My Dad was stationed on the destroyer USS Roe. During the bombing of Japan they were on picket duty to rescue downed airmen. They rescued the entire crew of one B-29 that had to ditch at sea. Members of that crew attended several of the reunions held by shipmates of the Row. They never forgot the crew of the Row and were honorary shipmates.

My father was a radio operator on a B-29 In Korea 39 missions. He recently passed away and in a trunk I found his uniforms,insignia , letters and his diary. A treasure to be sure of that time. He never talked about but the diary described an attack by a Mig-15 (A jet in the diary).

My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator 1944 -1945. He passed away in 2016 at age 94. I have his original flight jacket with squadron insignia which he had kept all these years.

My dad was a US Army Air Force pilot flying B29s out of Saipan during WWII. He talked very little about the war and when it was over mustered out of the military for a couple years. But then he reenlisted as a pilot and flight instructor when the US Air Force was formed in 1947. He continued to fly the B29, the KB29 tanker, as well as the B50, KB50 and occasionally the even larger B36. He had a lot of interesting stories about those years. For example, in the mid to late 1950s the tankers were flying out of England as support for jets patroling just this side of the Russian border over the Scandanavian countries. A typical tanker flight was 12 hours spent lingering around an assigned sector, ready to provide fuel to any of the jets that needed it. It often was boring as Hell, so they would sometimes "accidentally" enter Russian airspace briefly to make the Migs scramble, just to liven things up. They called it "poking the bear". Generally speaking, dad was a popular pilot because, among other things, he would do the checklist while taxiing or even rolling down the runway for takeoff. You see, the sooner they got to their assigned sector with the fuel and did their 12 hours, the sooner they could come home! That might have gotten him in trouble once. They weren't happy about it, but got assigned a tanker that had a history of issues. They took off from N. England in low, heavy clouds and started their climb. Some 100 miles or so out over the ocean and still climbing through the cloud layer the airplane suddenly went into a right turn they couldn't correct and started losing altitude in a wide spiral. Still in the thick clouds they couldn't see beyond the first engine nacelle, so had no idea what was wrong, but nothing they did with the flight controls would stop the airplane from banking right and slowly losing altitude. After several minutes that seemed like hours and finally descending below the cloud layer at about 2500 feet, they were amazed to see much of their right aeleron missing from the wing, enough of it still hung up there to cause the wing to drop and cause the constant turn! They had no choice but to try to return to base, if they could find a way to control the airplane. By throttling back the left-hand engines a bit they were able to get the plane to fly somewhat straight, reasonably level and pointed toward home. But they still had to dump their full load of jet fuel, now at only about 1500 feet over the N. Sea and parts of N. England. Lightening the airplane made it handle and maintain altitude better. The remaining control surfaces, landing gear and hydraulics all fortunately continued to work, more or less, while careful engine management gave them some level of control over the airplane. Enough to get home! It was only after landing safely and exiting the plane that they discovered when it broke off the wing the aeleron had flown back and damaged the vertical and horizontal stabilizers too! They really "dodged a bullet". I couldn't help but wonder if a more careful pre-flight might have spotted the problem with the aeleron. But, then again, why hadn't the ground crew caught it? That particular airplane with its history of problems never flew again. It was parked and stripped for spare parts. Then there was the B36 they had to retrieve from Morroco, with only six of its ten engines working.... But that's another story!

We watch you here at Camp Pendleton. Love your reenactment and attention to detail. But more importantly, sharing the stories of our American Heroes! God bless our nation 🇺🇸

My Mother worked at the Boeing Aircraft plant at Seattle , WA building those B29 Aircraft. I have a B 29wing pin that was given to her when Jimmy Doolittle visited the plant in 1945.

B-29 also flew as navigation aids for P-51 Mustangs flying VLR (Very Long Range) missions from American air base in Iwo Jima to mainland Japan during WWII. The missions took almost 8 hours, and involved fighter sweeps against Japanese aircraft and attacking targets. The missions were so dangerous that after 15 missions the P-51 pilots would earn the right to go home.

Great video. My dad was a gunner on a B29 when they were shot down on their way back to Saipan after dropping their bombs on Japan. Spent 10 days on a life raft before being rescued.

I understand war time, but my uncle LT. Oliver D. Holmquist died in a B-29 air crash due to engine fire in July 1948 the fact that more B-29's were lost to engine failure than enemy fire is flat out ridicules !

