Historic high-flying fun
A North American P-51 Mustang (center window) flies off of the left wing of the B-29 “Doc” Friday afternoon while pilot Tim Wiebe keeps a steady hand on the throttles and control column to lead the formation of three historic warbirds.
BRANSON, Mo. — As memories of the “Greatest Generation” and the sacrifices it made to help win World War II fade away, so does the equipment it used to win that conflict. Thanks to a group of very dedicated aviation historians and aircrews, some of this equipment — particularly aircraft — has roared back to life to honor and remember those very souls who protected the freedom that we take for granted these days.
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Doc” made its very first appearance at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum in Fayetteville Friday afternoon for three days of flying and cockpit tours.
The “Doc” story began in March of 1945 when B-29 number 44-69972 was delivered to the Army Air Corps from its birthplace at the Boeing Aircraft factory in Wichita, Kan. But fate was on the side of this lonely B-29 when, on Aug. 6, another B-29 named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in an effort to end the war. Three days later, a second Superfortress named Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb, “Fat Man,” on Nagasaki. On Aug. 15, 1945, Japan signed the formal surrender on board the Battleship Missouri, ending World War II.
B-29 972 would never see combat in World War II but, a few years later, the aircraft was relegated to a multipurpose noncombat role and, in July of 1951, the aircraft was assigned to a radar calibration unit, along with six other Superfortresses. The squadron was known as the Seven Dwarfs. Each aircraft carried the name of one character in the popular Disney animated movie, “Snow White.” Thus aircraft 972 was dubbed “Doc.”
Less than four years later, in May of 1955, the squadron was reassigned as target-towing aircraft. Less than a year later, in March of 1956, Doc and his six dwarf mates would become obsolete and delegated as bomb targets at the U.S. Naval Proving Grounds at China Lake, Calif., never to fly again.
In 1987, some 42 years after Doc last flew, Tony Mazzolini was combing through the desert near China Lake when he came upon Doc, which by this time was missing its vertical tail, a propeller, and its fabric control services. It was at that moment he decided to restore the old B-29 to flight status.
At the time, there was only one flying example of a B-29 in operation with the Commemorative Air Force, which was named “Fifi.”
It would take Mazzolini and his support team 12 years of cutting through government red tape before “Doc” would become Mazzolini’s aircraft, and in April of 1998 “Doc” was towed out of the desert and began its long journey back to the place of its birth, the Boeing Factory in Wichita, Kan., arriving in 2000.
It took Doc’s Friends, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, to finish the project and, on July 17, 2016, “Doc” became the second flying B-29 in the world.
In 2017 “Doc” began its air show career by attending eight shows in four states. One of those shows was the EAA AirVenture Fly-in in Oshkosh, Wis., the biggest show in the U.S. Doc is now in its third year on the tour circuit.
After spending a week in Branson, “Doc” was ready to move on to its next stop at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum at Drake Field in Fayetteville on Sept. 4. A small contingent of Northwest Arkansas aviation enthusiasts and media representatives were shuttled to Branson to catch a ride on board this historic aircraft.
While the crew fueled and pre-flight “Doc,” pilot Tim Wiebe and co-pilot Ken Newell briefed the group on aircraft procedures in the airport’s fix based operations building a few hundred feet away from “Doc.”
Wiebe is no stranger to aviation. He is the third generation of pilots who have flown more than 120 different types of aircraft.
“Every time you go up in this aircraft, you are in command of a flying museum,” Wiebe replied. “We take it around the country and show it off to everyone who wants to experience the size and feel of the B-29.”
What is it like to fly an aircraft that is older than most of its pilots and crew?
“You have a 144-foot wingspan and, compared to modern-day aircraft, the B-29 uses cables and pulleys that go out to the ailerons with 120 feet of cable,” Wiebe explains. “You have a lot of adverse yaw and stretch of the cables when you make a turn. You have to wait for the aircraft to respond. Then you have to roll the controls back in the opposite direction and wait a few seconds before it decides to level out. The B-29 is about the same size as a modern-day airliner. Instead of having all this jet thrust, you have 8,800 horsepower on the aircraft with 16-foot props.”
By 2:30 p.m. the aircraft was fully fueled and ready for the hour-long flight ahead. Soon Newell and Wiebe were joined by the remainder of the crew, which consisted of flight engineer Donnie Obreiter and his wife Diane, Peter Leidich, Many Green, Frank Berry and George Moland (scanners), and Brett Schauf (videographer). The crew and guests loaded into two airport vans and drove to where “Doc” was parked on the airport terminal tarmac.
The B-29 was loaded, and everybody took their assigned positions. After all the pre-flight checklist steps were completed and a short taxi to runway 14, “Doc” was ready to take to the sky once again. At just before 4 p.m. the B-29 lifted off of the runway and made its turn toward Lost Bridge airpark where a unique photo mission was about to take place.
After skirting a dying thunderstorm, “Doc” arrived at its rendezvous point, a Game Bird 1 photo aircraft and a pair of North American P-51 Mustangs from Bentonville joined up on the B-29’s tail. The bomber and pair of fighters from World War II flew around the Lost Bridge area for about 30 minutes before heading to Thaden Field in Bentonville for a low pass over the airport. Soon the Mustangs broke formation and Game Bird 1 and B-29 proceeded to Drake Field.
One pass over Drake Field and Game Bird 1 broke off and landed, while the B-29 made a long downwind leg and final for runway 16. Once the aircraft had landed, a voice from one of the guests broke over the intercom, “Welcome to Fayetteville.”
Local airshow pilot Matt Younkin, grandson of museum founder Jim Younkin, stood in the center of the tarmac behind the air museum waiting to direct “Doc” to parking. Younkin, the son of legendary airshow performer Bobby Younkin, is a member of the B-29’s flight crew. When the B-29 taxied to the point Younkin chose for the parking spot, he held his arms up, making an X, and Wiebe hit the brakes. “Doc” was on the ground for its first visit to Drake Field.
The B-29 Superfortress “Doc” was on display Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-7, at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum located at Drake Field in Fayetteville. Along with the Superfortress, a Beech JRB Navy (Twinbeech) transport/cargo aircraft and a North American AT-6 Texan advanced training aircraft took to the skies over Northwest Arkansas.
The Arkansas Air and Military Museum itself has a treasure trove of civilian and military aircraft from the early days of propellerdriven aircraft to the jet age. Some of the aircraft on display indoors and out include a Stinson Junior, Pietenpol Air Camper, Howard DGA model 6 and 18 and an early example of a Gates Lear 23 used by Bobby Younkin as one of his airshow aircraft.
The outdoor exhibits include a Douglas A-4C Skyhawk II, Lockheed T-33, North American T-2 Buckeye and, of course, the newest addition to the museum collection, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules which was used as a command aircraft at the Little Rock Air Force Base in central Arkansas.
For more information on the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, call 479-521-4947 or visit arkansasairandmilitary.com. For more information on the B-29 “Doc” or to make a donation to help keep the aircraft flying, go to www.b29doc.com/donate or call 316-260-4312.