Progress on B-29 “Doc”

The tail section and horizontal stabilizers are almost polished. ( Image by Steve Jantz)
Aircorps Art Dec 2019

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The tail section and horizontal stabilizers are almost polished. ( Image by Steve Jantz)
The tail section and horizontal stabilizers are almost polished. ( Image by Steve Jantz)

The restoration of  the Boeing B-29 Superfortreess “Doc” is moving very fast. Steve Jantz, official photographer of Doc’s Friends, snet us an update and few pictures. Doc’s Friends is the group of business leaders from Wichita, KS that founded the organization in early 2013 with a vision to see the historic Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as Doc restored to flying condition. Steve reports that the last two propellers were delivered last Saturday. All four await to be installed to the engines.San Antonio Propeller Service fully restored and balanced the propellers in the Texas based shop so the Doc’s team would only have to install them once delivered Wichita. We called Tony Mazzolini yesterday to catch up with the restoration and as often happens Tony took us  down to memory lane with amazing aviation stories. Tony rescued the B-29 from the Mojave Desert in California in 1998, where it had spent 42 years as a sanctuary for birds and other desert creatures.

“We have done quite a lot of work recently” – Tony said – ” All the 26 new fuel tanks were  installed, the props were delivered, the new carburetors are in the house as well as the new exhaust systems. The hybrid engines are currently are being balanced for the assembly.” Tony tells us that the engines are completed and tested. The team has decided to go for an hybrid solution, in fact Doc’s engines are a mix between the Curtis-Wright  3350/57 used in the C-119  and the Skyraider’s Curtis-Wright  3350/26. The exhaust system was completely re-designed to avoid the issues that the FIFI had in the past.

Doc may fly as soon as this summer. Right now the plan is to fly “DOC” to AirVenture in Oshkosh this July.There is a group of about 30 volunteers that are pushing forward to try and make this happen.

Click HERE to read our articles about Doc’s restoration.

Click HERE to donate.

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