Great video. I think it is worth noting that the WASPS played a major role with the B-29. They helped test fly, some of which had lost their lives. They helped transport them to their designated bases for the airmen who were soon to pilot them. Some men were afraid to fly it, but seeing and hearing that a woman was able to fly it was a great motivation for them to fly. There is not nearly enough recognition for the WASPS. I think you could make some great content with their stories if you have not already.

My dad flew in a B-29 from China, and eventually Tinian. He was in many of the raids on the Japanese mainland including the raid that burned Tokyo. He was not involved in the Atomic bomb attacks. We have his photos he took of Nanda Devi and Mt Everest as they flew "over the hump". He lost a lot of friends, and flying over the Himalayas was very dangerous, many B-29's are still in the mountains I imagine.

Much is said about the immense size of the B-29; and it was significantly larger than other aircraft of the day. If you have the opportunity to see one today, you are shocked by how small and cramped they are. People just do not realize how far aviation has come since those days.

One of my favourite videos!!! The B-29 has been since young age, probably, my favourite WW2 bomber. I mean, it was huge, mighty (for WW2 era size), very good looking! It was modern, surely between the most advanced aeroplanes of WW2! The very distinct highly shiny metal was simply beautiful, very eye catching! Thank you for yet another accurate and very interesting video!!!

My dad was in the first group to be stationed on Saipan, (497th Group,73rd Wing,869 Bomb Sq.)He flew 35 missions over Japan and 5 other missions. During his tour he lost 4 engines . He never talked about any of the war until I was visiting him when he was in his 90's. I remember a time in the 1970's when we were on a business trip and I woke up hearing him and realized he was flying a mission in his sleep.(ac:A[]3)

The Douglas A-26 Invader would be a good one to cover. Spanning three wars. The Douglas A-1 Skyraider as well. Excellent video. Thank you!

A lot of great information that I had never heard before! I appreciate the research you did on this video!

My father stationed in Lubbock Texas the entire war was a mechanic on B17 & B29. He said when they received the first B29 that the interior of the moters did not cool but had to be rebuilt after every flight..... That by the end of the war the rotary engines (4 inline rows if 7 pistons each) could fly about 120 hours. They steadily improved. Also they didn't have the right tools and would take torches and bend, lengthen, create tools for specific jobs. That plane was so full of "new" advanced development that when the Russians finally got there hands on one......they were astonished....! All the brave men and women of that time are gone now. We owe them alot....! We so easily live in comfort paid for with truly special blood..... just jim

25:24 This guy was a great subject to interview. I really enjoyed listening to him talk about the wars.

My uncle was test pilot in Nebraska, Myles " Doc " Hubbard, he was the first guy to fly the B-29 that became the Enola Gay, quiet little guy with balls the size of church bells, became a test pilot after he was told he wasn't tall enough to be a Army Air Corps pilot.

Friend of mine served as right waist gunner on B-29s in Korea. He said the #2 Engine had a habit of running away and would eventually break loose from it's mounts and the Prop would Saw thru the fuselage dooming the plane . He also said when the Bombadier would hit the Bomb release he would say " going up " over the com as the weight released would make the plane go higher.

My Grandfather was a gunner. His log shows the POW drops. Great video - learned a ton.

Way to go Brad and David! Great info as always!

Great video. Keep up the great work! My father was a 2nd lieutenant in the USAAF during WWII and he became a B-29 Superfortress pilot in June 1945. He wanted to become a B-29 pilot so bad that he actually postponed his wedding to my mother twice just so he could learn how to fly the big bomber. He absolutely loved flying the Superfortress despite its known engine problems. Dad sometimes referred to those early R-3350 engines as "wrong engines" and "flame throwers" because the valves would stick if the engines were overheated for very long and catch fire. Another contributing factor was the electrically controlled cowl flaps. Fully open, those cowl flaps generated so much drag that he had to close them for takeoff, otherwise you would run out of runway before the plane had enough speed built up to get it off the ground. The cylinder head temperatures on those early R-3350 engines were redlined at 289 degrees F and he said on a good hot day in sunny Florida it was not uncommon for them to be reading 320 F during takeoff. He flew B-29's out of MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. By July 1945, my father had his own assigned B-29 crew with orders to report for combat duty to Northwest Field in Guam. There, they would have found out which bomb group and bomb squadron they were to be asigned to. As it turned out, the war ended just two weeks to the day before he and his B-29 crew were to report to Guam for combat duty. Before my father became a B-29 pilot, he was an instructor pilot in B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators and Martin B-26 Marauders.

