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Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski Sr. - 309C
on 10/24/2009, 6:40 pm
74.44.85.96
The B-29 may be famous or infamous for the atomic bomb raids, but the many conventional, largely incendiary, bombing raids carried out by the Superfortresses against the Japanese ultimately destroyed the centers of a number of large Japanese cities.
After the war, the B-29 became the mainstay of the newly formed USAF Strategic Air Command and later saw continuous action during the three-year Korean War. Initially used in a tactical bomber role to halt the North Korean ground advance, the USAF B-29s were soon deployed in the role for which they were made - strategic bombing. Operating from bases in Japan, raids were carried out against industrial targets in North Korea.
The basic B-29 design underwent a number of modifications over the years. These variants included the SB-29 for air-sea rescue, the TB-29 trainer and the WB-29 tanker. The royal Air Force operated the aircraft as the Washington, with 88 ex-USAF examples in service from 1950. Most were returned to the USA in 1954, but some remained in Bomber Command service until 1958.
The Soviet Union managed to produce a copy of the B-29, which was named the TU-4 in Soviet service. These unlicensed copies were based on US aircraft which fell into Soviet hands at the end of World War II. In a program unparalleled in ingenuity and audacity, the Soviet Union ultimately produced over 300 of their version. The Soviet Union's post-war atomic bomber fleet was therefore directly related to the three US B-29s which had originally made emergency landings on Soviet territory following bombing missions over Japan. America had given the Soviet Union the aircraft that could have been turned on the USA.
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
First flight: 21 September 1942.
Power: Four Wright 2,200 hp. R-3350-57 radial engines.
Armament: Four-gun turret over nose, two-gun turrets under nose, over and under rear fuselage, all with machine guns of 0.5 in. caliber, plus one 20 mm cannon and two 0.5 in. guns in tail; up to 20,000 lb. bomb load.
Size: Wingspan - 141 ft. 3 in.
Length - 99 ft.
Height - 29 ft. 7 in.
Wing area - 1,736 sq. ft.
Weights: Empty - 70,140 lb.
Maximum take-off - 124,000 lb.
Performance: Maximum speed - 358 mph.
Ceiling - 31,800 ft.
Range - 3,250 miles
Climb - 25,000 feet in 43 minutes.
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