Image copyright of Boeing Corporation

Boeing submitted the prototype for the B-29 long-range heavy bomber to the US Army in 1939, before the United States entered World War II.

Features

The B-29 used the high-speed Boeing 117 airfoil, and its larger Fowler flaps added to the wing area as they increased lift. Modifications led to the B-29D, upgraded to the B-50, and the RB-29 photo reconnaissance aircraft. The Soviet-built copy of the B-29 was called the Tupolev Tu-4.

Background

The entire production of US B-29s was commited to the Pacific Theater in an effort to crush the Japanese. Able to carry a bomb load of 20,000 lbs., B-29s flew from bases on Guam, Saipan and Tinian. The "Superfortresses' bombed during the day and used incendiaries at night causing great fire storms in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, and other target cities. The most destructive raid of World War II occurred when 334 B-29's bombed Tokyo on 9-10 March 1945. 1.5 million people were left homeless and over 83,000 killed versus the 80,000 killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

The most famous use of the B-29 "Superfortress" was on the 6th of August, 1945, when Colonel Paul Tibbets, piloting the B-29 "Enola Gay", dropped the "Little Boy" atom bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing 75,000 people in a matter of seconds. On the 9th of August, 1945, the Japanese unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Armies. Five years later, in July of 1950, war between North and South Korea broke out. Again, the "Superfortress' was called upon to provide aerial support. The B-29 was the only US produced bomber flown by a foreign country (Great Britain) in post World War II.

After the war, B-29s were adapted for several functions, including in-flight refueling, anti-submarine patrol, weather reconnaissance, and rescue duty. The B-29 saw military service again in Korea between 1950 and 1953, battling new adversaries: jet fighters and electronic weapons. The last B-29 in squadron use retired from service in September 1960.

Specifications