I appreciate this video as my dad was a B-29 pilot on Saipan from Jan to Aug '45. He's gone now and these films help me understand what it was like to fly this plane.
Yeah it's amazing how much that generation accomplished. My grandfather was on a destroyer in the Pacific during ww2. Fought around iwo jima. I loved listening to his stories about the war no matter how many times he told them to me. He never said much so those are the best memories i have of him.
This is the single most informative documentary on the B-29 , thanks for uploading ( the true star of the clip is the MPS - Manifold Pressure Selector - because it is being shown on at least 20 occasions )
The B29 was a hell of a leap over say the Lancaster and at a time of outside toilets and when most working class didn't even own a car truly cutting edge amazing how everything was thought out and planned so well
Absolutely agree, the B29 was way way more advanced that the Lancaster (even the upgraded version, the Linclon, was still no match for the B29)......Now I know that some die-hard patriotic will say the Lancaster could carry the 22,000 lb Grand Slam, and the B29 normal load was only 20,000 lb....er.....notice the word "normal"...the Lancaster could carry a single 22,000 lb bomb when the bomb bay was "modified", but, OK, the B29 bomb bay could not be converted to fit the Grand Slam inside, so what the Americans did was to have TWO Grand Slam under the wings. And there is a picture to show. (Again some Die -hard patriotics will argue that there is no proof that the picture was genuine etc etc etc.) Well done B29, what a magnificent aircraft, and thank this plane for ending the war!! :)
@@michaelwong4303 Also the Lancaster had to have what defense guns it did have stripped out and crew members left behind to carry the grand slam bomb, and doing so dropped it's altitude, speed and range way down, when it was configured like that the B29 fully loaded could fly well over 10 thousand feet above it, probably closer to 20 thousand ft or a little more.
When I was 21, I was drinking beer and living the college life. In 1954 you were responsible for 10 soldiers lives, a bomber worth 10's of millions of $'s and dropping bombs on targets from 30,000 ft. Respect!
I was in a Navy VP Squadron at 21 running the night shift in the Avionics Shop with a dozen guys. I was also,responsible for quality assurance of those people under me. This was on P3 Orions. This was better than college because that education actually made a me millions in wages over my working career. I got a good education, learned how to manage and work with people and learned to always show up to work on time. They wanted me to stay in to become and officer. I went in because I was going to get drafted.and figured if I had to serve I might as well get something out of it rather then pack a rifle, march and get shot at.
The B29 was also in WW2, just ask the Japanese. If you had to bail out the women and children ( all of the men were fighting) would beat you to death. After all, the B29 did a lot of damage there, including 2 atom bombs.
@@Chris_at_Home my dad was an AMS in VP6 ....the Blue Sharks...during Vietnam. Home base was NAS Barbers Point Hawaii. He absolutely adores the Orion and always talks about it so fondly
They don't talk about the catastrophic engine fires in the 3350 engines. These engines had a tendency to overheat and swallow valves. Resultant fires spreading to the magnesium crankcase could produce heat to temps. of 5300*F ( 3100*C). That was hot enough to burn through the main wing spar in seconds. Boeing's Chief Test Pilot died that way along with his entire crew, when the aircraft suffered catastrophic wing failure.
I thought that only the engines of a Heinkel HE 177 Greif suffered from that diseases - engine catching fire frequently and even boiling the gasoline on wing mounted tanks - because that was spelled all the time, when those planes exhisted... so convenient to hide our own tail and show up the other's !
Votevrpnt is correct. More B-29 crew lives were lost through mechanical failure than in combat, with most of the catastrophic failures related to the engines. The Wright 3350 engines were finally replaced by the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" which was much more reliable, but by that time the war had ended! Part of the problem was that the first planes came off the assembly line only in 1942 (still an incredible feat for a design only approved by the air force in 1940) and so they were testing and improving systems as they produced the aircraft. In effect, because "there's a war on" and tremendous pressure to produce an aircraft that could bomb Japan, ordinary airmen became test pilots. The servicemen of that generation were highly motivated and deserve our respect. There is an excellent account of this in "Freedom's Forge," by Arthur Herman.
Boeing B-29 Super Fortress is a heavy bomber aircraft manufactured by the American Boeing Company between 1943 and 1946, and was mainly flown by the United States Air Force at the end of World War II and during the Korean War, and it was one of the largest aircraft during World War II and the most advanced in that Time, cabin pressure technology, electronic fire control system, and remote machine gun control technology. The name Super Fortress was derived from its famous predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, designed as a high-altitude strategic bomber, and was initially launched for the war against the Empire of Japan.
The designers and builders of this plane really changed the world, and of course the men who flew them. Thank God for all who serve this great country 🇺🇸🙏
It's fascinating to me how the voices of a 1940's, 50's, and 60's training videos sound so different from a modern one. There's something mysterious about that...anybody else think that way?
It has to do with the recording technology of the time. The human voice sounded very tinny so many speakers used *that* voice and manner of speaking because they were trained to do so in order to sound clear
Seeing this detailed video impresses me with the amount of sophistication the B-29 had for its day. I've been fortunate to examine "Fifi", one of the last flyable B-29's, close up. Even today they're amazing airplanes. ;)
I just watched the first few minutes but I was like dang, this is just like how your supposed to check your truck at UPS each morning. They have some video like this. haha Wonder how many of these pilots and gunners actually did all these steps every day back then during the war or just skipped most of them! hehe Very thorough video.
Acc0rd79 This was describing what the manufacturer deemed necessary before takeoff. it was an out for them if anything went wrong . I agree I doubt many crews were this thorough ? They would more than likely trust their ground crew to do most of these apart from the general walk around the plane that most pilots do to this day and making sure the landing wheels were up or down in flight.
The crews ALWAYS did all the checks, everytime they flew. This is called the walk around, and its like a time honored ritual, for very good reasons, because lives and the mission are at stake. The crews would no more skip or do a half assed walkaround then they would wear a swastika on their uniform.
