B-29 in the air!

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Tempest

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I heard it before I saw it. The hum of the radial piston engines was obvious. I was expecting maybe a B-17, or B-24, but as it cleared from behind the building it was clear...an honest to goodness flying B-29! I really couldn't believe what I was seeing!

Turns out that the last operational B-29 happened to be at the local small airport just a few miles from my house. Apparently, it was on the local news but I didn't know about it until it flew over me!

I took my son over there and we got a chance to go inside and look around. Very cool. They had several other WWII aircraft including a P-51 and Japanese Zero. All authentic aircraft and flying.

You could buy a ticket on most of them but most were booked up and pricy. B-29 tickets started @ $600 and went up to $1500 (booked up before it even got in town). Other fighter type planes (space for one passenger only) were about $400 and up. Too rich for me right now and they were sold out anyway.

Awesome day at the local airport though!
 
Was it Fifi? Yea, everytime I hear the drone of big radial engines, it sends shivers up my spine and I drop everything I'm doing to see what it is! We haven't had a B-29 here, but we get a B-17 every year.
 
I got to see Fifi when she was at the Cleveland Air Show years ago. I watched from the edge of downtown Cleveland looking over the airport, and I was standing next to a fire truck with the engine running. I could still hear Fifi's engines loud and clear over the fire truck's engine.
 
I saw that B 29 in Harlingen, Tx. About twenty years ago. About 6 years ago I flew in a B17 when it was in Dallas. It was $450 then but worth it. You have to think of it as a once in a lifetime experience.
 
I've seen that one before at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. Going there and working flightline at those shows in 2000 and 2001 have ruined airshows for me.
 
Gotta be FIFI, she's the only one in the world that flies. Out exercising those "new" Frankenstein R-3350s for the 2013 airshow season :)

Really cool story there- the reliability of the original WWII era 3350s is horrible. Failures kept FIFI grounded way too much, and put her at risk in the air way too often. So they did something similar to what the Rare Bear air race team did- cherry picked the best components from 50s and 60s era R-3350s (which have ZERO parts interchangeability with the older ones- essentially a totally different engine). Accessory pieces from the early engines, blower from one model, power section from this 3350 variant, gearcase from another 3350 model... voila. Relatively reliable B-29 power- in fact more takeoff power without turbochargers than the original engines WITH the turbos working. But even with the new engines they still have a failure now and then. :-( The R-3350 was never the most reliable radial out there.


On a related note, the Collings Foundation had their B-24 (Witchcraft), B-17 (Nine-O-Nine), B-25, 2 P-51s, and flyable ME-262 jet fighter in town recently. I wasn't able to get out to see them myself, but don't miss them if they hit your area!
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Was it Fifi? Yea, everytime I hear the drone of big radial engines, it sends shivers up my spine and I drop everything I'm doing to see what it is! We haven't had a B-29 here, but we get a B-17 every year.

Yes, it was. The big airshow at Nellis AFB out here typically gets a 17 and a mixed bag of other WWII aircraft that fly over, but you don't really get a chance to get close, much less actually go in one. You sure learn what they sound like, though.

All of these planes were just a few yards from where people could stand.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Gotta be FIFI, she's the only one in the world that flies. Out exercising those "new" Frankenstein R-3350s for the 2013 airshow season :)

Really cool story there- the reliability of the original WWII era 3350s is horrible. Failures kept FIFI grounded way too much, and put her at risk in the air way too often. So they did something similar to what the Rare Bear air race team did- cherry picked the best components from 50s and 60s era R-3350s (which have ZERO parts interchangeability with the older ones- essentially a totally different engine). Accessory pieces from the early engines, blower from one model, power section from this 3350 variant, gearcase from another 3350 model... voila. Relatively reliable B-29 power- in fact more takeoff power without turbochargers than the original engines WITH the turbos working. But even with the new engines they still have a failure now and then. :-( The R-3350 was never the most reliable radial out there.


