Book Review of Boeing B-29
Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
Flightcraft Series
ISBN: 9781399040648
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $34.95
Flightcraft Series
ISBN: 9781399040648
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $34.95
HISTORY:
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.
One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $49 billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war.
The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the Washington until 1954. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949.
The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. This bomber-to-airliner derivation was similar to the B-17/Model 307 evolution. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97.
A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the Guppy / Mini Guppy / Super Guppy, which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. Twenty B-29s remain as static displays, but only two, FIFI and Doc, still fly.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Strategic bomber, heavy bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Boeing
First flight: 21 September 1942
Introduction to service: 8 May 1944
Retired: 21 June 1960
Status: Retired
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, United States Air Force, Royal Air Force
Produced: 1943–1946
Number built: 3,970
Variants: Boeing KB-29 Superfortress, XB-39 Superfortress, Boeing XB-44 Superfortress, Boeing B-50 Superfortress
Developed into: Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Tupolev Tu-4
Crew: 11 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Bombardier, Flight Engineer, Navigator, Radio Operator, Radar Observer, Right Gunner, Left Gunner, Central Fire Control, Tail Gunner)
Length: 99 ft 0 in (30.18 m)
Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.05 m)
Height: 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Wing area: 1,736 sq ft (161.3 m2)
Aspect ratio: 11.5
Airfoil: root: Boeing 117 (22%); tip: Boeing 117 (9%)[97]
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0241
Frontal area: 41.16 sq ft (3.824 m2)
Empty weight: 74,500 lb (33,793 kg)
Gross weight: 120,000 lb (54,431 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 133,500 lb (60,555 kg)
135,000 lb (61,000 kg) combat overload
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled turbo-supercharged radial piston engines, 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) each
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers, 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 357 mph (575 km/h, 310 kn)
Cruise speed: 220 mph (350 km/h, 190 kn)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 3,250 mi (5,230 km, 2,820 nmi)
Ferry range: 5,600 mi (9,000 km, 4,900 nmi)
Service ceiling: 31,850 ft (9,710 m) [28]
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 16.8
Wing loading: 69.12 lb/sq ft (337.5 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.073 hp/lb (0.120 kW/kg)
Armament:
Guns: 10× .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2/ANs in remote-controlled turrets. (omitted from Silverplate B-29s), 2× .50 BMG and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail position (the cannon was later removed)
Bombs: 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at high altitude, 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at medium altitude, 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) maximum over short distances at low altitude. Could be modified to carry two 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bombs externally, or one 44,600 pound T-12 Cloudmaker deep penetration bomb. Mark I, Mark III, Mark 4,[100] and Mark 6[101] nuclear bombs (only Silverplate versions of the aircraft).
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 97 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format
The cover art shows, at the top, a color photo of a B-29 named “Doc” in flight. It is overall bare metal. It was built in 1945, served with a radar calibration unit from 1951. Each of the unit's seven B-29’s was named after one of Disney’s Seven Dwarfs. After numerous moves and protracted restoration, “Doc” took to the skies again once more on 17, July 2016.
In the center there is another color photo of a B-29 in flight. It is named “FiFi”. It was once used as a range target. It was saved by the Confederate Air Force (CAF). Now the Commemorative Air Force in 1971 and was flying again the same year. It has “fiFi” in black on the side of its nose, a large black square with a white letter A on it on the sides of the rudder.
At the bottom, there is a color side-view profile of WB-29 “Typhoon Goon”. It was with the 513th Very Long-Range Reconnaissance Squadron. It too is overall bare metal, with the squadron logo on the side of the nose that is a blue circle with a white map in the center with a black crossed-bomb and sword on it. It has black leading edge on the rudder over black serial no. 421836.
The back cover gives a short history of the B-29 and shows a B-29 built by modeler Colin Higton, from a Monogram/Revell 1/48th scale kit of the “Enola Gay”. Below it is a color photo of Academy’s 1/72nd scale B-29 “Bockscar”, built by modeler Brian Richardson. It, and “Enola Gay” are both overall bare metal. At the bottom is a color photo of modeler Brian Richardson’s excellent interpretation on the B-29 “Monsoon Goon”. It is olive-drab, over a light blue undercarriage. Not said what kit was used.
The book contains 103 black and white photos and 23 color ones. Most of them are wartime photos. Pilots, crewmen and mechanics are shown.
A XB-15 is shown in flight. General Billy Mitchell is pictured, next to a Vought VE-2.
