How to Fly the Boeing B-29 Superfortress: B-29 Flight Procedure &Crew Functioning
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- Опубліковано 5 кві 2012
- This is a thorough pilot's view introduction to one of the premier aircraft of World War II, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.Faster than a Zero , it represents the peak of piston engine era technology.
"The B-29 was an amazing technological achievement!" Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com Don't miss our B-29 DVDs, including B-29 pilot's manuals: bit.ly/IziFsg Visit our aviation DVD store at www.zenosflightshop.com for the World's largest selection of World War 2 & vintage jet aircraft aviation videos.
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Zeno
My late father was the chief engineer on a B29 based in Guam during WWII, flying sorties over Japan. They named their plane "Kick-a-Poo Joy Juice." Once a year he would gather with his crew mates. They had that unique bond that only men who shared combat missions had. I wish I could have heard their conversations.This has special significance for me. Thank you!
Robin Orenbuch
My God, Robin, I've seen pictures of that plane. My dad was based on Tinian at about the same time. He was a radio operator on Bombin Buggy II and the Nippon Nipper, if I'm remembering correctly: which, to be frank, is somewhat doubtful. He wound up leaving the theater early, but before he did, he got a set of photos of the bomb group, which included a shot of the Kickapoo Joy Juice. I remember this because, as a child, I thought it was a cooler name.
Anyway, thanks. It brought back a sliver of memory.
He might have known a guy I knew years back, John Riley, who was a B29 crewman that flew off of Guam, they named their B29 Puss 'n Boots but never got around to having someone paint the name or any kind of art on it.
He had some good stories and even better a photo album with some great pictures in it.
What's funny about Kick a Poo Joy Juice is it's directly involved with how Lockheed's Skunk Works got it's name, Kick a Poo Joy Juice was a moonshine type of concoction made by a character in the Lil Abner cartoons, where he made it was called his "Skonk Works" because of the foul odor created from ingredients like old boots when he made it, the building that Lockheed gave Kelly Johnson to run his secretive programs out of had been used for something prior to that that'd left an unpleasant odor around the place, one day an employee who was obviously a fan of Lil Abner that was fed up with the odor in there answered the phone and said "Skonk Works", legend has it Johnson wasn't amused but the name stuck, they actually originally had named it Skonk Works and were even spelling it on paperwork that way. but after Lil Abner's creator caught wind of it he threatened to sue Lockheed so they changed it to Skunk Works and the rest is, as we all know, history.
My father was a ralway engineer in hanover(Germany), his family recife the bombs from the B29 in the night, The family say thanks, only love can hurt like this...
HA !! I was stationed at MCLB Albany GA 1989-1990
The put-put was a small gasoline engine that that generated electricity for the aircraft before the main engines were started. The name comes from the sound it made, "put,put put put." Zeno
Cool
Today it's called the APU, Auxiliary Power Unit. B-29 was the first plane to have one.
Dad was an engineer on the 29's he flew them out of Kansas, through the CBI, and with Powell and LeMay bombing Japan. The stories he had were unreal...
What plane(s) did he fly in, what squadron?
Pilot: Checklist complete! Navigator: Never mind, war ended a week ago
lol!
Yep, gotta wonder if, with hundreds of planes lined up to take off from Tinean or the other otherwise worthless pieces of Pacific real estate that thousands of Marine's and GI's and died to capture, there was time to go over all that stuff, in 95 degree heat, sweltering humidity, and carrying a max payload of fuel and bombs. The flight engineer probably checked oil pressure, cylinder head temperature [probably already near the red line], and the pilot set the turbos to maximum boost and gunned it down the runway. The crew members prayed that the bird would first get airborne, then climb to cruising altitude before the over-stressed engines burned, More than one B-29 didn't make it into the air on those harrowing takeoff's. Which is why Curtis Lemay ordered the planes to be lightened and the strategy changed to nighttime firebombing.
