Has anyone bought the ticket to ride on Doc?
They're certainly expensive!

Doc, 1 of 2 B29's still in flying condition, the other being FiFi, is flying in to OKC today for some sort of mini airshow and giving rides.


I plan to go and see in person and to hear the engines roar and be reminded that this is the type of plane and ended WW2.
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I'd love to ride in one, if you have the opportunity and can afford it, go for it!

I've never had a ride (I'd love to, but it's extremely expensive), but I have seen Doc fly, and it was impressive. Radial engines are awesome, and that plane is BIG! Hearing, smelling, and seeing it fly are a completely different experience from seeing one in a Museum. Definitely worth going out to see it...if you can, snap some pics to share here!

I saw Fifi fly at a show in NOLA a few years back. IIRC, on the last day of the show, they let WWII Vets ride for free. Great gesture. I think all veterans got a discounted ride, too.
When Fifi taxied by me, I could feel the radials in my chest. I can only imagine what a MITO would have been like on Tinian during WWII.

I have some skydiving friends that jumped a B-29 at the World Freefall Convention in the late 90s. They said they got to drop out the bomb bay doors. A Meat Bomb if you will.

I'd love to fly on one. The prices seem about right when you factor in the cost of the pilot, fuel, maintenance, and other expenses per hour of flight time on one of those.

Fifi was in Fort Worth for a few months a couple years ago, go to see her fly around a bunch; amazing thing to see/hear in the sky. She was sitting at the N end of the runway at Mecham in the run-up area as I drove by one day. Stopped and listened as they tested the engines. Love that sound.

Came into TEB years back. Stopped over with one of my coworkers and his father who was a WWII B29 gunner. The crew gave my wife the run of the aircraft. Too chicken to go into the tunnel.

The pilot cost is nil. CAF has the pilots pay to be there, rather than get paid. Same for the rest of the support. Volunteers who end up getting their own hotel, meals, airline flight to the airplane and back, etc.

I've been asked several times, and while it might be fun, I get paid to fly, rather than the other way around. Even if it were a break-even proposition, it might be something to do on days off...but it's not.

From Boeing's B-29 History page:

"B-29s were primarily used in the Pacific theater during World War II. As many as 1,000 Superfortresses at a time bombed Tokyo, destroying large parts of the city."

1,000 B-29s AT A TIME.

When mere words or a few bombs can't fully articulate your utter hatred for the adversary, send 1,000 of those machines with full payloads....

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
The pilot cost is nil. CAF has the pilots pay to be there, rather than get paid. Same for the rest of the support. Volunteers who end up getting their own hotel, meals, airline flight to the airplane and back, etc.
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The 1929 Ford TriMotor was here in OKC a couple years ago and I was able to get a ticket to ride in it. It was a lot of fun.

I was talking to the pilots and other crew and they all said they same thing: They do it because they love it and they have to "Bid" to get on the schedule, as well as having to cover all their own expenses, nothing was paid for by the foundation (I guess it's some sort of foundation that owns and operates it).

Each said they felt lucky they landed a time slot from their "bid" and hated to go back home when their time was up. I'm sure for some of them it was not inconsequential pocket money, it was definitely a commitment, not just of time, but personal finances.

The cool thing was that each was really happy to be there, doing what they were doing, and would have it no other way.
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That's one of the problems. The CAF is a hair's width from losing coverage and stopping public displays and rides, due to the number of mishaps they've had.

The guys who should be flying them aren't, and the ones who are flying them are nearly always airline pilots having a lark, most of whom have no old airplane or round engine experience...and it is NOT the same as flying current transport category aircraft. It's not just the CAF, but they're the most visible and perhaps the best known.

My father was a B-29 radioman but I do not remember him saying much about the plane.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
The pilot cost is nil. CAF has the pilots pay to be there, rather than get paid. Same for the rest of the support. Volunteers who end up getting their own hotel, meals, airline flight to the airplane and back, etc.

I've been asked several times, and while it might be fun, I get paid to fly, rather than the other way around. Even if it were a break-even proposition, it might be something to do on days off...but it's not.

Yup. Too many [ignorant] people think most of the money pays for the volunteer pilot and crew. They have zero concept of the maintenance costs associated with a 75 year old aircraft.

Typically known as keyboard commandos and/or internet warriors especially when faced with the truth.

The group was in El Cajon a while back with a Mustang. Lordy how I wanted to do that ride and pay for a twin slot (90 minutes in the seat instead of 45).

quote:

Originally posted by DennisM:
From Boeing's B-29 History page:

"B-29s were primarily used in the Pacific theater during World War II. As many as 1,000 Superfortresses at a time bombed Tokyo, destroying large parts of the city."

1,000 B-29s AT A TIME.

When mere words or a few bombs can't fully articulate your utter hatred for the adversary, send 1,000 of those machines with full payloads....

In February of 1945, Hap Arnold wrote Curtis LeMay to say that LeMay would have 1,000 B-29's under his command by July.

LeMay used them to effect; in the following months, he launched raids of 500-600 bombers, and while everyone remembers the atomic bombs, there was actually far more damage and destruction done by the iron bombing raids leading up to going nuclear. The use of atomic weapons wsa more psycological and bluff, given that we didn't have anything to follow them up.

For the longer trips, the P51's escorting the B29's couldn't keep up, and PB4Y-2's were used as escort aircraft; not particularly maneuverable, but the most heavily armed aircraft of the second world war.

What happened to the B-29 crews that went down, and survived, is horrific. They were boiled alive, even cut up at a university, with their lungs pulled out of their chests, and their brains dug out with knives, while they lived. The treatment of the airmen on those raids was beyond imaginable, and beyond human. (By comparison, thirty five percent of the airmen captured, died in captivity under the Japanese. Less than one percent of those captured by Germans died in German custody).

The B29 with the R3350, and later R-4360 in some variants, had a habit of catching fire a lot. Particularly the 4360 (ask how I know). They were also a bitch to work on. Changing a cylinder, a frequent maintenance item, is laborious. Especially if one has to pull a power recovery turbine. That said, the R3350 was the most advanced radial ever built and put in production.

The chance to see a B29 today is a rarity; take advantage while you can.

Oh my gosh, it's here and it's beautiful! No paint, just polished metal, it's gorgeous.

I live close by Wiley Post Airport and often planes, depending on which direction they come from, often fly over my house. I decided to drive over to Wiley Post and look.

It's parked at Atlantic Aviation so I got as close as I could without tempting any unseen security people (if there are even any) and snapped a couple photos. From my ground position and fencing, and the sun getting lower in the horizon, I did not have the best light and angle.

I have zero problems posting videos but I have not been able to figure out how to post photos. I'll work on that some more.

My gosh Doc is a pretty bird!

It's hard to overstate the amount of effort that goes into polishing aluminum on an airplane, and then keeping it polished. It's a LOT of work...continuous work. Speaks volumes for the care given to the airplane, and certainly befits its age and historical value.

Just found out Doc has a nice brand new hangar all of it's own in Wichita. They even have a web cam so you can see it in it's hangar, and of course right now it's an empty hangar.

The Friends of Doc organization has done a mighty fine job, very impressive.

The Website At the top of the page, right corner, the About tab is very interesting.
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If you can fly on one of these ww2 planes do it.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
If you can fly on one of these ww2 planes do it.

This. I fear there's not many years left for viable flights available on these aircraft.

I was lucky to get a ride on a B-17 several years ago. As a jet engine mech in the AF, I loved hearing those big radials run up!