The Boeing B-29 Super Fortress
was the first effective long distance bomber in
the world en was designed from 1940 as model 345
to fill the need of the US Army Air Core's plan
for a 'hemisphere defense' bomber.
The design was extremely advanced
with a pressurized cabin, remote controlled
defense weapons, an enormous offensive bomb load
and very high performance under witch a very
high service ceiling.
The first of three prototypes
flew in September 1942 with four Wright R-3550
'star-engines' each equipped with a turbo
charger. In the same time Boeing had contracts
for more than 1500 production bombers.
The XB-29's were followed by 14
YB-29 pre-production airframes, the first of
these 14 flew in June 1943.
A huge effort was made to get the
super fortresses in use, and a very extended
network of subcontractors supplied parts to four
assembly-plants. The type became operational in
time to be used in the second world war, and
play a very important roll in the campaigns
against Japan witch ended in August 1945 with
the drop of two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
Approx 2.848 B-29's were
completed with 1.122 B-29A's that had a slightly
lager wing-span and modernized defensive
weaponry and 311 B-29B's without defensive
weapons, but with a radar guided tail barbette.
Later this type was redesigned for recon an
experimental tasks and was later refitted with a
heavier construction and Pratt & Whitney R-4360
engines as the B-29D witch came in production as
the B-50A.
