Boeing B-29

Boeing B-29A Superfortress, 44-61669, "Mission Inn", March Field Museum, Riverside California USA, Rob Vogelaar 1995

The B-29 was the first effective long distance bomber in the world en was designed from 1940 as model 345 to fill the need of the US Army Air Core's plan for a 'hemisphere defense' bomber.

The design was extremely advanced with a pressurized cabin, remote controlled defense weapons, an enormous offensive bomb load and very high performance under witch a very high service ceiling.

The first of three prototypes flew in September 1942 with four Wright R-3550 'star-engines' each equipped with a turbo charger. In the same time Boeing had contracts for more than 1500 production bombers.

The XB-29's were followed by 14 YB-29 pre-production airframes, the first of these 14 flew in June 1943.

A huge effort was made to get the super fortresses in use, and a very extended network of subcontractors supplied parts to four assembly-plants. The type became operational in time to be used in the second world war, and play a very important roll in the campaigns against Japan witch ended in August 1945 with the drop of two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Approx 2848 B-29's were completed with 1122 B-29A's that had a slightly lager wing-span and modernized defensive weaponry and 311 B-29B's without defensive weapons, but with a radar guided tail barbette. Later this type was redesigned for recon an experimental tasks and was later refitted with a heavier construction and Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines as the B-29D witch came in production as the B-50A.

Boeing B-29A Super fortress
Developing Nation:	United States
First Flight(s):	September 1942
Crew:	10
Wing Span:	43,05 m
Wing:	161,56 M2
Length:	30,18 m
Weight empty:	32.369 kg.
Weight Max. Load:	62.823 kg.
Engine (s):	four 1640 kW Wright R-3350-23 Cyclone Eighteen 'star engines' air cooled.
Max. Speed:	576 Kph. at sea-level
Max. Height:	9708 m.
Max. Range:	6598 km.
Weapons:	- one 20 mm. canon - twelve 12,7 mm machineguns - Max. 9072 kg. bombs.