Nevermind Skipper, Another War just kicked off in some place called Korea
Russ G THE WAY I HEARD IT, CURTIS LEMAY REMOVED THE GUNS FROM THE B-29S, AND SHIFTED TO LOW-LEVEL NIGHT BOMBING, BECAUSE AT HIGH ALTITUDES, THE WINDS OVER JAPAN KEPT DEFLECTING AND SCATTERING THE BOMBS-!
Ronald Davis...
Thanks for the laugh! That was great! I actually don't think its right for the Pilot & or Co-Pilot to be responsible for someone else's job, because it lets the person responsible for their own job off the hook, and puts it on the Pilots. Not right to do that in my book.
'After you have reached the runway. Get out and recheck the entire plane again.
Once you are airborne, recheck everything again.
Do this every 30 minutes until you land back at base after the mission.
After the mission is over - disassemble the entire plane to re-check every part.
Then put it back together and tear it down again to re-check everything once more.
You can never be too careful.'
all while getting shot at
it did seem redundant as hell. i think planes are a little more turn key than that now lol
My father was a flight engineer on one of these planes during WWII. I had no idea handling this plane was so complicated-!
I think it is awesome that i am able to watch a video like this.
It's 2014 and I'm still impressed.
Daniël Boomsma it's 2017 and I'm still
Impressed.
It's 2019 and I'm still impressed.
Thanks Andrew. I just checked out your blog for the first time & was very impressed. I'll be coming back.
The fact we had time for all this (and the months of extra training required to get a crew ready for this), is a testament to how much control we had by this point. We had sunk 7 Japanese carriers in 2 battles, had control of the air and sea for hundreds of miles, had picket lines of destroyers and submarines to warn of raids, and rescue downed airmen. Do to heavy losses and fuel shortages caused by shipping losses and being cut off from the Dutch east Indies, the Japanese pilots had less training than the American pilots and less flight time before being sent into combat. Years of hard work, planning, and sound grand strategy lead to this.
I was an A&E mechanic on the B-29 in the 1950's.. They were converted to fuel jet aircraft in the air>> The bomb bay's were equipped with fuel tanks and a boom was installed on the tail of the plane to hook up with the jet fighter in the air >> Pretty neat ..They called the plane a KB29p >
+Harold Sugg I can only imagine how difficult it was to refuel jets with the KB-29/50 KC-97! Saw a picture of a KC-97 refueling a B-47. It's a wonder the Stratojet didn't fall out of the sky! (And that was using the flying boom! Look for a video of an F-100 trying to catch a basket with his probe behind a KB-50 while it's wallowing around in the sky! Even harder!)
jpatt1000 i8
jpatt1000
My Dad was a radioman in Korea from 50-52, sir.
"youre still responsible for his work" thats the line i was raised on... A great way to insure youre a good worker... just took me by surprise hearing it in this vid but makes sense giving the time period
now NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE for poor performance or plain old incompetence. i see it weekly in healthcare and it drives me mad.
"Now it's up to you to weld this aircraft into a single instrument of destruction." Yikes! What a beast! Great video.
After watching this video, I now consider myself officially able to pilot a B29 with no problems, lol...
If you want to fly a B29, check out [ flyaceshigh.com] it is an online WW2 game, they have almost every aircraft in ww2, its a free download, and you can play online free for two weeks, after that its 14,95 a month, you can fly the planes off line anytime.
have you figured out what the Putt-putt is though?
@@frez777 no, have you?
dont forget the disconnector wire LMFAO i think he was talking about an audio cable lol
@@frez777 Today the Putt putt is the APU. The B-29 was the first plane to have one. Most people only knew them as outboard motors for small boats, invented in the 1930s.
This is all such a great work. Thank you!
Isn't the B-29 the one that had a tendency to catch fire? Kind of puts the "sales pitch" of the narrator at the beginning in perspective LOL!
