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Re: More Wichita B-29 ("Doc") restoration news

Posted by Ron Henry on Fri Nov 08, 2002 02:03:11 PM

In reply top More Wichita B-29 ("Doc") restoration news posted by bdk on Thu Nov 07, 2002 08:28:07 PM

: Volunteers to mark Veteran?s Day with continued restoratio
: n of B-29 Superfortress in Wichita
:
: Hundreds of volunteers in Wichita, Kan., are helping resto
: re ?Doc,? a B-29 Superfortress that Boeing delivered in 19
: 45. Doc is believed to be the last B-29 that can be restor
: ed to flying condition. Above is a photo of a B-29
:
: ?Doc? has come home again. It is not yet the gleaming, shi
: ny B-29 Superfortress that Boeing workers proudly delivere
: d in 1945 from the company?s huge, then-new plant in Wichi
: ta, Kan. And it is not yet ready for flight.
:
: But the skies beckon, as hundreds of dedicated volunteers
: tenderly restore Doc, inch by inch, section by section, da
: y by day - including Veterans Day - honoring an airplane t
: hat was a critical factor in the World War II Allied victo
: ry over Japan.
:
: Eighty-year old Willis ?Blackie? Rains, a wartime B-29 cre
: wmember, has painstakingly recreated the original plywood
: navigator?s station and other wood parts. Charles ?CC? Bri
: scoe (featured in Tom Brokaw?s best-seller ?The Greatest G
: eneration?) watched the first B-29 take off and is a regul
: ar volunteer. Former B-29 mechanic Mildred Jewell visited
: the project, remembering her work on the airplane?s wing p
: anels and - during the same period - when she had learned
: that her brother was killed in action in the Pacific.
:
: Doc is one of nearly 1,644 World War II B-29 Superfortress
: bombers built by Kansans from 1943 to 1946. It was part o
: f a nine-airplane squadron bearing the names of Walt Disne
: y?s Snow White characters. The historic bomber, rescued fr
: om a desert graveyard by U.S. Aviation Museum founder Tony
: Mazzolini, is believed to be the last B-29 anywhere that
: can be restored to flying condition. The project is a part
: nership effort between Boeing Wichita and the museum.
:
: ?Without Boeing?s generosity and commitment, we could neve
: r have realized the work that is under way today,? Mazzoli
: ni said. ?And without the commitment of incredibly dedicat
: ed volunteers, the dream of completing this huge restorati
: on would remain just that - a dream.?
:
: Hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life have donated
: thousands of hours since restoration officially began in
: May 2000.
:
: Many are current and former Boeing employees, and a handfu
: l - like Briscoe - even helped build the bombers during th
: e World War II. Others, however - including a piano repair
: man and a truck driver - had never been inside a Boeing pl
: ant. Equally important to the restoration are the in-kind
: contributions of parts, materials and expertise from vendo
: rs, businesses and aviation collectors throughout the coun
: try.
:
: Boeing Wichita played a critical role in the production of
: the B-29. By the end of World War II, the plant had built
: nearly 65 percent of the total number of aircraft produce
: d during the war, and earned five Army and Navy awards for
: production efficiency. At the height of production in 194
: 4, 40,000 Boeing Wichita employees were rolling out nearly
: four B-29s every day.
:
: Redelivery of Doc is planned for 2003, the 100th anniversa
: ry of powered flight. Doc will then become a flying exhibi
: t of American aviation history.
:
:
: How you can help
:
: In spite of the tremendous progress made over the last two
: years, there is a great deal of work to do before Doc ret
: urns to the skies. The largest task confronting the restor
: ation is that of raising funds to rebuild Doc?s large, pow
: erful R-3350 engines. To volunteer, contact:
:
: The United States Aviation Museum
: Attention: Wayne M. Gomes
: B-29 Restoration Fund
: P.O. Box 2417
: Grand Junction, Colo. 81502
:

"...last B-29 that can be restored to flying condition". Think I just had recall of another B-29 that was airworthy within the last 25? years. Seem to remember reading about an airworthy B-29 in private hands - part of its previous life had been as a drop ship for Bell X-1 series etc. Could it have been "Fertile Myrtle"? What became of it?

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