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TONY MAZZOLINI
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" RETURN TO GLORY "
Written By William Dietzel
She sleeps alone under the harsh desert sun, her only company
this past 42 years the wind, relentless heat, an occasional turtle
or rabbit, and once in a while, humans who look at her in wonder
as they drive down the little used road near where she rest, but
otherwise pay little mind.
She has been used for occasional target practice. Her skin
bears the
scars of her lot and marks of time, pitted, torn and stretched.
The massive engines that once carried her through the clouds to
flirt with the sun, and home to birds and other animals of the desert
that have plucked and pulled at her wires and hoses until it appears
that the life is surly drained from her.
Her belly is empty save for torn instruments and tattered
leftovers
of a time forgotten, but as you stand inside and look trough the
shattered windows, they appear to wink at you through the sunlight
and
you can imagine the grand lady she once was and once again
shall be.
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TONY MAZZOLINI
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The Office of the Chief of the Navy, Secretary of the Navy, and Director of Naval History (NO8BH) on 19 March 1998 approved, under public law 10 USC2572 the transfer of aircraft B-29 sin 44~9972. The National Naval Aviation Museum transferred title on 19 March 1998 to Mr. Anthony Mazzolini, South Euclid, Ohio. Mr. Mazzolini had been waiting eleven years for this date and the final release of the B-29 sin 44~9972 Superfortress Bomber.
The B-29 Superfortress 44~9972 was transferred from the United States Air Force to the United States Naval Weapons Center, China Lake Naval Air Station, Ridgecrest, California. 14 March 1956, 42 years ago, to be used as a ballistic missile target for airs combat training. This World War II. B-29 is the last remaining B-29 available for restoration to flying condition anywhere in the world. Even though it has spent the last 42 years exposed to the elements of the desert, it did have the good fortune of being a target on China Lake's electronic warfare range instead of its gunnery range. Unlike its sisterships, which were used for Ballistic missile drones, ground targets and was reduced to little more than scrap metal by bombs, bullets and shrapnel. As a result, it has survived intact,
Manufactured by Boeing Aircraft at Wichita, Kansas and delivered B-29 sin 44~9972 to the United States Army Air Force on March 1945. The B-29 was sent to Birmingham, Alabama for its first major modification. May 1945 the B-29 was assigned to the Third Air Force. One year later B-29 44 69972 was placed in storage at Pyote Army Air Force Base, Texas. Numerous B-29 were stored at Pyote between WWI I and 1950, B-29 4469972 was pulled out and readied for action in the Korean War. The aircraft was modified for Radar Calibration and flew Radar Defense Evaluation Flights on the East Coast of the United States from July 1951 until February 1955. The 17th Tow Target Squadron received the B-29 and converted the B-29 to a Tow Target aircraft. For the Air Defense Command, Yuma County Air Force Base, Arizona. B-29 was delivered to China Lake Weapons Center on 14 March 1998.
This World War II B-29 sin 4469972 is the last B-29 Superfortress available for restoration to flying condition anywhere in the world. Even though it has spent the last 42 years exposed to the elements of the desert it did have the good fortune of being a target on United States Naval Weapons Center, China Lake, California electronic warfare range instead of it's gunnery range. As a result, it has survived intact, unlike its sisterships, which were reduced to little more than scrap metal by bombs, bullets and shrapnel. What really makes B-29 4469972 Superfortress such a prize is that the airframe and wings are in excellent condition, and it still has all four engines; rare, low time, R-3350-57 Wright Cyclone aircraft engine, 2200 horse power engines, with the logo of the Dodge Ram head on the front of the engines. Manufactured by Chrysler Corporation at their Dodge Engine Plant in Detroit, Michigan in 1944.