Most people know that it was B-29’s that dropped the A-bombs on Japan that ended WWII. Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, nicknamed “little Boy”. Bockscar dropped the second bomb, nicknamed “Fat Boy” on Nagasaki a few days later. Both these are shown modeled in the modeling section of the book.
Photos of an XB-15, B-24, Boeing Model 307 prototype, B-29 named “Straight Flush”, walk-around photos of a B-29’s anatomy, B-29 named “Tiger Lil”, B-29 named “Doc”, B-29 named “Eddie Allen”, B-29 named “Hawg Wild”, a Tartan radio-controlled bomb, weather Reconnaissance B-29’s, an RB-50F, a North American FJ-4B, a B-54, a Soviet Tu-4, a KJ-1 are all shown.
There are color side-profile illustrations of B-29’s “Enola Gay”, “Bockscar”, “Typhoon Goon”, a Royal Air Force B-29, an experimental YB-29, “Kee Bird”, a Soviet AF Tu-4 “Bull”, a KB-29P Tanker, a Army Training Command TB-29, a 20th Century United B-29, “Eddie Allen”, “Big Time Operator”, WB-50D “Flight of the Phoenix”, B-50A “Lucky Lady II”, B-29 “Sentimental Journey”, B-29 “Three Feathers”, B-29 “FiFi”, B-29 “Hollywood Commando”, B-29 “Pride of the Yankees”, a TB-29, B-29 “The Great Artiste”, B-29 “Straight Flush”, B-29 “Victor 4”, a B-29A.
The modeling section of the book shows Revell’s 1/48th scale B-29 box art and two photos of it built. Color box arts of Academy’s, Minicraft’s and the Atlantis brand box arts, aftermarket decal sheets. Monogram/Revell 1/48th scale “Enola Gay” shown in 22 color progressive build walk-around type photos and 12 black and white walk-around photos of it built up.
Academy 1/72nd kit of “Bockscar” shown in 33 color photos, some with the “Fat Boy” A-bomb. Academy 1/72nd scale “Monsoon Good” in 33 color walk-around type photos along with airfield vehicles. Academy 1/72nd scale British B-29 shown in 23 color walk-around type photos.
This book will be of great interest to modelers, planning on doing a B-29 and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books. All their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.
One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $49 billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war.
The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 as the Washington until 1954. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949.
The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. This bomber-to-airliner derivation was similar to the B-17/Model 307 evolution. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97.
A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the Guppy / Mini Guppy / Super Guppy, which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. Twenty B-29s remain as static displays, but only two, FIFI and Doc, still fly.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Strategic bomber, heavy bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Boeing
First flight: 21 September 1942
Introduction to service: 8 May 1944
Retired: 21 June 1960
Status: Retired
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, United States Air Force, Royal Air Force
Produced: 1943–1946
Number built: 3,970
Variants: Boeing KB-29 Superfortress, XB-39 Superfortress, Boeing XB-44 Superfortress, Boeing B-50 Superfortress
Developed into: Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, Tupolev Tu-4
Crew: 11 (Pilot, Co-pilot, Bombardier, Flight Engineer, Navigator, Radio Operator, Radar Observer, Right Gunner, Left Gunner, Central Fire Control, Tail Gunner)
Length: 99 ft 0 in (30.18 m)
Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.05 m)
Height: 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Wing area: 1,736 sq ft (161.3 m2)
Aspect ratio: 11.5
Airfoil: root: Boeing 117 (22%); tip: Boeing 117 (9%)[97]
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0241
Frontal area: 41.16 sq ft (3.824 m2)
Empty weight: 74,500 lb (33,793 kg)
Gross weight: 120,000 lb (54,431 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 133,500 lb (60,555 kg)
135,000 lb (61,000 kg) combat overload
Powerplant: 4 × Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone 18-cylinder air-cooled turbo-supercharged radial piston engines, 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) each
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propellers, 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 357 mph (575 km/h, 310 kn)
Cruise speed: 220 mph (350 km/h, 190 kn)
Stall speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 3,250 mi (5,230 km, 2,820 nmi)
Ferry range: 5,600 mi (9,000 km, 4,900 nmi)
Service ceiling: 31,850 ft (9,710 m) [28]
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (4.6 m/s)
Lift-to-drag: 16.8
Wing loading: 69.12 lb/sq ft (337.5 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.073 hp/lb (0.120 kW/kg)
Armament:
Guns: 10× .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M2/ANs in remote-controlled turrets. (omitted from Silverplate B-29s), 2× .50 BMG and 1× 20 mm M2 cannon in tail position (the cannon was later removed)
Bombs: 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at high altitude, 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) over 1,600 mi (2,600 km; 1,400 nmi) radius at medium altitude, 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) maximum over short distances at low altitude. Could be modified to carry two 22,000 lb (10,000 kg) Grand Slam bombs externally, or one 44,600 pound T-12 Cloudmaker deep penetration bomb. Mark I, Mark III, Mark 4,[100] and Mark 6[101] nuclear bombs (only Silverplate versions of the aircraft).
