Restoration work was begun, but the closure of Lowry in 1994 resulted in the aircraft's transfer to The Museum of Flight, where detailed restoration continues while on public display. The aircraft was then retired to the China Lake Naval Gunnery Range, where it remained until a rescue was organized in 1986 by volunteers from Lowry Air Force Base in Colorado.
After the war, the bomber was converted to an aerial refueling tanker and served in the Korean War. The Museum's B-29, known as T-Square 54, fought in the Pacific during World War II, flying at least 37 combat missions with the 875th Bomb Squadron, 498th Bomb Group.
Wartime production of the B-29 was spread among Boeing plants in Wichita, Kansas and Renton, Washington and built under license by Martin and Bell. The powerful Wright R-3350 engines experienced chronic overheating issues during testing, leading to the crash of the second prototype just north of Boeing Field on February 18, 1943. Boeing B-29 Enola Gay on Tarmac OLD AVIATION PHOTO.
Free shipping Free shipping Free shipping. Long Description Boeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated, propeller-driven, bomber to fly during World War II, and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Enola Gay Boeing B-29 Superfortress Christmas Ornament Bomber Atomic Bomb WWII. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions. The initial XB-29 prototype first flew from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington on September 21, 1942. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. The B-29's refined aerodynamics benefited from significant wind tunnel testing. It was the world's heaviest production airplane at the time of its introduction. The aircraft introduced several innovations for bomber types, including pressurized crew areas, remotely-controlled gun turrets, and dual bomb bays with alternating bomb release. The B-29 development program was an unprecedented industrial effort in the early 1940s.
The design was further developed as the B-50, introduced in 1947. Specific B-29s were adapted as "motherships" for research aircraft in the late 1940s and 1950s, including Chuck Yeager's first supersonic flight in the Bell X-1. The aircraft was also used in other roles, such as maritime patrol, aerial refueling, weather reconnaissance, and search and rescue. The B-29 continued in frontline bomber service through the Korean War. Two modified B-29s dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945, helping end the war in the Pacific. Its performance enabled long-range systematic bombing of Japan in 19. It could carry more payload and fly faster and at higher altitudes than contemporary types such as the Boeing B-17, Consolidated B-24, or Avro Lancaster. The B-29 Superfortress was the most capable bomber of World War II.