This is an awesome video TJ well worth the wait. You're videos just keep getting better and better. Everytime I think you won't be able to top your last video you somehow hit it out of the park. From the videos on your Patreon it looks like your having a great time doing it too. I built the B-29 Eddie Allen for my son who is also Named Eddie Allen to hang in his room. Keep Em Flying TJ.

Another great informative video TJ3. I always learn from these videos. The B-24 Liberator “ Witchcraft” in this video I have seen and actually been in. When it came to a airport near me back in 2018. Maybe a video on that B-24? Or B-24s Thanks.

Beautiful animation! Thank you for this fascinating documentary!

Great video! Especially appreciate the 1st person accounts from viewers experience and relatives stories.

Dad was an 18 year old B-29 navigator with 8 missions over Japan. He hated the plane and said the B-29 came much closer to killing him then the Japanese ever did. More B-29's were lost to operational causes than were shot down in WWII. The plane was rushed too quickly into service and the planes short comings were paid for with the lives of the men who went down with them.

Thank you for making this longer video, especially the mercy flights, I've not heard of them. war is hell.

Love the content! keep up the good work!

Thank you for this video. I have 6 period photographs of three (3) B-29s parked up, together, in at least two different airfields in the UK in the last part of the air war over Europe. They were deliberately parked closely together and in one shot a B-17 is parked close by so that German agents would get an instant comparison of the difference in size between the two aircraft types. In the photos they are surrounded by, highly interested, RAF personnel. 'News' of these new, huge bombers swept through the RAF and their placement was also organised so that they were close to the base HQ and near access roads; to make it even easier for 'outsiders' to get a good look. Historians who wrote about this propaganda event estimated that photographs of the B-29s would have made it back to Luftwaffe high command in record time. In the past year or so I did see one of these photos on a KZfaq channel. Despite the excellent information in this video; I've done a lot of reading on the early days of the B-29 and I, plus many others, believe that the mechanical problems of this aircraft were far worse than any of the, then, available reports of serious malfunctions. Sure, a lot of these issues could, and were, put down to the new nature of the aircraft's systems, however, the usual long periods of prototype testing were not applied to the formative days of the B-29; such was the headlong rush to get the assembly lines running in the factories. Even prototype testing lasting an extra six to nine months would have significantly reduced the numbers of serious aircraft losses and severe crash landings; thus saving lives and a great deal of money. Books about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan all seem to mention various precautions taken with the aircraft of the 'atomic' squadron, up to being virtually 're-built' by hand and fully tested before taking the nukes onboard. There was no way they could risk a crash on take-off which would have utterly destroyed the island of Tinian and, perhaps another island in the Marianas chain. Even an accidental drop in the open sea would have brought the American 'stockpile' of nukes down to one bomb, at the time. The bombing of Nagasaki would have had to wait some months. Given the Japanese high command were not immediately convinced to surrender after the bombing of Hiroshima; no further drops of atomic weapons would have convinced the Japanese to continue preparations for a land invasion by the US and her Allies. So, the swift end to World War 2 all came down to the ‘special’ reliability of these B-29s. Cheers, Bill H.

Dad was Combat Camera with the B29s operating out of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian islands. I have the Air Medal he earned flying missions with them. The one story I remember him telling, other than how Capt Ronald Regan signed him up out of the infantry(no idea how true this was), was one of the air crew customs. Whoever used the toilet on the airplane first had to empty and clean it out after the flight. This would lead to hours and hours of squirming guys until someone finally gave in, which lead to the pilots having to adjust the trim as all the crew headed to the back of the plane at one time.

I thought I knew the history of this remarkable aircraft, but this is all new to me. Well done!

It would be interesting to see what you could find out about the C-133 Cargomaster built in the 1950's to haul Atlas and Titan missiles to the silos in mid-America. It was the largest turboprop aircraft built in the free world. Only 50 of these airplanes were built and after the delivery of the missiles the airplanes were used to haul outsized cargo during the Viet Nam War. It was replaced by the C-5 Galaxy in 1971.

