A Brief History
On September 21, 1942, the first Boeing B-29 Superfortress made its first flight. This sleek bomber would become the highest technology piston engine powered bomber of all time, as well as the mightiest bomber of World War II. On top of that, it would also become the first nuclear bomber in history.
Digging Deeper
Needing a longer range bomber than the B-17 and B-24 “heavy” bombers already in service, especially in case Britain fell to the Nazi’s, American engineers feverishly worked on a new design that could fly farther and carry heavier loads than existing bombers. The new plane would have to have a pressurized crew compartment in order to fly higher, and would have to have increased speed as well as range. Boeing began developing the B-29 while Consolidated worked on the B-32 Dominator. Boeing won the competition and 3970 of the big bombers were delivered.
Innovations on the B-29 included the aforementioned pressurized crew compartments, a 20,000 lb bomb load, 357 mph top speed, a ceiling of over 31,000 feet, and a range of 3250 miles (about 5600 miles empty). The tricycle landing gear was dual wheeled, and the 5 twin .50 caliber machine gun turrets were remotely controlled with aiming computers. Even new metal alloys were used, and the B-29 cost triple the price of the B-17. In fact, the B-29 was the most expensive program of World War II.
Not available for combat until 1944, Allied planners deemed the B-29 unnecessary for the European theater as all targets were within range of the current B-17, B-24 and Lancaster bombers. The B-29 was needed in the Pacific where range was at a premium.
Pilots quickly found out they could fly above almost all anti-aircraft fire, and at high altitude they could not only outspeed Japanese fighters, the big bombers could actually out turn the fighters as well. Unfortunately for American commanders, it was also quickly discovered that getting up to such lofty altitude used up a lot of fuel, and bombing accuracy was abysmal due to the Jet Stream winds over Japan. Plus, teething pains with the new engines resulted in overheating and fires.
Curtiss LeMay was assigned as the new theater strategic bombing commander and he instituted new tactics, that of flying the B-29’s at low altitude at night, stripped of all their guns except the tail guns. The bomb load was modified to consist mostly of incendiary bombs, and B-29 raids set about burning Japanese cities to the ground. In fact, 311 B-29’s were sent from the factory without gun turrets (except the tail position) and remote sighting equipment to accommodate this new strategy.
With the anticipated development of the Atom Bomb, some B-29’s were modified to carry the 5 ton bombs, and crews were handpicked and specially trained. When the time came in August of 1945, the B-29 became the first bomber in history to drop atomic/nuclear weapons.
The B-29 served on active duty with the US Air Force until 1960 and as the B-50 until 1965. Used for reconnaissance, weather observation and hurricane hunting among other tasks proved the utility of the airframe. Of course, with the advent of jet powered fighter/interceptors, the B-29 could not perform its main mission without its own fighter escort, and the US worked quickly to develop jet powered bombers. The B-29 Superfortress lived up to its name and has a well deserved place in the history of aviation.
Question for students (and subscribers): Have you ever been inside of a B-29 Superfortress? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
LEGION: B-29 Superfortress, Bombers Over Japan 1944-45, Solitaire Board Game, 2nd Edition. Legion Wargames.
Simons, Graham. B-29: Superfortress: Giant Bomber of World War 2 and Korea. Casemate Publishers, 2012.