@@8091pinewood as one retired Apache pilot wrote in his book: "... or else we will be turning things on mid-flight without knowing if they would work..."
If possible, always keep this video on your person, you never know when your going to find a working b 29, and we should always be prepared for this kind of rare but important situatuon
I did NOT know that they had some of this technology in World War II, especially at this abundance and intricacy. remote control cameras? pressurized cabins? video controls? electrical connections and control tower connections? they don't tell you this in history class
+Ramon Pardo It was all brand new. My father had already been a veteran B-17 pilot but even so he had to be returned to the States for the B-29 training program to learn all the new features. The war ended before he could be put back into the field.
I was born in the wrong era. Not that I don't value the Information Age and the level of equality we have today. The 1930s through 1950s just feels like my place in time.
I can’t believe that the crew basically do the ground crews job for them, I don’t know how the USAAF system worked, or how any airforce did the servicing during the WWII ERA and afterwards, but I do know how we did things in the RAF from 1979-2003 and we did three types of daily servicing, a B/F Before Flight T/R Turnaround and A/F After Flight, so basically when a crew arrived for a flight they only had to check the log book (F-700) sign for the aircraft and before entering the aircraft they did a walk round to satisfy themselves that everything was as it should be, then as they say he would “kick the tyres and light the fires” and disappear into the sky, when they came back if the aircraft was needed again a T/R servicing was done, basically to check all the vital items of the B/F were done again but not all, not much different to the B/F, and if it was the last flight of the day then an A/F servicing was done and aircraft put to bed, we in the RAF trusted the groundcrew to do their jobs, aircrew didn’t need to check tyre pressures or oil levels, it seems that during this era that in the USAAF didn’t trust the groundcrew, personally I would have been insulted if the crew double checked my work, in fact I would probably walked away and let them do everything themselves, but that never happened to me, as it shouldn’t be necessary.
Are you kidding me? Why don't you try comparing the RAF check list from the 1940's to this one, then add on how much more complex this aircraft was to anything the RAF had at the same time instead of comparing it to procedures from 45 to 60 years later. Wow, yea that's a fair comparison.
@@dukecraig2402 , I don’t need to, my family has had a serving member from the RFC through the RAF until 2003 all were, me included, Aircraft fitters, I have all of our training notes (except great grandads RFC ones) and they are comprehensive, the USAAF aircrew either didn’t do what was depicted or they didn’t trust their ground crew, simple as that, no need to get all bent out of shape.
@@allandavis8201 I'll get bent all I want, there's no need running your mouth about something that neither you nor anyone in your family has any experience with, and that's B29 Superfortresses. It was far more complex than anything the RAF had in it's inventory, and if this video was about an accident involving a B29 you'd be trolling all over it saying how they were lazy and incompetent not running through the checks properly. You guys do nothing but troll around any video you can find concerning the USAAF just to run your mouths like little kids. On behalf of my family and every other American family who lost someone in the air war over Europe just keep your noses in your own business, if you don't have anything polite and gracious to say on a video about the USAAF and the men who were in it then just STFU troll.
They did not have very much on the remote control guns, information on those may have been classified when this was made. I have always wondered how effective they actually were in combat, if they were any better than the guns in a B-17 for example in targeting an enemy fighter plane.
I'm 4 years late but after the end of WW2 and even during it most defensive armament was completely obsolete and didn't do much in actually defending the plane it still looks cool though
My father was with 73 wing,497th Group,869th Bomb SQ. ; first group on Saipan , At first he was the guy that took up every plane after the mechanics checked it out then he got A square 3. Flew 40 missions and came home. He was to go back and be a base inspector but Hiroshima occurred while he was state side After LeMay took over B-29 operations they stripped all the guns out and flew night missions at 5000 feet or so loaded with incendiaries or mines. Saved those weak engines also Japans AA could not work on low level aircraft and Japan had not developed much in night fighters. I read somewhere a B-29 cost $850 K 1940 $.
Most informative and beautiful video for the superfortress... Being a pilot, it reminds me how important those procedures were. And what shocked me the most was the stall speed starting at 84 knots.. Unbelievable... I wonder how wide was that wing and it's camber... Much respect
Well Carter, you'd pull up an air cart, open the Schrader valve and add air until the strut was at the correct extention for the aircrafts gross weight. You sound like you're making a joke and that's fine, but the correct strut detention is VERY important. Too high and the aircraft would bounce on landing. Two low and the strut could bottom out on touchdown and cause MAJOR damage.
Carter Recker You check the 1A or the 781A (now) form to see if its written up. If not then write it up. Check with maintenance to see if its ok for the mission at hand, and why its like that. If your just training its not. I guess you could write it up on a 95 but meh,
Carter Recker Doesn't matter. You're gonna die in that jalopy anyway..I saw another vid where a guy with a fire extinguisher had to be stationed on the ground near each engine as it was started...
Carter Recker Piss on the co-pilot and kick tail-gunner's ass. Then tell the navigator where to go. The bombardier knows what needs to be shoved and where.
I remember in 1989 FiFi scheduled a stop in Walla Walla, Washington. I drove over with my bride from Richland, WA. There was this little old lady and her granddaughter who was about 25 years or so old looking it over. By chance, we all ended up in the bomb bay at the same time. The old lady was critiquing the running of certain piping. She was saying this is wrong, this tube runs over this and that pipe runs like this. . . FiFi's flight engineer was curious about all of us in the bomb bay and popped his head in to overhear the old lady and asked how she knew that? She said, "I was Chief QC for Boeing on these during the war." The flight engineer lit up and said, "Lady, we've got to talk"! They headed forward from the bomb bay and I never saw any of them again.
I am a heavy duty mechanic and this very much interests me. Yah keep an eye on the manifold pressure no kidding. It seems very complicated to operate. I am surprised it has turbos too. wow what a ship. I actually knew what the put put is. don't know how but I just did!!! Nice machine. All of the crew needs to be very intelligent especially at that day and age. I could not see that everyone was up n the instructions....I does look like alot stuff can go wrong but if the crew uses team work they can compensate and get by... Nice ship anyways.