B-26. My Dad served in a B-26 mostly (N. Africa, Sicily, Italy) as a photographer, waist gunner and radio man until 44, then back to the US to train for service in the Pacific, but the war ended first. I have copies of most of his mission after action reports and note there were instances of bombs exploding inside some planes or hanging up when the bomb bay doors opened. Only a few such reports, but that must have been terrorizing to the crews of nearby planes. Noting also many missions involved dropping bombs with time delay fuzes mixed in with bombs with instant fuzes. Some 15 minutes, a half hour, 3 hours, some 6 or 12 or more. That must have been annoying to rescue crews for sure.

My dad joined the nascent us-air force post WW2 to the Korean was as an in-flight radar technician on b-29 refeuling variants. He loved the B-29 . I'm glad it was built.

Good video. You might have mentioned the B-50, which was a direct development from the B-29 and looks almost the same. The main change was the engines which were changed to the Pratt and Whitney R-4360-35 Wasp Major. There were many other changes also, which improved both the speed and handling of the aircraft, as well as its load capacity, and fire control of its defensive armament.

Great video TJ. Learned a lot of new facts. Keep 'em comin'! 🇺🇸

Another great video. So glad I subscribed to this channel.

One thing I have not heard anyone talk about is after WWII, the B-29 was dropping guns, money, supplies and personnel behind the Iron Curtain trying to foment revolutions in eastern bloc countries. Dad said they would try a mission up to three times. He said he only got third missions and never missed. They were almost able to get a revolution to be successful in Hungary. They flew out of Wheelus field in Lybia. Missions were about 24 hours and ended in England. On the return to Lybia, they would take fresh milk back in the bomb bay. Dad was also the last to pilot Bocks Car to the Air Force Museum from the bone yard.

@TJ3 - What a *wonderful* video! Thank you! :)

Great video. Really enjoyed. Loved the narrator/expert in the brown bomber jacket. Great job.

Awesome documentary much appreciated here in Perth Western Australia 👍🙃🍺🦘

I love these old beauties ! Met one at an air show in Nevada......these things have a presence, a heart, a spirit......❤️

The B-29 wasn't the only US bomber with those capabilities. In fact, the military leaders were so unsure of the B-29 they had a backup plan, the B-32 Dominator. Both the B-29 and the B-32 owe a great deal to the Douglas XB-19 which was the largest bomber ever built until 1946.

I love that you used war thunder for your animations that just proves the level of detail they put in to their game

Your contents awesome keep it up! also the B-52 might be hard to cover but it would be super interesting

Maybe you should think about the C-47 Skytrain, most particularly those that flew the hump from India to China. Had an uncle who flew that route. He had two incidents where the plane just didn't make it and broke in half. My uncle and the pilot were the only survivors, according to family lore, and both walked out but not together

Thank you for reminding us to remember the sacrifices of our ancestors.

The F-86 Sabre was available it was rushed to the Korean service and was equal to or superior to the MiG 15, once the elevator was modified it was better than the MiG.

Thanks for this presentation. My father was stationed in Guam from February through November 1945, serving as a B-29 Ground Crew Chief in the 58th Bombardment Group.

My dad saw the *B-36* on the drawing board at Consolidated in *1941.* Huge compared to the B-29.

FINALLY!!!!! A KZfaq video that promises to tell me things I don’t know about a particular subject - and then actually delivers. First time ever.

Yesss FInally! Been waiting a long time for this video to come out, thought you forgot about it after recording. Glad to be the B29 that shot the Mig-15 down (the B29 with a 5 on its tail 😄)

What blows me away is how fast aircraft technology developed between 1940 and 1950. When the first prototype of the B 29 took to the air in November of 1942 it represented the last word in multi engine bomber technology. Yet only five years later when the B 47 multi engine swept wing jet bomber was in the final stages of development, it had become hopelessly outmoded. If you placed both aircraft beside each other, in comparison to the radical B 47 the B 29 would look like it had come from the previous century, such was the case of technological advance during those turbulent years.

Great vid. Lots of stuff I didn’t know about the b29

Thanks for the amazing content you provide about our heroes! Maybe next video you could have something like “5 Facts You Never Knew About the B-24.” I personally feel it is an overlooked aircraft and I feel it should be recognized by more as an effective warbird.

