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I was Camarillo airfield last a couple weekends ago for a ride in a T-6 and got to see the CAF B-29 Fifi coming and going at the same time. The link is the video I shot of it coming in and later being pushed out for another go around.

Very cool

I remember watching a documentary probably back in the 80's about the CAF and how they resurresurrected Fifi from a derelict to flying condition..

Alan

Impressive, I have never seen one other than the Airfix kits I used to make as a kid however even then the B29 was a favourite.

Good one Rufridr, wish the UK could keep a lot more flying than they do.

Ovenpaa: If you cannot get to Rufridr country the Pima Air Musem in Arizona has one indoors for you to look around. You cannot get IN but hatches are open. Theya ctually do not look as big as the Airfix kit (had one of those too) suggests

Ovenpaa wrote:Impressive, I have never seen one other than the Airfix kits I used to make as a kid however even then the B29 was a favourite.

Me too... the ultimate WW2 bomber IMHO.

OOH maybe. A lot of unsung WW2 bombers never get the credit they deserve - like the Stirling and Halifax.....

My friends and I visited B-29 'Doc' at Inyokern some time ago. It too was recovered and towed out of the China Lake Navy weapons base just as Fifi was. Doc eventually ended up in Kansas City and is now flying, making two B-29s in the air.



I'm second from the right in this photo.

The cockpit glass was broken out by the recovery crew to let the superheated desert air out. When they towed it off of China Lake the plane was equipped internally as it had been when it landed, all flight and survival gear was in place.

Doc made its first airshow appearance a few weeks ago, at the big airshow at Barksdale AFB, which now, as the prime B-52 base, enabled this one-off never seen before formation flypast of 3 x Boeing 'Fortress' types.......
B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress and B-52 Stratofortress

Beaut

Such amazing machines.

Did you know that the Russians reverse engineered a B29 in a matter of weeks during ww11

Reecy

Reecy wrote:Beaut

Such amazing machines.

Did you know that the Russians reverse engineered a B29 in a matter of weeks during ww11

Reecy

It actually took around two years, the first year was spent reverse-engineering and producing drawings etc and by the end of the second year around 20 aircraft had been produced as the Tupolev Tu-4, the first of which had it's maiden flight on the 19th of May 1947.

Some major obstacles had to be overcome, one of the main ones being that Boeing produced the B-29 to Imperial measurements whereas the Russians worked in metric units so sheet aluminium in the gauges matching the B-29 were unavailable.As a result the prototype Tu-4 was around 350kg heavier than the B-29.