It is really sad to see so many asinine, unintelligent comments on the subject of this magnificent aircraft. It was a big plus to help in winning World War ll . Instead of silly childish gibberish, BE thankful for the freedom we have in America. Appreciate what the brave airmen ,soldiers, sailors, marines,etc dId FOR YOU and your family.
Great film, thanks to all for it. With regards to oil, in lower cylinders, I had to service plant (building equipment) and if some equipment was laid down on its side, the oil would leak into the head, and when I pulled the pull cord, the engine would start to turn over, then STOP dead, it felt like it was seized... Cure, remove spark plug/injector, turn over till most oil was out, then fire up,( OUTSIDE) I initially broke the pull cord, and hurt hand, as I was not expecting that. imagine a starter motor coping with that?? Blow head straight off.... in a plane, expensive. Hope this helps guys. Thank again.
There is a cool channel where they do a walk around of FiFi, the last flying B-29 in existence. Apparently there is no steering in the nose wheel, you have to taxi with the engine power and 'strategic brake use' Can't remember the channel name but the guy does all kinds of filming of aircraft
funny skit would be, if the voiceover accompanied them on the mission _"Uh-Oh! Soviet interceptor approaching aft...did you not see him rear gunner?"_ Rear gunner then snaps his fingers like 'Dang it!' 16:44
Excellent vid. My dad was a navigator and then a bombardier on a B-29, 'The Globe Girdle Myrtle', and flew with The Hellbirds against Japan. He earned the DFC. BTW...is the Ronald Reagan narrating?
There is a good two part interview with Paul Tibette(?), pilot of the B29 Enola Gay- think "Little Boy". He gives an interesting historical perspective to the development of the B 29. That plane could do some marvelous antics. His perspective was, beside some high tech improvements, it had serious maintenance issues ( listen between the lines). A very interesting interview check it out. Search Paul Tibbetts/B29. Again, it is a 2 part interview.
What must be remembered is, that during the WW2, all everybody wanted, was the most rapid victory. All this talk about conscience and how many "innocent" lives were lost, is by people who don't understand what things were like in those days. I am 83 now and I was in London during the blitz, and still in London while the doodlebugs (V1's) and then the Rockets (V2's) were raining down on us. Every axis civilian that was killed may have been working in a munitions factory. Their death may have brought the end of the war nearer. Total War was what we were all engaged in, and rightly so AT THAT TIME!!
It would have been interesting if at least one squadron of big shiny B29s were sent to Europe just for morale purposes. I can imagine the reaction of the British let alone the Germans..
Mauricio Herrera Who said it was funny. Remember Hitler ordered the bombing of British cities to improve German morale.War sucks been there done that got the T-shirt. Am I a monster sure hope you never find out why.
yank1776 No they are not rotated out of curiosity. They are rotated to pre oil the cylinders before ignition . During inactivity the lubrication on the cylinder walls drains and rotating by hand a few times respreads some oil on the walls because on ignition and starting, the first couple of revolutions without oil is when there is the most wear on the cylinder walls. So it is done to lengthen the life of the engine.
The test models(YB-29's) were painted. Not painting the production models saved several hundred pounds. Fuel,Bomb load all those .50 cal. rounds weight critical for 18 hour flight times.
Before you can get this plane airborne you have to spend more than one hour just turning and switching knobs and toggle switches? I'd rather open sardine cans.
Why did the pilot have to do all these inspections? didn't they have mechanics who were supposed to do all these checks? Or couldn't the mechanics be trusted to have done a final inspection?
+ron bennett You don't seem to be able to recognise when one has one's tongue in one's cheek. You might need help to understand that. I don't see why the F word has anything to do with anything.
Actually, I got my info from the Crew Chief of a Warbird restored B 17 at an sir show. Also from a former Crew Chief I served with, who was stationed at DaNang. Both aircraft had radial engines, and both people told me the same thing.", that it was to redistribute the oil. Where did you get your info ? BTW, I'm a former KC 135A Crew Chief.
Must've been a good aircraft. Soviets copied it: Tu-(totally unoriginal)-4, aka B-29 Bombski & the Tu-75 Transportski. The Tu-70 Airlinerski project never got off the ground, largely due to excessive loss of passengers & stewardesses through the bomb bay doors.
+DEADMANRIDING1 I always thought it must be more than coincidence that the cold war era planes of the US and Soviets all looked remarkably similar, mainly the fighters.
This is so basic, but beautiful in its mechanical precision. But what I really want to know is how and where the crew answered the call of nature. Don’t tell me they held it for 15+ hours! #1, I guess they pee in a container or out a hole. #2, Take a dump on the enemy?
I am impressed, they did this video in 1945! Without smart phones and digital cam corders. And can even fly to the moon in the 1960's. How to make sure there are no errors?
Did you know that the average smartphone is a better computer than the ones used in Apollo 11? (The first ship on the moon for those who don't know) Also sorry for being 5 years late.
how come the rest of the crew weren't shown? I'd like to have seen all crew positions covered, the electronic fire-control system is intriguing... Though if the pilot doesn't evade, there is in pure theoretical terms a blind spot for the machine guns, as their traversing angles don't cover the absolute middle of the plane... and honest question, what was that 20mm cannon supposed to do other than being a visual deterrent to getting on the bomber's tail?
Couldn't fathom the fear running through these guys heading out into the night sky on a bombing raid into enemy territory. Until the Spitfire was developed, these guys had no escorts for most of their trip and very few were lucky to make it back.
You're thinking the European Theater which would have been B-17 and below. The B-29 saw service exclusively in the Pacific Theater. British airfields couldn't take the weight of the B-29. Also, it wasn't the Spitfire that provided long range escort - its range was far, far to short. It was mostly the P-51 Mustang that provided long range escort.
