Warplanes of the USA: Boeing B-29 Super Fortress

Boeing B-29 Super Fortress

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document Warplanes from the Second World War preserved in the USA.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website.  Photos are as credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplane Survivors of the Second World War in the United States of America would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at [email protected].

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-29s drop bombs over Rangoon, Burma. Nearest aircraft is B-29-25-BA (S/N 42-63526) of the 871st Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group, 20th Air Force. This aircraft was reported as shot down by flak 24 March 1945 near Nagoya, Japan.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during the Second World War and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.

One of the largest aircraft of the Second World War, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $52 billion in 2024), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company.

The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name Washington from 1950 to 1954 when the jet-powered Canberra entered service. The B-29 was the progenitor of a series of Boeing-built bombers, transports, tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, and trainers. For example, the re-engined B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop, during a 94-hour flight in 1949. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter airlifter, which was first flown in 1944, was followed in 1947 by its commercial airliner variant, the Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser. In 1948, Boeing introduced the KB-29 tanker, followed in 1950 by the Model 377-derivative KC-97. A line of outsized-cargo variants of the Stratocruiser is the Guppy / Mini Guppy / Super Guppy, which remain in service with NASA and other operators. The Soviet Union produced 847 Tupolev Tu-4s, an unlicensed reverse-engineered copy of the B-29. Twenty-two B-29s have survived to preservation; while the majority are on static display at museums, two airframes, FIFI and Doc, still fly. (Wikipedia)

(USAAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 42-24812). Built at the Boeing factory at Wichita, Kansas. Delivered to the 504th Bombardment Group on 1 November 1944. Named Miss Su Su after the granddaughter of the crew commander, Major A. Sidney Hale. Written off after a collision on landing on 15 May 1945.

(USAAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers from the US 500th BG dropping incendiary payloads over Yokohama, Japan, May 1945.

(USAAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 42-94106).

(USAAF Photo)

Pair ofBoeing B-29 Superfortress bombers in flight (Serial Nos. 42-24558 and 24554).

Boeing B-29 Super Fortresses preserved in the USA by aircraft type, serial number, registration number and location:

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 42-65281), “Miss America ‘62”, Travis AFB, Fairfield, California.

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Boeing RB-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 42-93967), "City of Lansford, PA".  Later converted to F-13. Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, Cordele, Georgia.

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-29-45MO Superfortress (Serial No.44-27297), "Bockscar", in storage at Davis-Montham AFB, Tucson, Arizona, 1955.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Boeing B-29-45MO Superfortress (Serial No.44-27297), "Bockscar", National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

(Valder137 Photo)

Boeing B-29-45MO Superfortress (Serial No.44-27297), "Bockscar", National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. On 9 August 1945 this B-29 was flown by Charles W. Sweeney and dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

Boeing B-29A Superfortress (Serial No. 44-62139), C/N 11616, fuselage only.  National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-27343).

(Tim Tessier Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-27343), Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-61535), "Raz'n Hell", Castle Air Museum, Atwater, California. This is a composite aircraft using the tail of (Serial No. 44-61535), the outer wings of (Serial No. 44-84084), and the fuselage and inner wings of (Serial No. 44-70064).

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Boeing B-29A-40BN Superfortress (Serial No. 44-61669), "Mission Inn", painted as (Serial No. 44-27353), which flew as an observation aircraft during the bombing of Hiroshima and the bombing of Nagasaki. March Field Air Museum, Riverside, California.

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-61671), "The Great Artiste".

(Dante Cosentino Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-61671), "The Great Artiste", Whiteman AFB, Knob Noster, Missouri.

(Author Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-61975), "Jack's Hack", New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

(Author Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-62022), B-29 piloted by Lt. Robert T. Haver and named "Peachy", Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, Pueblo, Colorado.

(Acroterion Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-62070), "Fifi", Commemorative Air Force, Addison, Texas. Airworthy.

(Articseahorse Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-62220), "Joltin' Josie the Pacific Pioneer", Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas.

(Articseahorse Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-69729), "T Square 54", Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington.

(Calholguin109 Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-69972), "Doc", Doc's Friends, Wichita, Kansas. Airworthy.

(Author Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-700160, "Sentimental Journey", Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-70049), owned by Kermit Weeks and in storage at Aero Trader, Borrego Springs, California.

(Jud McCranie Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-70113), "Sweet Eloise", Dobbins ARB, Marietta, Georgia.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-84053), "Big Red", Museum of Aviation, Warner Robins, Georgia.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-84076), "Lucky Lady", Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum, Ashland, Nebraska.

(USAAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 “Enola Gay” on Tinian in the Marianas Islands.

(Toastydave Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-86292), "Enola Gay".  On 6 August 1945, "Enola Gay", accompanied by "The Great Artiste" and "Necessary Evil," dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  This aircraft is preserved in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia.

(Jerry Gunner Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-86408), "Hagarty's Hag", Hill Aerospace Museum, Ogden, Utah.

(Michael Barera Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-87627), "Bossier City", Barksdale Global Power Museum, Bossier City, Louisiana.

(Greg Goebel Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 44-87779), "Legal Eagle II", South Dakota Air and Space Museum, Rapid City, South Dakota.

