The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the 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.
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber built by Boeing for the United States Air Force, and was further refined into Boeing's final such design, the prototype B-54. Although not as well known as its direct predecessor, the B-50 was in USAF service for nearly 20 years.
McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. The airbase was named in honor of the brothers Fred and Thomas McConnell of Wichita, who had both been Air Force pilots and veterans of World War II. It is the home of Air Mobility Command's 22nd Air Refueling Wing, Air Force Reserve Command's 931st Air Refueling Wing, and the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Wing.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a WWII era long range, strategic heavy bomber that was produced in many experimental and production models.
Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport is a commercial airport 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state of Kansas. Located south of US-54 in southwest Wichita, it covers 3,248 acres and contains three runways.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., is an American aerostructure manufacturer. The company, based in Wichita, Kansas, builds several important pieces of Boeing aircraft, including the fuselage of the 737, and 787, as well as the flight deck section of the fuselage of nearly all of Boeing airliners. Spirit also produces fuselage sections and front wing spars for the Airbus A350. Spirit's main competition comes from Collins Aerospace, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Leonardo, and Triumph Group.
The Battle of Kansas was the nickname given to a project to build, modify, and deliver large quantities of the world's most advanced bomber to the front-lines, originally in Europe and also in the Pacific, although because of delays in production, it was used only in the Pacific. The battle began as the first B-29 Superfortresses rolled off the production lines of the massive new Boeing factory on the prairies near Wichita, Kansas.
Guy Mannering Townsend III was a United States Air Force brigadier general, test pilot, and combat veteran. As an Air Force officer, he served as chief of bomber test at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, flew as co-pilot on the first flight of the B-52 Stratofortress, was test force director for the XB-70 Valkyrie, and served as program director for the C-5 Galaxy and B-1 Lancer. He was the first military pilot to fly the B-47 Stratojet, B-50 Superfortress, B-52 Stratofortress, and the prototype of the KC-135 Stratotanker. During his years at Boeing, he was the head of the Supersonic Transport operations organization.
Micky Axton was an American aviator who was a test pilot during World War II. Axton was "one of the first three Women Airforce Service Pilots to be trained as a test pilot" and was the first woman to fly a B-29.
Boeing Plant 2 was a factory building which was built in 1936 by The Boeing Company in King County, Washington in the United States. By the time production ceased in the building, the plant had built half of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, the Boeing 307 Stratoliners, the Boeing 377s, some of the Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, Boeing B-50 Superfortresses, B-47 Stratojets, B-52 Stratofortresses, and the initial Boeing 737s. It was located between the Duwamish River and Boeing Field, to the east of the 16th Avenue South bridge, facing East Marginal Way South.
The 4713th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 21st Air Division at Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where it was inactivated on 15 April 1974. The squadron was first organized as the 4713th Radar Evaluation Flight at Griffiss Air Force Base, New york in March 1954 and expanded to a squadron in 1958. It began flying Martin B-57 Canberra aircraft in 1959, and continued to do so in the role of testing air defense systems until inactivating,
The Vintage Flying Museum is a non-profit aviation museum located at Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth, Texas. The primary mission of the museum is to preserve America's flying heritage in word, deed and action. Also located at the museum is Greatest Generation Aircraft, the Invader Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force, the Fort Worth Chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association and PGM Aviation.
FIFI is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It is one of two B-29s in the world flying as of 2023. It is owned by the Commemorative Air Force and is based at the Victor N. Agather Hangar at Dallas Executive Airport in Dallas, Texas.
Edmund Turney Allen was a pioneer of modern flight test who flew for nearly every major American aircraft manufacturer and took some of the most famous planes of all time up for their first flights.
The Textron AirLand Scorpion is an American jet aircraft proposed for sale to perform light attack and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties. It is being developed by Textron AirLand, a joint venture between Textron and AirLand Enterprises. A prototype was secretly constructed by Cessna at their Wichita, Kansas facility between April 2012 and September 2013 and first flown on 12 December 2013.
Richard G. Thomas was an American test pilot, who flew the Tacit Blue, and several spin tests on the F-5F program, including the first flights on both aircraft for the Northrop Corporation.
The Boeing–Saab T-7 Red Hawk, initially known as the Boeing T-X, is an American/Swedish supersonic advanced jet trainer produced by Boeing with Saab. In September 2018, the United States Air Force (USAF) picked it for the T-X program to replace the Northrop T-38 Talon as the service's advanced jet trainer.
The B-29 Doc Hangar, Education and Visitors Center is an aviation museum located at the Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas.