Sptfire escorted RAF bombers not american bombers. P-38 and P-47 were the initial escorts the P-51 mustang came about later in the war mid 43 and into 1944. Ironically the Mustang got its engine from the spitfire.
+[A7] Falconn the movie about the dam busters tells you more on this topic. In short: all was done using paper maps, hand instruments, and a lot of talking, calculating and cross-checking.
Love this video, can't wait to watch it again with my son Matteo, for now he is learning how to give respect and get respect back as a smart young man, following my steps to become a pilot one day, for each one of the readers!! would love to do the same, only thing is that today's aviation is way easier from how it was once, for sure the IFR, STILL the same relatively to the analog part of it, as we all go through that training; and no matter what will be invented tommorow, that what still makes it exciting, to love flying, Just imagine shooting a full approach on a B29... May be an ILS preceded by an arc,. Hehehe or going on a missed... I can only imagine,.... for sure less work load with all the help on board. Have Goosebums under my skin only for the thought of it... They say, that it was very forgiving as an aircraft, and if the B29 is well trimmed, it is just like flying a 152... And by the way, it is my son Matteo that told me ,that there was only on B29 left and alive in terms of airworthiness GOOGLE FIFI. OR UA-cam it Peace and enjoy
That was actually the preferred accent for newscasters, voice-over talent, actors and other media figures at the time. Some time during the '50s or '60s, it evolved toward the "midwestern" accent favored today. (I can't fly a B29, but I know my broadcast and media history. :-D)
Mitch Berg I tell ya, in my younger years I I would try to "fix" my accent, but the harder I tried, the worse it got. For example, "true" ( for thourgh) My accent is identical to the late great peter falk from colombo and young Al pacino. As i've aged, i've learned to love my accent
I appreciate this video as my dad was a B-29 pilot on Saipan from Jan to Aug '45. He's gone now and these films help me understand what it was like to fly this plane.
Yeah it's amazing how much that generation accomplished. My grandfather was on a destroyer in the Pacific during ww2. Fought around iwo jima. I loved listening to his stories about the war no matter how many times he told them to me. He never said much so those are the best memories i have of him.
My dad was on Saipan too. 497th group,73 wing,869 Bomb.SQ. A Square 3, he is gone too.
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God please bless all the guys that flew in ww2. It took balls of steel to get into one of these planes.
A very labor intensive plane. It reminds me of maintaining and operating a steam locomotive to get it to do what you want it to do..
Actually at the time the video was made that plane was state of the art. It could fly faster and higher than most fighters.
This is the single most informative documentary on the B-29 , thanks for uploading ( the true star of the clip is the MPS - Manifold Pressure Selector - because it is being shown on at least 20 occasions )
A b-29 flight crewman: We didn't do all of this stuff.
A magnificent looking plane of it's era.
My dad was a Bombardier on a B-29 in India and the Pacific. The American Beauty.
The B29 was a hell of a leap over say the Lancaster
and at a time of outside toilets and when most working class didn't even own a car
truly cutting edge
amazing how everything was thought out and planned so well
Did you check the outside toilet while in flight?
They will hit the #4 tach gauge with a hammer that will fix it!
It truly was a mechanical marvel for its time
Absolutely agree, the B29 was way way more advanced that the Lancaster (even the upgraded version, the Linclon, was still no match for the B29)......Now I know that some die-hard patriotic will say the Lancaster could carry the 22,000 lb Grand Slam, and the B29 normal load was only 20,000 lb....er.....notice the word "normal"...the Lancaster could carry a single 22,000 lb bomb when the bomb bay was "modified", but, OK, the B29 bomb bay could not be converted to fit the Grand Slam inside, so what the Americans did was to have TWO Grand Slam under the wings. And there is a picture to show. (Again some Die -hard patriotics will argue that there is no proof that the picture was genuine etc etc etc.)
Well done B29, what a magnificent aircraft, and thank this plane for ending the war!! :)
@@michaelwong4303
Also the Lancaster had to have what defense guns it did have stripped out and crew members left behind to carry the grand slam bomb, and doing so dropped it's altitude, speed and range way down, when it was configured like that the B29 fully loaded could fly well over 10 thousand feet above it, probably closer to 20 thousand ft or a little more.
When I was 21, I was drinking beer and living the college life. In 1954 you were responsible for 10 soldiers lives, a bomber worth 10's of millions of $'s and dropping bombs on targets from 30,000 ft. Respect!
I was in a Navy VP Squadron at 21 running the night shift in the Avionics Shop with a dozen guys. I was also,responsible for quality assurance of those people under me. This was on P3 Orions. This was better than college because that education actually made a me millions in wages over my working career. I got a good education, learned how to manage and work with people and learned to always show up to work on time. They wanted me to stay in to become and officer. I went in because I was going to get drafted.and figured if I had to serve I might as well get something out of it rather then pack a rifle, march and get shot at.
The B29 was also in WW2, just ask the Japanese. If you had to bail out the women and children ( all of the men were fighting) would beat you to death. After all, the B29 did a lot of damage there, including 2 atom bombs.
@@Chris_at_Home my dad was an AMS in VP6 ....the Blue Sharks...during Vietnam. Home base was NAS Barbers Point Hawaii. He absolutely adores the Orion and always talks about it so fondly
Can't blame them, the US bombing runs on during ww2 killed more civilians than enemy soldiers.
@@BoleDaPole Yup, thats true. I can't possibly imagine the hell they went through.
the putt-putt is the slang term for the auxiliary power unit.
great documentary. idk why but I love documentaries done like this.
That is one incredibly long checklist to follow. I don't know how those brave men did it, but they certainly did!
They followed the check list that is how they did it!😁🛫
true
Legend says those pilots still try to start engine 4.
"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."
"-Uhmm, that's your manouver? You tilted slightly to the left!"
"No no! There's more!"
Haha
Ha!
