted with permission from the Louisiana History Museum
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Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay" landing after Hiroshima bombing run (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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"Enola Gay" parked on tarmac after Hiroshima atomic bomb flight (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
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Historic Postcard: Boeing B-29 Super Fortress of the U.S. Army Air Forces |
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