Gotta love UA-cam. Thankfully now I'll be able to operate as an effective B-29 crewman! :)
Yes, it IS true that the B-29 engines were known to catch fire- it is interesting to remember that the explosive charge(s ) were were removed from the first atom bomb prior to take-off for that very reason. A later version of the B-29 was equipped with the more reliable Pratt and Whitney "Wasp Major" engine. (the B-50?)
...and I have news for you- this is NOT an ideal world! And when there is a war on, you only have 2 choice: 1- you can either fight with what is available to you at the time, or 2- you can do nothing, and very likely get your @ss kicked!
Yep. No such thing as a perfect weapon system or a perfect operational sytem is there.
+Diche Bach , The B-52's were known to catch fire too.
Just goes to show the complexity of this bird. No quick scramble!
The Superfortress rules. A great American achievement.
I flew KB29s, KB50s and Kc135s from 1955 thru 1963 while part of 429and 431 in Albany, Ga and Hampton Roads, Va. what they didn’t tell you in this film that pre flight took 2.0 hours and Missions 15 hrs.
Thank you, sir, for your service! Two hours, then fly a mission. Respect.
i thought this training video was wonky.....no way those flights are 36 minutes long lol
This is like a dream come true to watch this!
i hope you had some better dreams lately lol
Retraining from B17 to B29 must have been interesting, but Robert Morgan did it,and flew missions over Japan,when he could have called it a day. Those guys were truly heroic!
Just subscribed to your channel and wanted to say thank you.
Thnx much! Its really interesting!
Thanks!. If you are a B-29 fan, I think you'll also enjoy "B-29 Flight Engineer," which is also on my UA-cam channel.
Zeno
Thank you for the awesome videos. I have subscribed and will be purchasing DVDs from your website.
Imagine you are a farm boy in Iowa and you hear war breaks out on a radio.
Four years later you are on the other side of the earth flying a B29.
Had to be like being put in a space ship. I can’t imagine what they felt.
Imagine been a 10 year old boy watching the Wright brother fly their prototype plane near the beach just to later in life see yourself flying across the Atlantic at match 2 in the supersonic Concorde.
@@PointReflex It's not inconceivable that somebody who vaguely remembers hearing about the first powered flight on Earth lived to see the first powered flight on Mars!
Imagine seeing a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch as a small child, and then as an old man you exit a wormhole and land on planet Plavnir-7 and speak to the universal ambassador of the overemperor of the Netille Empire by brainwave translation.
GREAT!!! a super generation! Happen to know it it was filmed in ICT Kansas? Thanks!
Very good video. Thank you
You are welcome!
Zeno
Wonderful, thanks for posting
Sat in the bombardiers position in doc recently for an hours flight over northern Arkansas brought back memories of my crew chief time with the 509 be
Jim padden
thnks for posting
fascinating !
Interesting this was the most expensive project of WWII, even costing more than the Manhattan Project.
They had two computers aboard, able to calculate correct deflection for the guns by the range and speed of targets. That was incredible technology for the day, especially miniaturised enough to fly!
for the money they spent these things should still be flying lmfao does it bother anyone else that our gvt pisses our money away like drunken sailors? i especially hate when they spend a few billion on mock ups or maybes and then say nah we re good , thanks though. I wonder what Rumsfeld did with those trillions of USA tax dollars that DOD couldnt account for?? on 9-10-01............and then we all remember the day after the evil warhawk Rumsfeld said oopsies we lost Trillions of dollars on live tv.🤯
My Dad was a crewman on B-29's in WWII.
Ground crew or air crew?
My reason Late Uncle Gerry flew in Z Square #55 , 73rd. Bomber squadron over Japan between 1944-45 , He was the Right side gunner, although he said, he was a right waist gunner. He was 18 years old too. He flew out of Saipan and flew on 18 mission. When it was time for them to come home to the States, They flew in into San Francisco , Calf. and flew right under the Golden Gate. They were glad they didn't catch flack when they got back to the Home base, My Uncle said. My Uncle went onto be an employee of Dana Corp. and worked his way up to head controller. So if anyone in here who had worked for Dana, my Uncle Gerry, signed your paychecks. Uncle Gerry passed away on March 24, 2016 at age 91.