They don't talk about the catastrophic engine fires in the 3350 engines. These engines had a tendency to overheat and swallow valves. Resultant fires spreading to the magnesium crankcase could produce heat to temps. of 5300*F ( 3100*C). That was hot enough to burn through the main wing spar in seconds. Boeing's Chief Test Pilot died that way along with his entire crew, when the aircraft suffered catastrophic wing failure.
I thought that only the engines of a Heinkel HE 177 Greif suffered from that diseases - engine catching fire frequently and even boiling the gasoline on wing mounted tanks - because that was spelled all the time, when those planes exhisted... so convenient to hide our own tail and show up the other's !
Votevrpnt is correct. More B-29 crew lives were lost through mechanical failure than in combat, with most of the catastrophic failures related to the engines. The Wright 3350 engines were finally replaced by the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major" which was much more reliable, but by that time the war had ended!
Part of the problem was that the first planes came off the assembly line only in 1942 (still an incredible feat for a design only approved by the air force in 1940) and so they were testing and improving systems as they produced the aircraft. In effect, because "there's a war on" and tremendous pressure to produce an aircraft that could bomb Japan, ordinary airmen became test pilots. The servicemen of that generation were highly motivated and deserve our respect.
There is an excellent account of this in "Freedom's Forge," by Arthur Herman.
Boeing B-29 Super Fortress is a heavy bomber aircraft manufactured by the American Boeing Company between 1943 and 1946, and was mainly flown by the United States Air Force at the end of World War II and during the Korean War, and it was one of the largest aircraft during World War II and the most advanced in that Time, cabin pressure technology, electronic fire control system, and remote machine gun control technology. The name Super Fortress was derived from its famous predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, designed as a high-altitude strategic bomber, and was initially launched for the war against the Empire of Japan.
"Checklist complete. Ready for takeoff."
"War's over."
The designers and builders of this plane really changed the world, and of course the men who flew them. Thank God for all who serve this great country 🇺🇸🙏
I'm amazed at the complexity of operation... never _mind_ if something should go _wrong_.
hell the war will be over before checkout is complete.
Excellent documentary! Thanks for posting this! I felt like I was a pilot in training watching this. =)
It's fascinating to me how the voices of a 1940's, 50's, and 60's training videos sound so different from a modern one. There's something mysterious about that...anybody else think that way?
It has to do with the recording technology of the time. The human voice sounded very tinny so many speakers used *that* voice and manner of speaking because they were trained to do so in order to sound clear
its not a documentary its an instructional video presentation for the pilots of the plane during its time its like a manual it a video
Seeing this detailed video impresses me with the amount of sophistication the B-29 had for its day. I've been fortunate to examine "Fifi", one of the last flyable B-29's, close up. Even today they're amazing airplanes. ;)
So after watching this, I can basically fly a B-29 now
i will be your co-pilot...
Ill be the tail gunner🇺🇲
I wanna shoot stuff. 🤷♂️
Keep in mind there's more to flying a big bird like that than just watching a video, but I get your meaning.
Yup
So beautiful and simple
What a great time capsule this is! Did anyone notice the voice of Ronnie Raygun?
I just watched the first few minutes but I was like dang, this is just like how your supposed to check your truck at UPS each morning. They have some video like this. haha Wonder how many of these pilots and gunners actually did all these steps every day back then during the war or just skipped most of them! hehe Very thorough video.
Acc0rd79 This was describing what the manufacturer deemed necessary before takeoff. it was an out for them if anything went wrong . I agree I doubt many crews were this thorough ? They would more than likely trust their ground crew to do most of these apart from the general walk around the plane that most pilots do to this day and making sure the landing wheels were up or down in flight.
The crews ALWAYS did all the checks, everytime they flew. This is called the walk around, and its like a time honored ritual, for very good reasons, because lives and the mission are at stake. The crews would no more skip or do a half assed walkaround then they would wear a swastika on their uniform.
@@8091pinewood as one retired Apache pilot wrote in his book: "... or else we will be turning things on mid-flight without knowing if they would work..."
Holy crap !!!! I flew F4-E and F16-A1 for years and I would have quit if I had even 1/10th of what these guys check thru !
If possible, always keep this video on your person, you never know when your going to find a working b 29, and we should always be prepared for this kind of rare but important situatuon
Are you talking about B29's other than the 2 that are currently flying?
I did NOT know that they had some of this technology in World War II, especially at this abundance and intricacy.
remote control cameras?
pressurized cabins?
video controls?
electrical connections and control tower connections?
they don't tell you this in history class
+Ramon Pardo It was all brand new. My father had already been a veteran B-17 pilot but even so he had to be returned to the States for the B-29 training program to learn all the new features. The war ended before he could be put back into the field.
Sporkmaker5150 wow. i never knew that. with the lack of things like color, and arial recorded footage i would have never know. cool
Thanks. Amazing technology, I had no idea how complex a process it was to even start an engine. Very good video.
Thanks for mens americans 🌎 god bless 🇺🇸
I was born in the wrong era. Not that I don't value the Information Age and the level of equality we have today. The 1930s through 1950s just feels like my place in time.
+David S. Have you contacted customer service? I' m sure they can place you in the correct era if you still have your receipt.
cgeorge6786 I tried when I was younger. They never replied back.
Me too
David S.
I feel the same
1930, me, you're not missing anything.
What seven people gave the single greatest video ever posted to UA-cam a thumbs down ?
Maybe because it was stretched to widescreen slightly ruining the image?
they were on the receiving end of the B-29
I can’t believe that the crew basically do the ground crews job for them, I don’t know how the USAAF system worked, or how any airforce did the servicing during the WWII ERA and afterwards, but I do know how we did things in the RAF from 1979-2003 and we did three types of daily servicing, a B/F Before Flight T/R Turnaround and A/F After Flight, so basically when a crew arrived for a flight they only had to check the log book (F-700) sign for the aircraft and before entering the aircraft they did a walk round to satisfy themselves that everything was as it should be, then as they say he would “kick the tyres and light the fires” and disappear into the sky, when they came back if the aircraft was needed again a T/R servicing was done, basically to check all the vital items of the B/F were done again but not all, not much different to the B/F, and if it was the last flight of the day then an A/F servicing was done and aircraft put to bed, we in the RAF trusted the groundcrew to do their jobs, aircrew didn’t need to check tyre pressures or oil levels, it seems that during this era that in the USAAF didn’t trust the groundcrew, personally I would have been insulted if the crew double checked my work, in fact I would probably walked away and let them do everything themselves, but that never happened to me, as it shouldn’t be necessary.