On a related note, the Collings Foundation had their B-24 (Witchcraft), B-17 (Nine-O-Nine), B-25, 2 P-51s, and flyable ME-262 jet fighter in town recently. I wasn't able to get out to see them myself, but don't miss them if they hit your area!



Based on what you're saying there, it's always been amazing to me how they kept so many of these things in the air during WWII. Hard to imagine what the crews had to deal with on a daily basis with these enormous and complicated engines. And not just the B-29's - a lot of tanks had radial engines, or the 30-cylinder Chrysler. A lot of engines were at the bleeding edge of technology; some worked well, others not so much.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Gotta be FIFI, she's the only one in the world that flies. Out exercising those "new" Frankenstein R-3350s for the 2013 airshow season :)

Really cool story there- the reliability of the original WWII era 3350s is horrible. Failures kept FIFI grounded way too much, and put her at risk in the air way too often. So they did something similar to what the Rare Bear air race team did- cherry picked the best components from 50s and 60s era R-3350s (which have ZERO parts interchangeability with the older ones- essentially a totally different engine). Accessory pieces from the early engines, blower from one model, power section from this 3350 variant, gearcase from another 3350 model... voila. Relatively reliable B-29 power- in fact more takeoff power without turbochargers than the original engines WITH the turbos working. But even with the new engines they still have a failure now and then. :-( The R-3350 was never the most reliable radial out there.


On a related note, the Collings Foundation had their B-24 (Witchcraft), B-17 (Nine-O-Nine), B-25, 2 P-51s, and flyable ME-262 jet fighter in town recently. I wasn't able to get out to see them myself, but don't miss them if they hit your area!



I asked one of the guys in the 29 if getting parts was a pain in the rear. To my astonishment, he said there were plenty of parts available. I responded: "Even engine parts?". To which he said they were using a "hybrid engine" that had more parts availability. I didn't have time to inquire further but your post helps to explain that.

I'd love to see an ME-262.
 
Originally Posted By: Tempest
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Gotta be FIFI, she's the only one in the world that flies. Out exercising those "new" Frankenstein R-3350s for the 2013 airshow season :)

Really cool story there- the reliability of the original WWII era 3350s is horrible. Failures kept FIFI grounded way too much, and put her at risk in the air way too often. So they did something similar to what the Rare Bear air race team did- cherry picked the best components from 50s and 60s era R-3350s (which have ZERO parts interchangeability with the older ones- essentially a totally different engine). Accessory pieces from the early engines, blower from one model, power section from this 3350 variant, gearcase from another 3350 model... voila. Relatively reliable B-29 power- in fact more takeoff power without turbochargers than the original engines WITH the turbos working. But even with the new engines they still have a failure now and then. :-( The R-3350 was never the most reliable radial out there.


On a related note, the Collings Foundation had their B-24 (Witchcraft), B-17 (Nine-O-Nine), B-25, 2 P-51s, and flyable ME-262 jet fighter in town recently. I wasn't able to get out to see them myself, but don't miss them if they hit your area!



I asked one of the guys in the 29 if getting parts was a pain in the rear. To my astonishment, he said there were plenty of parts available. I responded: "Even engine parts?". To which he said they were using a "hybrid engine" that had more parts availability. I didn't have time to inquire further but your post helps to explain that.

I'd love to see an ME-262.


If I remember right, most of their hybrid engine comes from the Douglas Skyraider version of the R-3350, which was one of the last and also one of the most-built versions. That engine is also popular to re-power Hawker Sea Furies since there's a lot more "corporate knowledge" of the 3350 in the US than there is the Bristol Centaurus (not to mention rarity of spare parts for the Centaurus.)
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I've seen that one before at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. Going there and working flightline at those shows in 2000 and 2001 have ruined airshows for me.


I went to Airventure in 1997. One of the coolest things I've ever done and will ever do. Gearhead nirvana.
 
I donated to keep Fifi in the air last fall...got a B-29 hat as a token...glad to see she's still flying! What a machine!
 
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