There Are Now Two Boeing B-29 Superfortress Bombers That Are Airworthy And Flying.

On Sunday morning of July 17, the part of our Aero-Verse commonly referred to as, ‘Warbirds,’ became larger, and if weight counts, a lot heavier! The B-29 known as ‘Doc’ took to the sky for the first time since 1956. Doc now joins with the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) B-29, FIFI, as a living and flying memorial to our heroes from World War II.

Doc is one of 1,644 B-29 Superfortress manufactured in Wichita during World War II. Since 1987 when Tony Mazzolini found Doc on sitting and rotting away in the Mojave Desert, plans have been in the works to restore the historic warbird to flying status to serve as a flying museum.

While some form of restoration has been in the works ever since the airplane was first located, things really got a boost when In February of 2013, a group of Wichita aviation enthusiasts and business leaders led by retired Spirit AeroSystems CEO, Jeff Turner, formed Doc’s Friends, a 501c3 non-profit board to manage the restoration project and help see it through to completion.

Now, all the hard work has paid off as Doc made his first flight at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. The engines were started at 8:30 in the morning and all looked good until a problem with the bomb bay doors required the World War II bomber to return to the ramp to resolve the issue, which turned out to be a door latch that would not operate correctly. The malfunction was quickly resolved.

The takeoff occurred at 8:59 am Central Daylight Time on Sunday morning with a smooth liftoff and climb. The aircraft stayed within visual distance of the airbase and the landing gear was not retracted. During the live webcast of the event, a chase plane could been seen keeping close watch on Doc from the outside. The return to the airbase and safe landing took place only about 7 minutes after takeoff.

The aircraft carried a crew of seven which included the test pilot, Charlie Tillman, and copilot, David Oliver. The other crew members served in the positions of flight engineer and scanners. At a press briefing following the flight, a Doc’s Friends spokesman gave thanks to the CAF for all the help they had provided to make this first flight possible.

It was a great day in Wichita for all those who participated in the restoration of this magnificent airplane.

(Images are a screen clip from live webcast and from file)

FMI: www.b-29doc.com/docs-story/