by Administrator
30. June 2008 07:47
Photos of the B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" at the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH.
From Wikipedia
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Military in World War II and the Korean War, and by other nations afterwards. The name "Superfortress" was derived from its well-known predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress.
The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II. It was one of the most advanced bombers of its time, featuring innovations such as a pressurized cabin, a central fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine gun turrets. It was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, but flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. It was the primary aircraft in the U.S. firebombing campaign against Japan in the final months of World War II, and B-29s carried the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unlike many other bombers, the B-29 remained in service long after the war ended, a few being employed as flying television transmitters for Stratovision. The type was finally retired in the early 1960s, with 3,960 aircraft excluding the Tu-4, having been built between 1943 and 1946.
Subsequent modifications led to the USAF B-50. The Soviet Union reverse engineered several captured B-29s to produce the Tupolev Tu-4.[3]
Full Wikipedia Entry