Boeing B-29 Superfortress

B-29 Superfortress status is often relegated to the aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs (“Fat Man” and “Little Boy”) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war in the Pacific for the Allies. The fact that there were in fact two B-29's assigned to the task ("Bock's Car" and the "Enola Gay") and that the B-29 system was revolutionary incorporating many technological aspects in its design is often overlooked. Nevertheless, the B-29 Superfortress - though reserved for combat solely in the Pacific against the Empire of Japan - would go on to become an integral part of the America's war effort in the Second World War and in the interwar years leading up and into the Korean War.

The B-29, like the B-17 Flying Fortress before it, was a US Army Air Corps requirement for a high-level heavy bomber capable of extended range and an increased payload operating at acceptable speeds nearing 400 miles per hour. Though undergoing slow development prior to America's official entry into the war, the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor shoved the B-29 project into full gear. The first three XB-29 prototypes flying in 1942 had already secured orders of over 1,500 production versions.

The B-29 Superfortress was mid-wing four engine bomber fitted with the 3,500 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 Wasp Major 28-cylinder radial engine. Crew accommodations amounted to ten and included specialists and gunners alike. Guns were held in electrically-powered turret barbettes operated by internal periscope systems and fitted in dorsal, ventral and tail gun positions. Several modified or converted models of the B-29 existed as trainers, air search and rescue systems, reconnaissance and weather survey platforms before the end of the production run. By the time of the Korean War, daylight runs were becoming increasingly costly thanks to the arrival of the Soviet-built MiG-15's in North Korea hands and, as such, night time bombings continued with B-29s serving under the new USAF Strategic Air Command.

Limited to combat action solely in the Pacific Theater by command decision, operational B-29's were being delivered to front lines in 1943 (service test aircraft) and 1944 and utilized as daylight, high-level bombers. Early attacks ranged from bases in India into targets in Thailand and later mainland Japan. Night low-level attacks were next on the B-29 agenda and destruction of Japanese cities and military production facilities were horrendous (one fire-bomb attack alone by 279 Superfortresses killed upwards of 80,000 civilians).

Production of B-29 Superfortress was split among factories and contractors including Boeing, Bell and Martin. Production totaled nearly 4,000 units by war's end. An improved B-29 model appeared in later years designated as the B-50 - also produced by Boeing - and was basically the B-29 from the surface though 75% a newly-designed aircraft - with improved tail section and more powerful engines.

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Last Revision: 9/3/2009