Are you kidding me?
Why don't you try comparing the RAF check list from the 1940's to this one, then add on how much more complex this aircraft was to anything the RAF had at the same time instead of comparing it to procedures from 45 to 60 years later.
Wow, yea that's a fair comparison.
@@dukecraig2402 , I don’t need to, my family has had a serving member from the RFC through the RAF until 2003 all were, me included, Aircraft fitters, I have all of our training notes (except great grandads RFC ones) and they are comprehensive, the USAAF aircrew either didn’t do what was depicted or they didn’t trust their ground crew, simple as that, no need to get all bent out of shape.
@@allandavis8201
I'll get bent all I want, there's no need running your mouth about something that neither you nor anyone in your family has any experience with, and that's B29 Superfortresses.
It was far more complex than anything the RAF had in it's inventory, and if this video was about an accident involving a B29 you'd be trolling all over it saying how they were lazy and incompetent not running through the checks properly.
You guys do nothing but troll around any video you can find concerning the USAAF just to run your mouths like little kids.
On behalf of my family and every other American family who lost someone in the air war over Europe just keep your noses in your own business, if you don't have anything polite and gracious to say on a video about the USAAF and the men who were in it then just STFU troll.
And here I thought you just got up, sit down, buckled up, turned the engines on and off you go... so many gauges and stuff to keep an eye on omg!
Imagine 50 years before, a hot air balloon was the way to travel by air. The complexity and science to it all a few decades later is mind blowing.
Within 2 centuries we fly with the speed of llight.
They did not have very much on the remote control guns, information on those may have been classified when this was made. I have always wondered how effective they actually were in combat, if they were any better than the guns in a B-17 for example in targeting an enemy fighter plane.
monkeyboy4746 im also betting they put an obsolete bomb sight in cause the norden bomb sight was kept under armed guard
+truthfulkarl
That makes no sense, what you just said.
in ww2 norden bomb sights were highly highly classified. forgive me i was really tired when i wrote that
monkeyboy4746
Probably still classified!!
I'm 4 years late but after the end of WW2 and even during it most defensive armament was completely obsolete and didn't do much in actually defending the plane it still looks cool though
Damm by the time I worked on my inspection they’ve built the jet bomber, now I’ll have to relearn everything
My father was with 73 wing,497th Group,869th Bomb SQ. ; first group on Saipan , At first he was the guy that took up every plane after the mechanics checked it out then he got A square 3. Flew 40 missions and came home. He was to go back and be a base inspector but Hiroshima occurred while he was state side After LeMay took over B-29 operations they stripped all the guns out and flew night missions at 5000 feet or so loaded with incendiaries or mines. Saved those weak engines also Japans AA could not work on low level aircraft and Japan had not developed much in night fighters. I read somewhere a B-29 cost $850 K 1940 $.
Most informative and beautiful video for the superfortress...
Being a pilot, it reminds me how important those procedures were.
And what shocked me the most was the stall speed starting at 84 knots..
Unbelievable... I wonder how wide was that wing and it's camber...
Much respect
2:29 what a tread pattern !! Wish i could groove my Racing tires like that !
Well Carter, you'd pull up an air cart, open the Schrader valve and add air until the strut was at the correct extention for the aircrafts gross weight.
You sound like you're making a joke and that's fine, but the correct strut detention is VERY important. Too high and the aircraft would bounce on landing. Two low and the strut could bottom out on touchdown and cause MAJOR damage.
From B-18 to B-29 in barely four years. If only our technology could improve at such a rate now.
Thanks ... Good Show ... Carry On
Every person who uses any kind technology should view this film.
Flight engineers station is hard job..so many guages and knobs to keep track of,
My left gear carriage has only 12 3/4'' between the struts! Shit, what do I do now?!
Carter Recker I got a chuckle.
Carter Recker You check the 1A or the 781A (now) form to see if its written up. If not then write it up. Check with maintenance to see if its ok for the mission at hand, and why its like that. If your just training its not. I guess you could write it up on a 95 but meh,
Carter Recker Send all flight crew home and check back in the morning after ground crew has leveled the fuel load.
Carter Recker Doesn't matter. You're gonna die in that jalopy anyway..I saw another vid where a guy with a fire extinguisher had to be stationed on the ground near each engine as it was started...
Carter Recker Piss on the co-pilot and kick tail-gunner's ass. Then tell the navigator where to go. The bombardier knows what needs to be shoved and where.
I remember in 1989 FiFi scheduled a stop in Walla Walla, Washington. I drove over with my bride from Richland, WA. There was this little old lady and her granddaughter who was about 25 years or so old looking it over. By chance, we all ended up in the bomb bay at the same time. The old lady was critiquing the running of certain piping. She was saying this is wrong, this tube runs over this and that pipe runs like this. . . FiFi's flight engineer was curious about all of us in the bomb bay and popped his head in to overhear the old lady and asked how she knew that? She said, "I was Chief QC for Boeing on these during the war." The flight engineer lit up and said, "Lady, we've got to talk"! They headed forward from the bomb bay and I never saw any of them again.
My dad worked on B-29's, then B-50's and finally B-36's in the good old days.
I am a heavy duty mechanic and this very much interests me. Yah keep an eye on the manifold pressure no kidding. It seems very complicated to operate. I am surprised it has turbos too. wow what a ship. I actually knew what the put put is. don't know how but I just did!!! Nice machine. All of the crew needs to be very intelligent especially at that day and age. I could not see that everyone was up n the instructions....I does look like alot stuff can go wrong but if the crew uses team work they can compensate and get by... Nice ship anyways.