Tremendously informative video! Thank you very much. I learned things about the B-29 and WW-2 that I did not know. Keep up this very important work. My request for an aircraft to do a video on would be a PBY. My dad was a radio man on the PBY in the later stages of WW-2 in the Pacific theater. He was assigned to the USS Pine Island, which was a combination of supply ship/seaplane tender. He flew over Hiroshima 2-weeks after the bomb was dropped and as an 18-year old saw the devastation the bomb wrought. Dad didn't talk about the war too much as I believe was/is common among veterans of any war. He did tell me that he was one of the lucky ones who was able to come home and that many many really good men never were able to return. I think he felt some guilt over that. But he was the greatest man I've ever known and whenever I see old war footage, especially naval footage, I look for my dad in some of those films. Thank you again for your efforts in putting this together.

Heck, I did learn some stuff I didn't know, especially the details. Thank you! For potential viewers, I would recommend skipping that memory fix ad though. I watched that obnoxious thing for about 10 minutes while they kept telling me they were going to show me some method of preventing brain decline, but I went completely senile waiting for them to do so. Otherwise, cool vid.

My dad was a side gunner on a B-29 stationed on Tinian. Your last segment was very interesting because I did not know about the food drops. My dad was a POW the last few months of the war after having to bail out over Tokyo during a night bombing run. We actually have a picture of him after he was freed, I believe it was on a dock in Tokyo bay.

My father told me of a B29 that dropped supplies on the camp he was in located in Mukden in Manchuria. This camp had 10 Australians and the rest of the prisoners were American airmen.

The cost of the initial build, and it’s continuing developmental costs were staggering for the time. Yet the advancements contributed immensely to the future or aircraft design, technology, safety, and overall construction techniques. It was what made America such a leader in post WWII aviation.

Sometime after the first B-29 aeroplatform did a low level recon-mission o'er Tokyo, mes amis, the Empress Nagako (the wife of Emperor Hirohito), wrote in a letter: “Every day from morning to night, B-29's fly freely over the palace making an enormous noise. As I sit at my desk writing and look up at the sky, countless numbers are passing over. Unfortunately... the B-29 is a splendid plane.”

Really miss having the CAF Headquarters in my hometown providing thousands of volunteer hours, getting to see, work with and crawl all around these amazing aircraft including what was the only B-29 flying at the time ‘Fifi”. I had the privilege of getting to help rebuild her as well as maintain her several times. Also had the privilege to get to help rebuild a P-38 Lighting and it was beautiful. However after rebuilding her the CAF was forced to give her up but we won’t go into that. Just miss getting to be around all that as well as all the other people that were there working on them as well.

Have you done one on sabre jets, F86 and F100? Interesting fact. People who saw Godzilla with Raymond Burr as an American news correspondent also saw what looks like F86es with Hollywood makeovers fly airstrikes against Godzilla. In this movie, I also saw American M41 tanks and Browning .30 caliber machine guns.

I really like the story behind "Operation Swift Mercy: it says something about humanity.

Good video, the end was very moving for me!

Excellent precis of the B-29 development and early operations. My father was a USAAF logistics officer, he was sent to the B-29 wing in Kharagpur, India with two orders, he arrived shortly after the first B-29 raid against the Yawata steel factory in southern Japan. One was an oral order that he was supposed to give only to the commanding officer, it was to complete the planned round of operations and then move the wing to the Mariana, the second was that he was to rationalize maintenance and logistics operations, move the critical tools, supplies, spare parts, etc. by air to Tinian and then prepare the other materiel for shipment by sea from Calcutta (now Kolkata). He made six trips across "The Hump" to China to arrange for evacuation of essential supplies there back to India before the shipment on to the Marianas. The B-29s moved from Indian bases (there were 4 sub-base air fields near Kharagpur as part of the B-29 wing) and flew to Clark Field in the Philippines for refueling and maintenance, and then on to Tinian; all of the B-29s taking part in this redeployment made it to the Marianas safely. At that time, the Indian operation had been renamed the 20th Air Force, in the Marianas, the 21st Air Force (the second B-29 wing) move from the US and was organized into a combined force, also named the 20th Air Force under command of Gen. LeMay. After the B-29s and critical items had departed to the Marianas, he was ordered from India direct to Okinawa (arriving on the second day of the invasion) to the Japanese Yontan air field which was to be rebuilt, along with the larger uncompleted air field nearby at Kadena, into the USAAF air base on Okinawa. "Bock's Car", the second B-29 atomic bomber, landed at Yontan with engine problems and fuel starvation on it's way home to Tinian. After refueling and repairs, "Bock's Car" departed for an uneventful final leg home. After the War, Kadena was completed and established as the major Air Force (USAF after 1948) base in the western Pacific, a role it fulfills today. In early June, 1945, the "Command and Staff" of the 8th Air Force began to arrive on Okinawa to organize the B-29 presence on Okinawa in preparation for the Invasion of Japan. Other former 8th Air Force personnel would have been transferred to Okinawa from Britain and Europe for this mission but the end of the War prevented this. On 17 July, 1945, my father was transferred from the 20th Air Force to the 8th Air Force, promoted to Major, and assigned to all command all logistics, aircraft maintenance repair facilities (hangars, workshops, tools, spare parts operations - everything but the men and the weapons), and warehousing on Okinawa. As you can imagine, the B-29 was held in high esteem in our household growing up.