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books Ltd. is based in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 97 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format
The cover art shows, at the top, a color photo of a B-29 named “Doc” in flight. It is overall bare metal. It was built in 1945, served with a radar calibration unit from 1951. Each of the unit's seven B-29’s was named after one of Disney’s Seven Dwarfs. After numerous moves and protracted restoration, “Doc” took to the skies again once more on 17, July 2016.
In the center there is another color photo of a B-29 in flight. It is named “FiFi”. It was once used as a range target. It was saved by the Confederate Air Force (CAF). Now the Commemorative Air Force in 1971 and was flying again the same year. It has “fiFi” in black on the side of its nose, a large black square with a white letter A on it on the sides of the rudder.
At the bottom, there is a color side-view profile of WB-29 “Typhoon Goon”. It was with the 513th Very Long-Range Reconnaissance Squadron. It too is overall bare metal, with the squadron logo on the side of the nose that is a blue circle with a white map in the center with a black crossed-bomb and sword on it. It has black leading edge on the rudder over black serial no. 421836.
The back cover gives a short history of the B-29 and shows a B-29 built by modeler Colin Higton, from a Monogram/Revell 1/48th scale kit of the “Enola Gay”. Below it is a color photo of Academy’s 1/72nd scale B-29 “Bockscar”, built by modeler Brian Richardson. It, and “Enola Gay” are both overall bare metal. At the bottom is a color photo of modeler Brian Richardson’s excellent interpretation on the B-29 “Monsoon Goon”. It is olive-drab, over a light blue undercarriage. Not said what kit was used.
The book contains 103 black and white photos and 23 color ones. Most of them are wartime photos. Pilots, crewmen and mechanics are shown.
A XB-15 is shown in flight. General Billy Mitchell is pictured, next to a Vought VE-2.
Most people know that it was B-29’s that dropped the A-bombs on Japan that ended WWII. Enola Gay dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, nicknamed “little Boy”. Bockscar dropped the second bomb, nicknamed “Fat Boy” on Nagasaki a few days later. Both these are shown modeled in the modeling section of the book.
Photos of an XB-15, B-24, Boeing Model 307 prototype, B-29 named “Straight Flush”, walk-around photos of a B-29’s anatomy, B-29 named “Tiger Lil”, B-29 named “Doc”, B-29 named “Eddie Allen”, B-29 named “Hawg Wild”, a Tartan radio-controlled bomb, weather Reconnaissance B-29’s, an RB-50F, a North American FJ-4B, a B-54, a Soviet Tu-4, a KJ-1 are all shown.
There are color side-profile illustrations of B-29’s “Enola Gay”, “Bockscar”, “Typhoon Goon”, a Royal Air Force B-29, an experimental YB-29, “Kee Bird”, a Soviet AF Tu-4 “Bull”, a KB-29P Tanker, a Army Training Command TB-29, a 20th Century United B-29, “Eddie Allen”, “Big Time Operator”, WB-50D “Flight of the Phoenix”, B-50A “Lucky Lady II”, B-29 “Sentimental Journey”, B-29 “Three Feathers”, B-29 “FiFi”, B-29 “Hollywood Commando”, B-29 “Pride of the Yankees”, a TB-29, B-29 “The Great Artiste”, B-29 “Straight Flush”, B-29 “Victor 4”, a B-29A.
The modeling section of the book shows Revell’s 1/48th scale B-29 box art and two photos of it built. Color box arts of Academy’s, Minicraft’s and the Atlantis brand box arts, aftermarket decal sheets. Monogram/Revell 1/48th scale “Enola Gay” shown in 22 color progressive build walk-around type photos and 12 black and white walk-around photos of it built up.
Academy 1/72nd kit of “Bockscar” shown in 33 color photos, some with the “Fat Boy” A-bomb. Academy 1/72nd scale “Monsoon Good” in 33 color walk-around type photos along with airfield vehicles. Academy 1/72nd scale British B-29 shown in 23 color walk-around type photos.
This book will be of great interest to modelers, planning on doing a B-29 and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers, the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books. All their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.