I like the part when they lowered the flaps, riveting!
It is really sad to see so many asinine, unintelligent comments on the subject of this magnificent aircraft. It was a big plus to help in winning World War ll . Instead of silly childish gibberish, BE thankful for the freedom we have in America. Appreciate what the brave airmen ,soldiers, sailors, marines,etc dId FOR YOU and your family.
Pilots of B29 has a very tough jobs...
Great film, thanks to all for it. With regards to oil, in lower cylinders, I had to service plant (building equipment) and if some equipment was laid down on its side, the oil would leak into the head, and when I pulled the pull cord, the engine would start to turn over, then STOP dead, it felt like it was seized... Cure, remove spark plug/injector, turn over till most oil was out, then fire up,( OUTSIDE) I initially broke the pull cord, and hurt hand, as I was not expecting that. imagine a starter motor coping with that?? Blow head straight off.... in a plane, expensive. Hope this helps guys. Thank again.
There is a cool channel where they do a walk around of FiFi, the last flying B-29 in existence. Apparently there is no steering in the nose wheel, you have to taxi with the engine power and 'strategic brake use'
Can't remember the channel name but the guy does all kinds of filming of aircraft
ErikJohnston
DOC is flying now so there's TWO! :)
funny skit would be, if the voiceover accompanied them on the mission
_"Uh-Oh! Soviet interceptor approaching aft...did you not see him rear gunner?"_
Rear gunner then snaps his fingers like 'Dang it!' 16:44
Excellent vid. My dad was a navigator and then a bombardier on a B-29, 'The Globe Girdle Myrtle', and flew with The Hellbirds against Japan. He earned the DFC.
BTW...is the Ronald Reagan narrating?
+Bruce Curtis It's not him.
There is a good two part interview with Paul Tibette(?), pilot of the B29 Enola Gay- think "Little Boy". He gives an interesting historical perspective to the development of the B 29. That plane could do some marvelous antics. His perspective was, beside some high tech improvements, it had serious maintenance issues ( listen between the lines). A very interesting interview check it out. Search Paul Tibbetts/B29. Again, it is a 2 part interview.
Why do I enjoy this so much
Thank You WWII vets !
What must be remembered is, that during the WW2, all everybody wanted, was the most rapid victory. All this talk about conscience and how many "innocent" lives were lost, is by people who don't understand what things were like in those days. I am 83 now and I was in London during the blitz, and still in London while the doodlebugs (V1's) and then the Rockets (V2's) were raining down on us. Every axis civilian that was killed may have been working in a munitions factory. Their death may have brought the end of the war nearer. Total War was what we were all engaged in, and rightly so AT THAT TIME!!
this video is pure gold
Being the flight engineer seems like a pain the ass.
Think I fell asleep when they were checking the tyre pressures
Are we nearly there yet?
It's like flying a spaceship. So much to do.
Magnificent. Thanks.
2nd half seemed like Ronald Regan narrating.
bfrance2002 It is President Reagan.
+bfrance2002 And that's John Payne as the pilot.
+bfrance2002 It was Ronald Reagan.
It would have been interesting if at least one squadron of big shiny B29s were sent to Europe just for morale purposes. I can imagine the reaction of the British let alone the Germans..
We didn't have the B29 until the Viet Nam war.
Wrong again Billy, "B-52's jet engine power, were used over Viet Nam. Retired B-29'er.
Mauricio Herrera Who said it was funny. Remember Hitler ordered the bombing of British cities to improve German morale.War sucks been there done that got the T-shirt. Am I a monster sure hope you never find out why.
yank1776 No they are not rotated out of curiosity. They are rotated to pre oil the cylinders before ignition . During inactivity the lubrication on the cylinder walls drains and rotating by hand a few times respreads some oil on the walls because on ignition and starting, the first couple of revolutions without oil is when there is the most wear on the cylinder walls. So it is done to lengthen the life of the engine.
The Germans developed night raids of civilian cities during WW 1. The French did not have any night capable bombers.
Note the B-29(s) shown are in OD, the production versions were Natural Finish, like the Enola Gay at the Smithsonian!
The test models(YB-29's) were painted. Not painting the production models saved several hundred pounds. Fuel,Bomb load all those .50 cal. rounds weight critical for 18 hour flight times.
Before you can get this plane airborne you have to spend more than one hour just turning and switching knobs and toggle switches? I'd rather open sardine cans.
Why did the pilot have to do all these inspections? didn't they have mechanics who were supposed to do all these checks? Or couldn't the mechanics be trusted to have done a final inspection?
Do they have time to check during an emergency"you have less than 5 minutes to get in the air missions"?
Elijah Stewart there was no such thing in strategic ww2 bombing
Kjartan Bragi Ágústsson ok
Elijah Stewart h
Aircraft on emergency standby (maybe fighters) are ready to go and have all the checks done
I scrolled endlessly looking for something in this comment section and didn't see it. So here it is...
Millennium Falcon!
And I thought I had it bad starting my trimmer/edge. Won’t complain again.
The Super Flying Fortress as narrated by Ronald Reagan. How Rad is that.
Is it true? What series is this?
@@vuvuvu6291 John Payne doing the pattern at the instruments.
Flight engineer, 4500 log time, Korea. This is inspection by Ground maint crew..
4:33 Where is all that footage?!
How long does (would) it take for the pilot to check the tyre pressures on an A380?
About 5 seconds. Tire preassure on those can be checked from the cockpit with power in.
+8091pinewood If it isn't in the cockpit he isn't checking no tire pressures, ever.
+ron bennett You don't seem to be able to recognise when one has one's tongue in one's cheek. You might need help to understand that. I don't see why the F word has anything to do with anything.
ron bennett I have no idea what you are talking about....
any idea why the engines needed to be pulled through 15 times before starting??
+Giggidygiggidy12 To push out any oil that may have accumulated in the lower cylinders.
