Hasn’t Been Done Since At Least The 1960s

The Commemorative Air Force’s Col. Mark Novak has accumulated more than 1,000 flight hours in the two remaining airworthy B-29 Superfortress aircraft, Fifi and DOC, a feat that has not been accomplished in at least 65 years.

Col. Novak has been a member of the CAF for more than 30 years and began flying Fifi in 2012 as the Second in Command. One year later he upgraded to Pilot in Command and flew the aircraft until 2022, accumulating a total of 320 hours. In the years since, he has flown Fifi on test flights and tour stops to get to 331 total hours.

In 2016 he was recruited to fly the second B-29 that had undergone restoration, DOC, owned by Doc’s Friends, Inc., in Wichita, Kansas. The following year, Novak was named Chief Pilot for Doc’s Friends as DOC began flying its touring program and since then, Novak has logged about 670 hours in DOC.

Novak was a career pilot in the Air Force after graduating in 1984 from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has flown T-37 and T-38 aircraft at Vance AFB near Enid, Oklahoma.

He also flew Learjets and was an Instructor Pilot at Offutt AFB near Omaha, Nebraska. After that, Novak flew the B-1B bomber and again was an instructor pilot at Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas. He returned to the Academy as commander of a Cadet Squadron, a TG-7 Instructor Pilot, and Executive Officer to the Wing Commander.

Col. Novak retired as an Eval Pilot in the KC-135R with the Lincoln, Nebraska Air National Guard after 27½ years of service.

Nearly 4,000 B-29 Superfortress aircraft were built by the United States during World War II, but only two remain airworthy today: DOC, owned by Doc’s Friends, Inc., in Wichita, Kansas, and Fifi, owned by the CAF and managed by the B29/B24 Squadron in Dallas, Texas.

These two historic aircraft tour the United States, sharing the mission to honor the men and women who designed, built, flew, and maintained warbirds during WWII.

FMI:  commemorativeairforce.org/