Last flying B-29 to visit Columbia

The State ^ | 27 March 2004 | JEFF WILKINSON

[aomagrat]

(Columbia SC) The world’s only flying B-29 “Superfortress” — the same type of plane that dropped the atomic bomb to end World War II — will be on display in Columbia beginning Monday.

The vintage aircraft “FiFi” will fly in to Columbia Metropolitan Airport about noon on Monday and will be open to visitors from Tuesday through Sunday.

The fly-in is part of a 30-day national tour by the Commemorative Air Force (formerly the Confederate Air Force) to give the public an opportunity to see an important facet of U.S. military history and honor the men who served in World War II.

The visiting B-29 is authentically restored to original appearance, similar to the “Enola Gay,” the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Because of the cost of flying the huge bomber, it will only fly for arrival and departure, said Jim Stewart, of Greenville, FiFi’s national tour director.

“Due to extremely high operating cost, this could be FiFi’s last trip here,” Stewart said. “She may soon spend more time in our museum than in the air.”

The plane was last on display in Columbia six years ago. It didn’t take part in the annual Celebrate Freedom Foundation fly-ins because it is too large to land at Columbia - Owens Downtown Airport or Camden’s Woodward Field.

However, Woody Randall, founder and CEO of Celebrate Freedom, said the group is helping bring FiFi to town.

“The B-29 ended World War II in the Pacific,” said Randall, a retired Air Force general. “Without that event (dropping the atomic bomb) the war would have gone on for another year or so. It ultimately saved thousands and thousands of American and Japanese lives.”

About 4,000 of the giant aircraft were built by Boeing Aircraft. FiFi is the last still flying.

The plane was designed to fly long distances and defend itself outside the range of support fighter planes, much as the famous “Flying Fortress” did earlier in the war.

The “Superfortress” was the first combat plane with a pressurized cabin and a computerized gun control system. Many of the construction techniques used on modern airliners can be seen in the structure of the B-29 .

The Commemorative Air Force and the American Airpower Heritage Museum, located in Midlands, Texas, maintains in flying condition the world’s largest collection of World War II aircraft. Many of the planes are the last of their type still in the air.

[MarcoPolo]

Cool!

[Jhensy]

[MarkL]

I saw FiFi at an air show in KC some years ago, while it was still being retored.

Amazing planes, the B-29s.

Mark

[SC Swamp Fox]

SC Ping

FReepmail me if you want on or off this list.

[wita]

There is another flyable being re-built at the Boeing Plant in Wichita. I saw it last summer, and it was well along in the restoration process. One item of note was the lack of corrosion control coming out of the original factory, as the planes were fodder, and built to last only a short while. The one being built now is getting the full treatment, which is taking time. This plane was supposed to fly in 2002, but is still under construction. It had the name of one of the seven dwarfs, and the only two I can think of are dopey and sleepy, and it wasn't one of those.


Open and dangerous comment line: "I sense there must be a very deep underlying reason for the only two names I can remember".

[billorites]

I saw thin airplane on the ramp at a local airport about 5 years ago.

I was surprised at how small it was.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

People were smaller then, too.

[SC Swamp Fox]

Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Happy and Doc.

[bassmaner]

Commemorative Air Force (formerly the Confederate Air Force)

Can anyone provide a little background on this organization; specifically, why they buckled under P.C. pressure and changed their name?

[Tennessee_Bob]

I took my daughter out to see FiFi when she came to Knoxville. They brought in an B-24 as well. We did the full climb-aboard tour - was amazing to see how little space there was in 29 - definitely a machine made for war.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Saw FiFi in Albuquerque a couple years back, what a treat! They also had a B-17, which I was amazed how small it was inside (when all you've seen is photos and newsreel footage it seems bigger). I came away with an awed appreciation of what kinda brass ones it took to go to war in those.

[TheBattman]

I was actually surprised when I read this article - I had no idea they had changed their name. A crying shame that they buckled under PC pressure.

I grew up seeing many local members of this club (Confederate Air Force) flying their planes over my hometown. Then would get to see the majority of the members planes at the annual airshow.

Some amazing old machines!

[MosesKnows]

The B-29 ended World War II in the Pacific

Without looking up I can still tell by the sound if it is a B-29. I used to listen to them take off and land day and night during WW2. I also had the opportunity to sit in every one of the nine crew positions and to crawl all around the inside of B-29s as a young boy.

After WW2 I learned that there were two english words that all Japanses knew. The two english words were "Babe Ruth" and the other was "B-29".

I believe B-50 versions of the B-29 were used in Korea.

[Rebelbase]

"I was surprised at how small it was"

I'm looking at photo right now of of me holding my 3 year old son in front of "Fifi" at our airport. The kid is 17 now. Time flies.

[Rebelbase]

[aomagrat]

CONFEDERATE AIR FORCE CHOOSES COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE AS NEW NAME

CAF MEMBERSHIP CONSIDERING PROPOSAL TO CHANGE GROUP'S NAME

[yhwhsman]

People were smaller then, too.

Last year at Harvard, NE they had a 100 years of flight celebration, and one of the planes they brought in was a beautifully restored B-17. I was joking with the crew about how much they would charge to allow me to crawl into the ball turret (I'm a pretty big guy) and we got to discussing the sizes of the men who flew the bomber.

They said the crew weight limit was 1200 lbs, and there were 10 men on the plane.

So yeah, they were a lot smaller then.

[Theo]

Okay, I was just about to lay into you for misspelling the name of the country, Colombia. Um. Never mind.

Cool plane, BTW. :-)

[wolficatZ]

"Doc"

http://b-29.boeing.com/

Wow, six years since she was at Cola metro. That's when I last saw her. Go out there and walk around or donate a little extra to tour inside; the fuel costs to keep her flying are enormous and every little bit helps.