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B-29 Superfortress Takes Flight For The First Time In Years

Hugo Phan
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KMUW/File photo
B-29 Superfortress Doc as it prepares for its first flight.

Wichita made aviation history over the weekend when a rebuilt B-29 Superfortress took off near McConnell Air Force Base. The World War II-era bomber is one of only two still flying. The project of rebuilding the B-29 was undertaken by volunteers and was funded largely by donations. KMUW’s Sean Sandefur attended the ceremonial first flight and has this report…

The conditions are perfect: clear blue skies and light wind. A large crowd of people stands eager to see a relic of the past take off once again. Kathy Lester-Ross and her family are among them. They’re aviation enthusiasts who traveled from Milwaukee.

“Eight-hundred and sixty miles one way, and we wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Lester-Ross says.

Credit Hugo Phan / KMUW
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KMUW

She's been closely monitoring the progress of this plane, which is named “Doc,” after the character from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was originally manufactured right here in Wichita. It wasn’t used in combat, but instead for radar training. In 1956 it was retired to a naval base in the Mojave Desert, where it was used for target practice.

Luckily, the only damage incurred was from 40 years of blinding heat.

Tony Mazzolini, a former Air Force pilot, found out about the still in-tact B-29 and made it his mission to restore the plane. A crew of volunteers took it apart and drove it to Wichita in 2000. The restoration work was done inside a hangar at Boeing and then at Spirit Aerosystems. It’s been estimated that the project has cost upwards of $4 million. Lester-Ross says its completion is a testament to the volunteers’ dedication.

“Thank goodness there're people like this still left who are willing to do it because these are labors of love," she says. "And they’re big labors, but there’s also a lot of love.”

Credit Hugo Phan / KMUW
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KMUW
William Green

Nearly 4,000 B-29s were produced from 1943 to 1946 and more than 1,600 were assembled in Wichita by Boeing employees. The Superfortress was a technological feat when it was introduced during World War II. It was the first bomber to have a pressurized cabin, which made flying much more comfortable for its 11-man crew. These airplanes were used widely over the skies of Japan, China and the Philippines--it was two B-29 bombers that carried and dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

William Green is here to watch the take off of “Doc” with his family. Green served in the Army Air Corps as a gunner on B-29 missions.

“It’s a Cadillac," Green says. "The real advantage of the B-29 was you could wear any clothes. You didn’t have to wear heavy, bulky clothes. You could wear shorts. You had the ability to move around in a tunnel that connected the front and the back. And that’s a good place to sleep.”

Green says that during 14-hour missions, a long nap was much appreciated.

He looks out to the polished metal of the "Doc" Superfortress. It’s got four propeller-driven engines, and a series of glass windows makes up the cockpit. Green says he’s excited to see it take flight after all these years.

“You can recognize a plane by the sound of the engines," he says. "The roar. I’ve been looking forward to that.”

The present-day flight crew starts to taxi "Doc" out to the runway. There are reports that the only other Superfortress that’s in flying condition, which is named Fifi and is based out of Fort Worth, Texas, is currently cruising over Aurora, Illinois. Which means two B-29s could be flying over the U.S. simultaneously for the first time in decades.  The plane reaches the far end of the runway and begins its takeoff.

As the Superfortress takes a lap around the surrounding area, Max Parkhurst, who worked for Boeing for many years, watches with pride. He’s one of the volunteers who helped install new wiring throughout the aircraft. He says liftoff looked smooth.

“It was a thrill," Parkhurst says. "This is the first time it’s flown since 1956. This is what we’ve been working for.”

Credit Hugo Phan / KMUW
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KMUW
Tony Marzolini, center, and other members of the flight crew embrace after Doc lands.

After the plane lands, the flight crew exits the B-29 to share in the celebration. And of course, the man who flew Doc on this day was the man who saved the plane in the first place: Tony Mazzolini. He tells the crowd that this project was a long one, and it was volunteers who made it a reality.

"Those volunteers stretch from the Mojave Desert, who helped me move the airplane, to relocating here in Wichita, and the volunteers who put forth 16 years of restoration to make a dream come true and alive and flying today" Mazzolini says. "I thank you very much.”

The goal is for the Doc B-29 Superfortress to become a flying museum that travels across the country. Its permanent home will be Wichita.

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Follow Sean Sandefur on Twitter, @SeanSandefur

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.