B29, B50, they sure are beautiful airplanes. Thanks for the vid 👍 Greets from the Netherlands, T.

My father was a Marine on Guam toward the end of the war. He told me that after the Marines took Iwo Jima the bombers operating out of Guam had a place to land if they were unable to get all the way back to Guam. Dad got a joy ride in a bomber, because the air crews were so grateful to the Marines for making Iwo Jima available. I am all but certain that meant the ride was in a B29.

My dad worked on the firing system of the B-50s, stationed at Briggs AFB in El Paso, during 1951-'52. For a few months, he was sent to Japan and was stationed at Yakota AFB, where he worked on B-29s. Mr Pilgrim - who, otherwise, provides great commentary in this video - says that no other bomber we had at the time compared to the B-29 as far as range and payload goes, but we DID have the B-50 available. It baffled my Dad at the time, and it baffles me today, why we didn't use the B-50 during the Korean War.

They use to come to US army base Vernam Field, Jamaica on training missions. My Grand mother use to opperate a shop in the village of Gimme--MI-Bit south of the base.

Outstanding video ! Computer graphics for the TJ3 video series have reached maturity, and more than justify their use. We see aircraft in perspective and at visual angles which move with the narration, and always in context, instead of an old film clip, unceremoniously dropped into place. Content-wise, we learned many additional, important facts about B29 development and wartime deployment. For students of history, your frank admission of B29 faults and their resolution is important. Although B29 engines were prone to overheating, many students of this aviation period are unaware the PW engines could catch fire and take out an entire wing in 90 seconds. Likewise, many are unaware B29 armament was suited to only WW2 fighters, and not to Mig15s with two 20mm (or 30mm) cannon. Early computerization of B29 guns did not help, and the B29, as a bomber, suffered heavy losses and was simply forced out of the Korean theater. Of course, we subscribed and Thumbed Up!

I was not aware of a lot of the history involving the B-29! Especially the food drops to the Allied prisoners! Very interesting!

Alot of the B29 pilots were trained by women pilots. The men didn't want to fly a plane that had a tendency to catch fire during the warm up. The pilot, eventually of the Enola Gay, got four women pilots and taught them to fly the 29 and in turn, they taught their male counterparts. Great story.

There were other strategic bombers available for the Korean war, but they were designated for the main nuclear deterrence role. Randolph AFB became a crew training hub as the B-29 came back from storage. Incredible to believe given Randolph's size and early training mission.

My father was an engine mechanic in the Army Air Corp stationed in San Antonio. He said they worked mostly on smaller planes but when a B 29 showed up they had to construct special scaffolds to reach the engines. None of the "jugs" or engine parts were small enough to be carried by hand and had to use improvised hoists.

Take a look at some of the things Howard Hughes did. During my life, he was looked at as excentric (or worse) but during the 1930's and '40's he designed some leading edge aircraft and his last (Spruce Goose) was the largest wooden aircraft to achieve flight. (I spent much of my adult life repairing digital equipment HAC manufactured. It was good stuff but nothing lasts forever. So I'm told.)

An incredible aircraft, cutting edge in so many ways.

It is well to remember that the Wright Bros first flew less than forty years before. Also, I believe, the costs can be amortized over the fleet of B-29's but also civilian Stratocruisers in airline after the war.

I liked that comment aimed at the British "what are'yall doing?" which made me smile as we had the Avro Lancaster since 1941 which carried as much as a B-29 on a lot less power; plus it kept carrying it without catching fire in flight & burning its own wings off, or catching fire while taxiing & very embarrassingly setting its bomb-load off right on the runway; what we produced after the war was a modified Lancaster called an Avro Lincoln, followed by the most excellent, Griffon powered Avro Shackleton which stayed in service until the 1990's it was that good.