+DOCUMENTARY TUBE Makes sense.
Because with radial engines, when not running, oil collects in the bottom cylinders.
Because with radial engines, when not running, oil collects in the bottom cylinders.
Actually, I got my info from the Crew Chief of a Warbird restored B 17 at an sir show. Also from a former Crew Chief I served with, who was stationed at DaNang.
Both aircraft had radial engines, and both people told me the same thing.", that it was to redistribute the oil. Where did you get your info ?
BTW, I'm a former KC 135A Crew Chief.
Well now I'm ready to fly my B-29 thanks
My manual said Kick the tire, light the fire and get this beast in the air! We got a war to win! LOL
Could you image if preflight was still like this today.....back when work meant work...
Must've been a good aircraft. Soviets copied it: Tu-(totally unoriginal)-4, aka
B-29 Bombski & the Tu-75 Transportski. The Tu-70 Airlinerski project never got off the ground, largely due to excessive loss of passengers & stewardesses through the bomb bay doors.
+DEADMANRIDING1 I always thought it must be more than coincidence that the cold war era planes of the US and Soviets all looked remarkably similar, mainly the fighters.
Excessive loss of passengers & stewardess? No, that was just Josef Stalin special delivery to the Gulags.
lol
This is so basic, but beautiful in its mechanical precision. But what I really want to know is how and where the crew answered the call of nature. Don’t tell me they held it for 15+ hours! #1, I guess they pee in a container or out a hole. #2, Take a dump on the enemy?
Tactical anti-FLAK shits.
good video.
thank you.
Sadly the putt putt was not watched in the NOVA B-29 and it caught fire.
TGS Props what is the putt putt? I didn't understand what that is in the video and never heard the term before
hotbam37 Essentially it is the Ground Power Unit or Auxilliary Power Unit. Provides power to the aircraft when the engines aren't running
B-52: “hold my bomb...”
since 52 is somewhat greater than 29, you can expect B-52 to be bigger than B-29 (((((-!
I am impressed, they did this video in 1945! Without smart phones and digital cam corders. And can even fly to the moon in the 1960's. How to make sure there are no errors?
Did you know that the average smartphone is a better computer than the ones used in Apollo 11? (The first ship on the moon for those who don't know) Also sorry for being 5 years late.
how come the rest of the crew weren't shown? I'd like to have seen all crew positions covered, the electronic fire-control system is intriguing... Though if the pilot doesn't evade, there is in pure theoretical terms a blind spot for the machine guns, as their traversing angles don't cover the absolute middle of the plane... and honest question, what was that 20mm cannon supposed to do other than being a visual deterrent to getting on the bomber's tail?
Couldn't fathom the fear running through these guys heading out into the night sky on a bombing raid into enemy territory. Until the Spitfire was developed, these guys had no escorts for most of their trip and very few were lucky to make it back.
You're thinking the European Theater which would have been B-17 and below. The B-29 saw service exclusively in the Pacific Theater. British airfields couldn't take the weight of the B-29. Also, it wasn't the Spitfire that provided long range escort - its range was far, far to short. It was mostly the P-51 Mustang that provided long range escort.
***** Thanks...I'd swear I seen a documentary about the Spitfire being the escort that helped save the day but thanks again for the correction.
Sptfire escorted RAF bombers not american bombers. P-38 and P-47 were the initial escorts the P-51 mustang came about later in the war mid 43 and into 1944. Ironically the Mustang got its engine from the spitfire.
I still wonder how on earth they navigated those things during the war.
+[A7] Falconn the movie about the dam busters tells you more on this topic. In short: all was done using paper maps, hand instruments, and a lot of talking, calculating and cross-checking.
+[A7] Falconn Probably Radio triangulation, dead reconning or (at night) celestial navigation methods.
TrimZeke Well... thats what you do during current navigation contests now. thats what they taught me, still in use in general aviation today
Plug and play wasn't invented yet. For me, it was hard to realize that it could work without horses pulling it.
This is the stretched version of the B-29 an extra thirty five feet long also the crew are required to be wider than normal.
what is a/the put put ?
+PhoenixBHO It's an auxiliary generator, used for electric power until all the engines are running!!!
What’s about the pilot? That’s you. That’s me!!?
That B-29 was one of the first A's delivered by Renton. Wonder what happened to her.
Love this video, can't wait to watch it again with my son Matteo, for now he is learning how to give respect and get respect back as a smart young man, following my steps to become a pilot one day, for each one of the readers!! would love to do the same, only thing is that today's aviation is way easier from how it was once, for sure the IFR, STILL the same relatively to the analog part of it, as we all go through that training; and no matter what will be invented tommorow, that what still makes it exciting, to love flying, Just imagine shooting a full approach on a B29... May be an ILS preceded by an arc,. Hehehe or going on a missed...
I can only imagine,....
for sure less work load with all the help on board.
Have Goosebums under my skin only for the thought of it...
They say, that it was very forgiving as an aircraft, and if the B29 is well trimmed, it is just like flying a 152...
And by the way, it is my son Matteo that told me ,that there was only on B29 left and alive in terms of airworthiness GOOGLE FIFI. OR UA-cam it
Peace and enjoy
The fella narrating has the same nyc accent as I do. I didn't realize how horrible we actually sound. I actually talk old school nyc too.
That was actually the preferred accent for newscasters, voice-over talent, actors and other media figures at the time.
Some time during the '50s or '60s, it evolved toward the "midwestern" accent favored today.
(I can't fly a B29, but I know my broadcast and media history. :-D)
+Mitch Berg It's called an atlantic accent.
Mitch Berg I tell ya, in my younger years I I would try to "fix" my accent, but the harder I tried, the worse it got. For example, "true" ( for thourgh) My accent is identical to the late great peter falk from colombo and young Al pacino. As i've aged, i've learned to love my accent
aky19832001 Actually its called a transatlantic accent.
Braden Bennett I sound nothing like the transatlantic. I youtubed the accents.