Conrail6370
I'm so sorry to hear of his passing.
I'm a military historian, aviation pics published, T birds 498th Bomb Squadron, later T Square my interest.
500th Squadron was the Z Squares.
I will do some scratching around, see what I can find.
I have all of the operational records of the 498th.
I had an in flight FIFI pic of mine enlarged, Boeing XB-29 Test Pilot Bob Robbins was the 29' test pilot after Eddie Allen died in prototype 2. Bob signed the lower corner and later, Gen. Paul Tibbets signed the other corner. Priceless.
The 509th was based on Tinian, Tibbets base.
The way "home" to San Francisco was Saipan to Quajualine sp, to Hawaii, to Frisco.
My grandfather was a Chief Aviation Machinest at nearby Alameda Naval Air Station.
I 'll look for Z Square 55 records.
Conrail6370 Your Uncle's B-29 was named the "Jan ice E." , Ryan the commander.
Didn't know if you kne we that.
Gulp!...gasp!.. a pilot checking tyre pressures!! In my RAF days, pilots were lovingly carried to their aircraft in cushion-lined sedan chairs; their white gloves stayed white.
BTW, that 'putt-putt' is what set that B-29 they were trying to salvage on fire, wasn't it?
My dad was a tailgunner in WWII in this plane.
Got it! Ok, I'm ready.
Отлично!!!!!Boeing forever!
Cool vid! My Grampa flew Bella Bortion (42-63355) and Miss Shorty (42-65272) in the 468th BG/793rd BS. I can only imagine him measuring pin-centers. LOL. Unfortunately, the number 4 engine in one of the planes in this instructional video (42-6211) failed on take-off on 22 May 44. Four crewmen were killed and the plane was completely destroyed on the training mission.
Alex .....
OMG !!! Are you serious about the crew members dying and the plane crashing and being destroyed? That is so horrible it's shocking !!!
So who are they going to point the finger at and blame?
Sounds fun
The B-29 was ahead of its time, but because it was rushed into production there were too many bugs and malfunctions.
Unlike other WWII bombers a third of B29 losses were as a result of bugs and malfunctions. The engines were the biggest problem, it could fail and catch on fire.
But the losses are still low compared to all other bombers.
Still a great plane thought.
ian scott only because they didn’t fly over Germany.
I was doing fine until the end of the tyre check...after that they lost me.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Fascinating all the same!
Tell us more how the automatic guns work.
Just picked up a used B-29 on ebay, but it didn't come with the owner's manual, so this film will come in real handy.
The manual was only ever available as a download.
Also known as the APU, "Auxilary Power Unit"
What a great plane, and how sad it was only relevant for such a short time.
Barbara Anne Neale sad oh well
They were used in ww2 and the korean war so they were used longer than most planes
In modern terms, it would be known as an APU or Auxilliary Power Unit.
read Wars End by Charles Sweeney if you want to fully understand this airplane and the atomic missions.
The Doc is supposed to be flying by years end, along with the FFI will give the world two flying B-29's
Anybody know about how long that whole procedure takes? From walking up to the plane on the aprons to starting the takeoff run?
far too long if you have adhd lol, on the other hand its fabulous if you have OCD
What a carry on.
I have to go through the same checklists to get the wife in the mood.
Creek....
Geez why even bother! I wouldn't want to be you with someone like that!
"The wife"
Priceless 🤭🤭🤭😂😂😂😂
Priceless. 🤭🤭🤭😂😂😂😂
My grandfather was in the army air core back then.
What was his MOS?
With all these checklists when did they get time to fight a war? :)
Manually pulling the props around -- is that to make sure there's oil circulating through the engines before firing them up?
It's possible for oil to accumulate in the lower cylinders. Pulling the props gets rid of it.
Thanks for the response, sorry I didn't catch it sooner. Also, by an odd coincidence, it seems we share a last name! (Penny Robinson is NOT my actual name!)