In 2015 I had the fortune to take a 30 minute flight onboard the B 29 named the FiFi over the beach in NJ. The roar of those engines starting up still in in my mind and still gives me goosebump years later. . I could not stop thinking of the bravery of the men that flew in those planes in war time combat. IMO the courage of the crews of all B29s is historic.

Fun fact: First use of "Composite Materials" was on the B-29 ... to increase range ("lightening") the Cockpit floors were made of composites (balsa wood/fiberglass not carbon fiber).

I remember the excitement when we heard about the B-19. It became a kinda sweet/sad story when we found out they were to be destroyed after the testing of such a huge aircraft.

That brought tears to my eyes that American POWs gave some of their food to the local Japanese citizens who were also starving. I never heard of that before but it does not surprise me. One thing that always bothered me as a young post-war kid born in 1952 was why the local candy store had candy and wax-filled make-believe lips and teeth filled with juice that was imported from Japan. I did not know better because I was so young. But these "edibles" that resembled fake teeth and fake lips always had some sort of juice filled into them that were marketed as, "made in Japan". They would cost as much as 10 cents to 25 cents depending on what we young 7-year-old kids were able to afford. My dad was always annoyed at me because I bought Japanese products that he and five other brothers fought against in WWII. My dad didn't approve of me spending my money on toy-made wax lips or teeth filled with who knows what kind of juice contained therein. But yet, the U.S. government allowed the Japanese to flood our U.S. markets with toys and other things. In reality, it brought about a revitalization of economic stability between our two countries who are now economic and political allies.

our videos are amazing! I have always loved airplanes, but don't really know much about them. Thank you for sharing this knowledge!

There is a B29 "command decision" at the USAF Museum that shot down 5. Making it a jet ace as a bomber.

Great video, thanks.

They sorted out the b29s inaccuracy problems in the pacific by; stripping out the guns, turning off the pressurization system, flying at night, flying at 5000 ft, doing area bombing. Hey sounds like the british tactics in europe except at lower altitudes.

I think if this bomber game out earlier and was used in Europe it probably wouldn't need a fighter escort. The gun system was so good I don't think any fighters would get near the plane. I saw the whole gun system laid out on the hanger floor and a gentleman was demonstrating how it worked. It seemed way ahead of its time!!!! He could command all the guns at once, or he could give control to anyone in the plane, whoever could see and had the best shot. The turrets turned and moved up and down like lightning, it reminded me of the Terminator! They accounted for bullet drop and wind condition, they rarely missed in WW2! It was very impressive!!! The B29 was like a space ship compared to any bomber at the time.

Normally, I chafe at these "countdown" extravaganzas, but this is decently narrated and interesting - particularly, number three about B-29s resupply of other B-29s.

To think this aircraft was engineered during the days when the flathead Ford V8 ruled the road. The primitive 9N Ford tractor ruled the farm. Aircraft engines built from scratch during a time when most of the metals of today did not exist. Simply mind numbing! The men that crawled into the belly of these beasts were as brave as any from history legend of the past!

Super video. Thank you

My Uncle was a gunner on a B29 in the Korean war he parachuted twice :) Survived to to live a long life :)

The B-29 had a cargo variant called the C-97 Stratofreighter which became the basis for the passenger derivative which was the iconic 377 Stradocruiser which would become one of the iconic passenger airliners of the 1950’s. The 377 Stradocruiser and the C-97 Stratofreighter used surplus B-50 parts specifically the wings, tail, engines and their nacelles which came off the B-50. The Stradocruiser was used by six US airlines (Pan American Airlines “Pan Am, American Overseas Airways, Northwest Airlines which was called Northwest Orient Airlines at the time, United Airlines and Transocean Airlines).

Perhaps another bomber that had a defensive gunner, in this case the co-pilot, was an RB-47H called the Little Toy Dog that is said to have shot down a MiG19 in an encounter in July of 1960 off the Kola Peninsula when it too was shot down.

Interesting tidbit is the engines for the B-29 were built in Cicero Ill. When the engines were tested the engine stand was hooked to generators that were used to run the plant.

My G'Uncle served as a navigator flying the 'Hump' in a B-29. Never any issues. Made it back safe and lived to old age.

Great vid about the B-29.... 👍👍👍 Maybe do videos about the F-86 and the MiG 15??

Outstanding video.