Restoration Has Been Underway Since 1998

Doc’s Friends, the Wichita-based nonprofit organization restoring the B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” will be exhibiting at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI from July 28 to Aug. 3. Board members, volunteers and Doc’s rescuer, Tony Mazzolini, will be present under the Doc’s Friends tent, which will be located in the Warbirds section on the show grounds at Wittman Field.

After spending 42 years deteriorating in the western Mojave Desert at the U.S. Naval Weapons Testing Center, Doc was rescued in 1998 by Mazzolini and an intrepid group of volunteers. Despite initial roadblocks, Mazzolini’s passion and persistence will soon culminate in the form of a flying museum with a specific mission – to honor, educate and connect.

Doc’s permanent home base will be Wichita. It will be one of only two airworthy Superfortresses worldwide, and there are no known remaining B-29 airframes restorable to flying condition.

“Hundreds of volunteers, including even some of those who originally built B-29s at the Boeing Wichita plant during the war, have taken up the mission and are bringing Doc back from the brink of destruction,” said Jeff Turner, Doc’s Friends Chairman and retired Spirit AeroSystems CEO. “It was originally Tony’s vision, but now it’s shared and supported by individuals and organizations both in Wichita and across the globe.”
Later this year, Doc is scheduled to take flight for the first time in more than 60 years. “We’re definitely very close,” said Turner. “But we need the entire community to rally behind Doc and help get him out of that hangar and into the air.”

The Doc’s Friends tent will have merchandise and memorabilia available for purchase to help fund the completion of the restoration. Donations will also be accepted.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.b-29Doc.com