(Balon Greyjoy Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 45-21748), "Duke of Albuquerque", National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

(Netweave Photo)
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Serial No. 45-21787), "Fertile Myrtle", Fantasy of Flight, Polk City, Florida.  Forward fuselage on display, remainder in storage.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1517)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress on display at an airshow in Vancouver, British Columbia, August 1945.

 (City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1514)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress on display at an airshow in Vancouver, British Columbia, August 1945.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo, AM640-S1-: CVA 260-1515)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress on display at an airshow in Vancouver, British Columbia, August 1945.

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

A B-29, dubbed Kee Bird, piloted by Lt. Vernon Arnett, took off from Ladd Field with an 11-strong crew onboard on February 20, 1947. On this mission they were supposed to go around the North Pole before returning to base. Nothing like today’s GPS was available to navigators at the time and the polar region is not particularly rich in landscape reference points, so keeping on the course during polar overflights was no easy task. The first part of the flight was quite routine and uneventful, but soon after circling the North Pole and turning back toward Alaska, navigator Lt. Burl Cowan admitted that he could not identify their current location. All their attempts to get back on the course toward Ladd Field using radar and radio compass were futile. Meanwhile, they started running out of fuel. The crew had no other choice except making an emergency landing somewhere, anywhere. They saw a suitable area underneath and landed the aircraft on its belly (intentionally not using the landing gear, as they didn’t know how deep the snow was and what they were even landing on).

Arnett and his co-pilot Lt. Russell Jordan managed to land the plane safely with all the crewmembers uninjured and the radio undamaged. On February 24 they were rescued by a Douglas C-54 Skymaster. As for the Kee Bird, it was left there, slightly damaged, lying on what turned out to be the surface of a frozen lake in Greenland. Capt. Setterich in a C-54 circled the B-29, taking pictures and making general observations. The crew of the Kee Bird boarded the C-54 and took off at 1625 from the frozen lake assisted by the JATO rockets with all survivors aboard. “After take-off, Lt Pope, Medical Officer from BW-8, examined the survivors but found no frozen parts, but did find mild cases of shock and exposure.” After that, all survivors stretched out on sleeping bags and kapok mattresses, and slept as much as possible during the return flight.

After the C-54 landed at Thule the survivors and the rescue aircraft crew were given a steak dinner. Then the C-54s departed Thule for nonstop flight to Westover Field, Massachusetts, with all survivors and crew members aboard, arriving on February 24. The B-29 aircraft was written off and abandoned, and dropped from Air Force inventory records. Almost five decades later a renowned aviator Darryl Greenamyer organized an operation to salvage Kee Bird, which by that time had become a rarity, one out of a couple of dozens remaining Superfortresses. Greenamyer’s team set up a camp on the icy lake and repaired the B-29, installing new engines and props. By the spring of 1995 they were ready to take the Kee Bird into the air.

In July 1994, a team of aircraft restorers operating as Kee Bird, LLC, was led by Darryl Greenamyer to the emergency landing site. The aircraft had made a successful landing on the frozen lake and had remained relatively intact at the site ever since. The USAF had also surrendered any claim to the B-29. The plane was thought to be able to be put into flying condition, flown out of the site, and ferried to Thule AB, Greenland, where further repairs could be made before flying back to the United States. An improvised runway was prepared using a bulldozer brought there on an old de Havilland C-7A Caribou. However, an unfortunate accident ruined all their plans. As Kee Bird was taxiing on the ground, some gas spilled from a can onto the auxiliary generator, causing an extensive fire. The crew evacuated safely, but the B-29’s airframe was damaged beyond any repair. Kee Bird’s destiny was to lie in the ice of Greenland, where its remains and can be found up to this very day. (Craig Bowman)

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-50 Superfortress, an American strategic bomber, emerged as a post-Second World War iteration of the renowned Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Enhanced with robust Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, reinforced structure, an elongated tail fin, and various upgrades, it represented a significant advancement. Serving as the ultimate piston-engined bomber crafted by Boeing for the United States Air Force, it later evolved into Boeing's concluding design in this category, the prototype B-54. Despite not achieving the same level of recognition as its predecessor, the B-50 faithfully served in the USAF for close to two decades.

(USAF Photo)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress being rolled out with the Bell Aircraft Corporation X-1-2 mated and ready for flight. NACA Flight 33 was flown on 23 September 1949.

(USAF Photo)

Boeing YB-29 formation. The nearest aircraft is YB-29-BO (S/N 41-36960, the seventh YB-29 built). They are painted in standard AAF Dark Olive Drab with Neutral Gray undersides.

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Boeing YB-29 (Serial No. 41-38660). Service Test Models were intended for testing and crew training.

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Boeing YB-29 (Serial No. 41-36954), with Allison V-1710 engines.

(SDASM Archives Photo)

Boeing YB-29 (Serial No. 41-38660).

(Australian War Memorial Photo)

On 9 March 1945, at Tien Ho airfield in China, Japanese forces painted a massive decoy of a B-29 bomber with a 300-foot wingspan directly on the ground. Designed to look like a damaged bomber in flight, complete with flaming engine, from high altitude, the illusion was meant to lure Allied planes into flak traps.