B-29 Superfortress WWII bomber set to land in the Lehigh Valley

[BlackDiamond]

One of only two that are currently flyable left. This would be cool to see. I will be in the Lehigh Valley that weekend but Unfortunately tied up with my move.

B-29 Doc, a Superfortress bomber from WWII, set to land in the Lehigh Valley

If I had $1200 burning a hole in my pocket I might consider buying a flight on this B-29.
Then again, for that much I might score a transcontinental Amtrak trip in a roomette. Tough choice. I'd probably go for the train trip and just watch the plane.

Check out the touch and go video in the article. I love the sound of those engines when they throttle up for takeoff.

 

[ThomB]

Darn it, I can't go either since I'll be away. I'd love to see and hear it.

 

[Palmland]

Wow, thanks for that info @AmtrakMaineiac. My son and family live in Harrisburg and they may want to see it. His granddad, my wife's dad, flew them in the Pacific and bombing runs over Japan. We have a piece of shrapnel he took on in the cockpit as well as his flight jacket. So glad to see it flying.

 

[Bob Dylan]

One of only two that are currently flyable left. This would be cool to see. I will be in the Lehigh Valley that weekend but Unfortunately tied up with my move.

B-29 Doc, a Superfortress bomber from WWII, set to land in the Lehigh Valley

If I had $1200 burning a hole in my pocket I might consider buying a flight on this B-29.
Then again, for that much I might score a transcontinental Amtrak trip in a roomette. Tough choice. I'd probably go for the train trip and just watch the plane.

Check out the touch and go video in the article. I love the sound of those engines when they throttle up for takeoff.

My dad flew Missions from Tinian to Japan on 2 B-29s during WWII (" Man-O-War" and "The Spearhead").

Back in the day I was a Member of the Confererate AirForce Ghost Squadron( Now renamed the Commenrative Air Force) and was able to ride on a B-17 and B-25, and to tour a Flyable B-29 during an Air Show.

To me, $1200 would be Money Well Spent to take a hop on a Super Flying Fortress!

 

[Asher]

One of only two that are currently flyable left. This would be cool to see. I will be in the Lehigh Valley that weekend but Unfortunately tied up with my move.

B-29 Doc, a Superfortress bomber from WWII, set to land in the Lehigh Valley

If I had $1200 burning a hole in my pocket I might consider buying a flight on this B-29.
Then again, for that much I might score a transcontinental Amtrak trip in a roomette. Tough choice. I'd probably go for the train trip and just watch the plane.

Check out the touch and go video in the article. I love the sound of those engines when they throttle up for takeoff.

I’m glad they are still around. I once saw a B29 landing at Hughes Aircraft in Culver City. It went right over where I worked just across the street from the end of the runway. All the plexiglass in the nose made it easy to identify.

I once caught a short hop from Burbank to LAX with just a few other employees on a United Airlines DC 7. Burbank has a really short runway and it seemed like the pilot ripped it off the ground and departed in a steep angle. They had the same Pratt&Whitney Cyclone 3550 engine as the B 29. I don’t think it was a very dependable engine in the B29’s

 

[Night Ranger]

One of only two that are currently flyable left. This would be cool to see. I will be in the Lehigh Valley that weekend but Unfortunately tied up with my move.

B-29 Doc, a Superfortress bomber from WWII, set to land in the Lehigh Valley

If I had $1200 burning a hole in my pocket I might consider buying a flight on this B-29.
Then again, for that much I might score a transcontinental Amtrak trip in a roomette. Tough choice. I'd probably go for the train trip and just watch the plane.

Check out the touch and go video in the article. I love the sound of those engines when they throttle up for takeoff.

Doc is based in Wichita, KS, and I got to tour its operations base a few years ago on a visit. Doc was on tour at the time but I still enjoyed seeing how it was saved and restored.

A couple of years before that, I paid 500 or so dollars for a ride in a visiting B-17 that flew into Chattanooga. IT WAS WORTH IT! My wife's birthday present made for one very memorable birthday.

 

[MARC Rider]

Back in 2015 they commemorated VE day in Washington DC by having a massive flyover of almost every WW2 veteran plane capable of taking to the air. A bunch of us took a long lunch and hung out by the Washington Monument and watched the planes flying over the WW2 Memorial. This included some B-29s.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I’m glad they are still around. I once saw a B29 landing at Hughes Aircraft in Culver City. It went right over where I worked just across the street from the end of the runway. All the plexiglass in the nose made it easy to identify.

I once caught a short hop from Burbank to LAX with just a few other employees on a United Airlines DC 7. Burbank has a really short runway and it seemed like the pilot ripped it off the ground and departed in a steep angle. They had the same Pratt&Whitney Cyclone 3550 engine as the B 29. I don’t think it was a very dependable engine in the B29’s

My dad would tell us that the B-29 was the most complex Plane that the Air Force ever had, and that the Engines and the Hydralic systems were the most Troublesome!

 

[west point]

what is mostly forgotten is that Boeing brought out an improved 29 called the B-50 It followed very closely to the B-36 being in service. B-50 had about twice the bomb payload of B-29. The following article points out some improvements. But what IMO was much more important was the B-50's electrical system.

The B-29 was an essential DC aircraft with a few motor generators for the various AC equipment. The B-50 turned the tables and was 1st aircraft with a 400 hZ,110 Volt, 3 phase AC electrics. The 400 hZ allowed for major reductions of mass for various motors such as fuel pumps, Hydraulic pumps and other AC. AC went tol rectifiers for DC powered that equipment needing DC which were less weight than the old motor generators of B-29s. AC servos were also less bulky.

IMO the success of the AC was shown in the design of the KC -135s, B-707s, & DC-8s. Followed shortly by the B-727, B-737, & DC-9. 400 hZ was possible for the development of constant speed drives that in turn ran the generators at the speed required for 400 hZ. That is what am familiar for turbo jets. How 400 hZ was provided on B-50s have no idea,

https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=41...YQNIBCDM3NDVqMGoxqAIAsAIA&FORM=ANNTA1&PC=HCTS

​

 

[CharlesBeasley]

My Brother-in-law was honored to be allowed a few years back to take over the controls of the restored B-29 after being away and retired.
For a interesting read; The life and careers of William I. McCowen – Combat veteran of three wars, businessman, father, husband

 

[BlackDiamond]

How 400 hZ was provided on B-50s have no idea,

Probably motor generator sets. When I was in the Air Force Communications Service in the early 1970s we were still using a lot of ground to air radios from the Korean War era such as the GRC-27 that were vacuum tube and use MG sets usually Dynamotors with the motor and generator combined into one unit to generate the high voltages for the tubes. I imagine something similar could have been use to generate 400 hz 3 phase.