Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long-range heavy bomber

Power Plant:

Four 1,641 kw (2,200 hp) Wright R-3350-29 eighteen-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engines

Specifications:

Armament:

Four 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns in upper forward turret; two similar
weapons in each of the upper rear, lower forward and lower rear turrets; one 20 mm cannon in
tail; max bomb load internally 9,072 kg (20,000 lb)

History:

The first aircraft to deliver a nuclear weapon in anger, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress has been credited by some with bringing the Pacific War to an end following the dropping of nuclear devices on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, these following the onslaught on Japanese cities in 1944 by USAF heavy bombers.

In August 1940 Boeing received a contract to manufacture two B-29 bombers, the first prototype flying on 21 September 1942, and contracts followed for 14 YB-29s and 250 B-29s. Following Pearl Harbour, 1,499 more were ordered and production commenced to set in train the USAAF’s needs in the Pacific.

Over the years problems were experienced with engine fires, and the second aircraft built, the XB-29 (Serial 41-003) was lost on 18 February 1943. The type was usually fitted with the Wright R-3350 engine and a number of variants of this engine were installed. In the B-29A the wingspan was increased by 30 cm (1 ft). Defensive armament consisted of five turrets, four of which were remotely controlled by gunners situated in the pressurised portions of the fuselage; and, in addition, there was a tail turret under the control of a gunner, but the latter was not fitted to Renton-built B-29As or Bell Atlanta-built B-29Bs.

A total of 14 YB-29s and 1,620 B-29s was manufactured at the Boeing facility at Wichita, Kansas, and Boeing’s Renton facility built 1,119 B-29As. Bell built 357 B-29s and 536 B-29As at Atlanta; and Martin built 536 B-29s at Omaha.

In 1944 three B-29s involved in bombing Japanese targets made emergency landings near Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. Tupolev copied the Boeing aircraft and produced it for the Soviet Air Force as the Tupolev Tu-4. Examples were also supplied to China.

After the war B-29s were used for a variety of purposes, including mother vehicles for the McDonnell XP-85 parasite fighter, and the Bell X-1 and X-2 test vehicles. Others were used for testing jet engines and turboprops; and a number were converted for use as tankers.

Boeing B-29s of the USAF are known to have visited Australia late in World War II, one, named ‘Waltzing Matilda’ visiting Cambridge, TAS in 1944. At one stage in 1946 more than 2,000 B-29s were in storage at the Pyote Army Air Field in Texas awaiting a decision as to their future. In the 1950s the B-29s saw extensive service in the Korean war.

A total of 88 ex-USAF B-29As was supplied to the RAF as that service’s long-range heavy-bomber to replace the Avro Lincoln, and to serve until the English Electric Canberra was introduced. These aircraft, known in RAF service as the Washington B.Mk I, served until 1954 when they were returned to the United States.

Three of these B-29s were allocated by the UK Ministry of Supply for operations in Australia but one (WW349) was damaged in an incident with a Vickers Valiant on 22 April 1955 and was not imported. The other two (serials WW353 and WW354) were allocated RAAF serials A76-1 and A76-2 but these were never painted on the aircraft. They were flown by RAAF crews, WW353 being flown to Australia from the Vickers field at Wisley in Surrey via Iraq, Ceylon and Singapore in September 1952. The crew returned to the UK and left Marham in Norfolk with WW354 on 1 December 1952.

These two aircraft were used on weapons trials at Woomera, SA, most of the flying being done by WW353, whilst WW354 was used mainly as a back-up aircraft, and also supplied parts. These aircraft were modified from the basic Boeing Washington in that all turrets, including the tail turret, but with the exception of the rear ventral, were removed, the navigator’s dome being relocated and various other changes were made. First weapons test was made on 28 August 1953 and this involved dropping data-gathering ballistic test vehicles between 2,438 m (8,000 ft) and 9,144 m (30,000 ft)for the Blue Boar and Red Rapier projects.

The Blue Boar project was developed by Vickers, and the Red Rapier project was a nuclear-tipped guided bomb which was planned around a 2,268 kg (5,000 lb) nuclear warhead in the one-kiloton range. A telemetry station was fitted to WW353 for the Blue Boar to be directed to its target by television. The Red Rapier was designed to zero in on intersecting radio beams at height before its wings and jet engines were jettisoned and it dived vertically to the target. These projects called for between 120 and 130 sorties and some were performed by the Boeing Washingtons, but in the end most were performed by English Electric Canberras.

On 27 February 1956 the Boeing Washingtons were officially retired. As the cost of delivery to the United States was prohibitive, WW353 was flown to Tocumwal, NSW where it was placed in storage. That base closed on 14 October 1960 and the by now vandalised WW353 was towed 2 km to the smelting complex on the aerodrome. It remained basically intact until mid 1962 when it was broken up and melted into ingots by R H Grant Trading Co. WW354, which at that stage was stored partially dismantled at Edinburgh, SA, was sold to Hines Metal of Adelaide, SA on 1 October 1957 and was broken up at that base. Two of its engines have survived in museums.

One interesting Boeing B-29 which visited Australia was 44-69774 named ‘Waltzing Matilda’ which visited a number of cities in October 1945, including Guildford in WA (later Perth airport), Gawler, SA and Dubbo and Parkes, NSW. This aircraft was a B-29-60-BW previously operated by the 459th Bombardment Squadron of the 330th Bombardment Group of the 20th Air Force. It had a map of Australia with ‘V’ for Victory painted on the nose. It was reported at the time the aircraft had been involved in bombing operations over Tokyo in Japan. The aircraft during its life previously carried the names ‘City of Patterson’ and ‘Koehan’s Kulprits’.

Two B-29s have been restored to airworthiness in the United States, one a B-29A-60-BN (44-62070 – N529B) ‘Fifi’, was operated by the Confederate Air Force [later Commemorative Air Force] and another (44-69972) has been restored at the Boeing plant in Kansas, this aircraft being recovered from the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Range and has been named ‘Doc’. Work has continued on others for placement in museums.