Interesting that the video starts by showing the K-25 Plant at Oak Ridge where they separated Uranium isotopes for the atomic bomb used on Japan.
By the time you've gone through all these checks--the flight had returned to base,--and you're still on the ground checking stuff out !!
What you said really is funny !! I can visualize it right away in my mind.
Then I get a reality slam of just what might happen if you don't get it all checked out. Cuz as we all know, blank happens when you least or never expect it, right. Thanks for the laugh!
Richard Schreiber....
like to know how they did all that checking if harlf the crew had been shot up,,
I don't wanna waste all this learning. Imma gonna run over to Amazon and see if they have any b-29s for sale. Or maybe a b28 would be very similar but cheaper since it's last year's model.
Burt Lancaster did a ton of these narrations...Ronald Reagan as well.
Where does it say: "If any engine bursts into flame activate the fire extinguisher and feather the prop! Then pray the fire goes out or the wing will fall off!"
Russ....
That was funny! The thing is that I thought I heard that too! That isn't funny though if they are serious about the wing falling off. That the hell !!
What is a "Mae West"? Did I heard that correctly when they mention what every man should have?
"Mae Wests" are the inflatable life saving vests the crew are wearing. B-29 missions to Japan often flew many hours over open ocean. "Mae West" refers to the well endowed actress of the same name, because of the way the vest increased your apparent chest size when inflated.
ZenosWarbirds Ha haa, very interesting and appropiate name origin for that vest! Wonder how they would call them nowadays...Anna Nicoles? Thank you sir, you are guilty of making me spend some time watching these awesome airplane videos.
Why did they have ultraviolet light there?
Those are some big wheels germany is drooling for that rubber.
The detonator power switch??? Were we told what that was?
The Putt Putt, might be analogous to the modern day APU (Auxiliary Power Unit). Today's APU's are usually turbines, and provide air as well as electricity.
Pilots responsibility that the engines don’t go on fire!!!
I have uploaded a new, much higher quality version of this video here:
ua-cam.com/video/mtpHQ6FZ9sY/v-deo.html
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Zeno
the b-29 was also used on ferret raids over russia post korea dropping cia agents and doing elint and photo recon.
Some of the crews went on to fly the civilian version as an airliner.
Any idea who did the narration? Sounds somewhat familiar.
I'm now ready to fly 😅
my father saw this as a cadet. the program cost more than the development of the nuclear bombs.
Listen to Bomber by Motorhead x
HAY ! WHO'S TURN WAS IT , TO LOAD THE BOMBS IN THIS TIME ? ( Murphy ! )
Could you repeat that, please? :-)
"Guns just don't fire with the cartridges in backwards."
SURELY you can't be serious. . .
Penny...
Yeah hey, what numbskull guy in the armed forces, would be stupid enough to put ammo in backasswards?! Downright unbelievable for sure !!!
Stop calling me “Shirley”. 😂😂
@@jeffw5263 Thank you!
Unfortunately there was no way to know if one of the Wright R-3350's would go on fire with no warning!
Early -29… still in the AAF green and grey.
Ironically, the procedures for the B-2 Spirit bomber are the same. Well...perhaps there are a few differences...
Why on earth did UA-cam deactivated the comments in the training movie about the B-29 Flight engineer??? have they gone mad?!?
Tell that to the guy in my avatar. Paul Tibbets' B-29's were specially modified to drop atomic bombs. Deployment procedure was to drop the bomb, then turn away at a tangent of, I believe, 158 degrees to the bomb detonation point. The Enola Gay would be pointing away from the bomb and and six miles away from the hypocenter in the 43 seconds it took for the bomb to drop. Silverplate B-29's could do things that production model B-29's simply could not do.
The narrator had apparently never met a MIG-15. That didn't work out too well.
"If the enemy is bombing the airfield, never mind them - YOU INSPECT THIS PLANE! These inspections are here for your safety - the war can wait!"
