Leeham News and Analysis
There's more to real news than a news release.
There's more to real news than a news release.
Leeham News and Analysis
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Boeing B-29 “Doc” visits Seattle May 17-22
By Scott Hamilton
May 17, 2022, (c) Leeham News: A Boeing B-29 bomber, made famous in World War II, is here in Seattle May 17-22. Ground tours will be May 19-22. Rides will be the mornings of May 21-22. Times may be found here. The plane is at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.
Boeing B-29 “Doc” is visiting Boeing Field May 17-22. It will be open to the public May 19-22. Photo credit: Leeham News.
A media advance was today in which a short flight of 30 minutes over the North Puget Sound from Boeing Field occurred. I’ll have a full report next week.
Good on you for getting a ride. We are very lucky to have the opportunity’s to fly vintage warbirds after the Collings Foundation loss of Nine O Nine. You are in a very small group and I’m terribly jealous. Im lookimg forward to the story ……
Sometime in the late 80s as I recall, my wife and I were going through the Museum of Flight (the big updated had occurred since my last visit)
I forget what triggered us to go outside, there was a restored B-17 taxing down the runway and a whole gallery of Tuxedo and formal Evening dress ladies up on the balcony, clearly all the shaker and movers in Seattle (airplane wise).
The B-17 made its turn and ran up its engines and smoke is pouring out. My wife (former ranch gal) was aghast, are they ok.
Yep, give them a minute, smoke clears, brakes release and off they go.
Story was that it had been restored and donated to the Museum on a delay basis while they ran around with it for a while.
Never thought I would see a B-17 live, serious thrill.
I got to tour a running B-25 that came up here, have had a B-24 visit. Happens again I would put the money out to take a spin (hopefully in the nice and level and sedate sense) – I would give body parts to be at the controls.
Funny story on the B-29 (Fifi now?). First one that the Confedere Air Force (no long under that name) recovered from a Bonyard in Nevada or Airzona
They had it about ready to go, the engines took 80 gallons of oil (for a combat mission as they used a lot of oil). But, for an unloaded flight, 40 gallons was good.
However, the only Non Detergent Oil (mandatory in a radial) they could find was in 1 quart cans.
So endless hours opening 640 one quart cans and pouring it into the oil tank (and pulling in ND oil from all over the Western US!)
I probably missed my chance to go up in the B-17. It used to be $150. My father flew from North Africa to Italy during the war in one. He wasn’t flight crew but they needed a good tire mechanic, so he was brought along. Fathoming such an early aerospace weapon like that is almost impossible. Even with all the movies and airshows I cannot really grasp flying between all those pistons holding on to a 50 Cal machine gun. It might as well be a Spanish Galleon…
If there is significant interest in flying vintage Boeing planes, maybe Boeing management could find a way to monetize this – Boeing Vintage Airplane Services….Lord knows the business model of designing and building modern airplanes for commercial and defense customers is not working out too well these days.
It’s always good to see WWII era aircraft in the sky where they belong.
I can tell when summer begins where I live, I start to hear the Spitfires flying past a few times a day. They are passenger flights mostly in two seat training models, from Biggin Hill down to the White Cliffs around Beachy Head and back to Biggin Hill again.
In mid summer I usually hear Spitfires five or six times a day. It’s fun to try to identify which Spit it is as mostly they are Merlin engined aircraft, but now and again it’ll be a Griffon engined plane.
Now and again there will be a single seat Spit being quite literally thrown around the clouds, that’s a pretty glorious sight.
The Airbourne airshow is back this year, so another opportunity to see the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Spitfire, Hurricane, and Lancaster bomber).
A few years ago, it was amazing to see the only two airworthy Lancasters flying together at Airbourne.
Also very fortunate to have seen around 30 Dakotas (DC-3/C-47) fly over for the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings in June 2019. Around 15 of the aircraft were from the USA.
Something that I was shocked at in myself was I found myself completely smitten by the A1 Skyraider!
Post WWII of course. I have been around a number of Mustangs, F4U and would have to ponder how many others.
The flight I was at had a Mustang, sweet sounding engine. The A1 fires up and it was, wow, it just grabbed me. I always loved the Spit and P-38, Corsair and I fell for the utility machine. Go figure.
Not that I don’t love watching and hearing the others but the A1 grabbed my heart.