Oh boy that is really funny, what you said !! With all of the bugs and malfunctions on the B29s, I guess unless you got a Silverplate B29, you wouldn't have to worry about bugs & malfunctions. Paul Tibbets B29 had to be a Silverplate B29. I don't think he had any problems with his plane, at least I never heard him mention anything in his interviews.
I so want to fly a B29 :-\
If you want to fly a B29, or any other ww2 aircraft, check out [ flyaceshigh.com ] its an online ww2 game, fly the first two weeks for free, after that its 14,95 a month, and you can fly the planes off line anytime for free, its realy cool game.
Try War Thunder in a few weeks. Completely free and the B-29 is being added soon!
Thanks guys, better than nothing for sure! :-)
is it U.S.A
I wonder how a modern day A380 pilot would get on with this lot :-)
It's still the same sky and laws of physics, I imagine a surprising amount would be familiar, just analogue instead of on a screen. Oh, and controls actually physically connected to the surfaces!
The Narrator sounds exactly like the same guy who narrated 'Travel Talks.'
What is a 'Put-Put' ? Is that a two stroke oil+gas ICE as on scooters from 1950's and 1960's?
It was a 4 stroke accessory engine in the back that was started by one of the crewmen whose station was in the back where it was, as I recall they were 16 HP, probably made by someone like Briggs&Stratton.
They could run all kinds of stuff until the engine's were started and I think actually assisted with starting them by turning a generator for power to the engine starters.
@@dukecraig2402 So an APU then.
@@dkoz8321
Exactly, and not the kind of APU that says "Thank you vedy much" when he's handing you your change.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist)
Compared to planes of today no, but back in 1944 it was a big deal. radio controlled turrets, presurized cabin, in flight rest quarters, twin bomb bays. The B-29 was a revolutionary bomber back then. It changed aviation. From it, we have pressurized cabins on airliners. Think of the B-52. Remote rear stinger turret, rest quarters, twin bomb bays. pressurized. It reflects the B-29 in many ways. It was the biggest, most advaanced bomber of WW2, and that says alot.
How Do I Get Out of this Outfit ?
I Put in for a Photo Reconnaissance Outfit . Told the recruiter I'm used to working Nights .
Did these birds stand alert as today’s B-52’s/ Tankers do? If so, how does the enormous walk-around/inboard checklist and procedures prior to take off impair their abilities for rapid departure?? That’s an awful lot of processes to complete in case of lowered defense condition!
Well for the 29's there was no such thing as fast departure since most of the inspection was done while the aircraft was been refueled or maintained by the mechanics.
As for the 52's, they have almost the same procedures for inspection, however when the MITO signal is sent, no inspection is needed, the 52's can prime the engines in seconds and be airbone within minutes. The 29 was indeed a chore due to it's over complicated yet somewhat advanced structure for engine use and control.
@@PointReflex Excellent explanation. Thanks!
@@georgelennon3618 You are wellcome. As a side note there is a vintage instruction video on UA-cam about the engineer of the B 29, I recommend you to watch it since it shows how painfully slow is the engine startup process on that plane and most importantly why in an event of a nuclear strike warning going at the base, the 29's crew would have more chances of surviving by evacuating the base by truck than trying to get a 29 airbone.
Stand alert is for MAD with nukes, such a situation didn't exist at the time. They already knew there was a war on!
Lol: "Just whatch this B-29" Does absuloutely nothing extreme or spectacular.
The only true extreme manuver this plane can do is sucessfully drop nuclear weapons. But thats not too shabby.
Younger pilots are loosing these moments , manual procedures and its teamwork
desparate call: "I need bombs at...".........................
the GF, calls the rear gunner to tell him it is over
the left gunner answers: " we just get along, Im sorry"
"This puts you in communication with the control tower."
"Do we have clearance, Clarence?"
"Roger."
"Huh?"
"Requesting vector, Victor"
I must show my grandpa
With all this crap to check before a mission it's a miracle they got hundreds of these planes aloft.
Average age of a b29 crew was 23yrs old .JS