The United States Aviation Museum army of volunteers mobilized their forces for the most incredible mission ever imagined. Recovering World War II B-29 sin 4469972 Superfortress Bomber, Wing span of 141.8, feet, 100 feet long and weighing 90,000 pounds, Towing the aircraft 38 miles across the hot, rough sandy floor of the Mojave Desert with out removing the wings on the aircraft. The B-29 Superfortress will be restored to flying condition. The volunteer's responded to the challenge with an overwhelming enthusiasm and determination to accomplish their mission
The United States Aviation Museum volunteers are excited to finally be able to take possession of the B-29 aircraft, although to bring the B-29 aircraft to its restoration location presented several challenges. Crossing the Mojave Desert floor to Harvey Field at Inyokern, California, 38 miles away. The volunteers of the museum have carried out this challenge and the aircraft delivered to it's new home at the Bud McGee Aviation Park in Inyokem, California. B-29 Superfortress sin 4469972 in now under going restoration back to the glory of flying at the United States Aviation Museum.
At Boeing, hundreds of workers and retirees welcome home a rare B-29, perhaps the last one that will be restored to its former glory.
A truck carrying the front section of "Doc," a B-29
Superfortress built at Boeing Wichita in 1944, heads north on Oliver on
its way Thursday to a Boeing hangar Thursday, where it will be restored.
(Brian Corn photo) |
About 500 to 600 Boeing workers and retirees burst into applause Thursday morning as three trailers carrying the forward section, engines and wings turned onto Boeing Wichita property, the aircraft's home for the next several months as it undergoes restoration.
Now the work begins.
A team of volunteers, many of them Boeing retirees, will restore the heavy bomber into flying condition inside a Boeing hangar in a partnership between the company and the U.S. Aviation Museum.
Many of those gathered for its arrival peered inside the forward section, ran their hands across the metal, inspected the rubberized fuel tanks and the engines and marveled at the plane's good condition.
"I expected to see lots of rust and dents," said Willard Tunison, 79, a Boeing retiree. "But it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be."
The plane will be the second -- and most likely the last -- B-29 to be restored to airworthiness.
The project's leaders have not said how much the plane will cost to restore. Much will depend on how much is donated. But the aircraft will be "priceless" once the work is completed, they said. B-29 bombers were instrumental in the victory over Japan. B-29s dropped the two atomic bombs that ended the war in the Pacific. Nicknamed Doc, the plane spent some of its time as part a squadron of eight bombers called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, flying electronic countermeasures before ending up at the U.S. Navy's China Lake Naval Weapons Center in California's Mojave desert.
"I think it's hard to estimate the value that this airplane and its sister ships had -- the number of lives it saved and the tremendous role it played in ending World War II," said Jeff Turner, vice president and general manager of Boeing Wichita.
The project means a lot to the company, he said, and it is right that the work be performed at the "place of its birth."
"We are extremely proud of our heritage," Turner said. Of the 3,976 B-29s built, Boeing Wichita built 1,600 of them, more than any other plant.
For many, the restoration project will be a labor of love.
"I think it's great," said Henry Burns, 77, a Boeing retiree, inspecting the aircraft's tail section. Burns machined parts for the B-29 and the B-17 when he started at Boeing in 1942 and has volunteered to work on the airplane.
"I'm hoping that maybe they can use me," he said.
Seeing the heavy bomber roll into Boeing reminded Sam Nance, a design engineer at Boeing, of the many stories his late father told him about his days as a radio controller on a B-29 crew during the war.
To begin restoration, the plane must first be thoroughly washed, to get rid of sand it accumulated during its 42-year-stint in the desert, then each part must be inspected for corrosion. The inspection will help determine the scope of the project, said Dick Ziegler, a Boeing spokesman who also is the restoration project manager.
In projects such as this, said Tony Mazzolini, chief executive of the U.S. Aviation Museum, "there's going to be situations yet to be uncovered."
The plane needs "a lot of TLC," he said.
The tail, which sustained damage from .50-caliber machine gun rounds, must be largely rebuilt using new sheet metal. The aircraft needs new wiring, and the engines, while they have low hours, must be overhauled, an expensive operation unless there is someone with the knowledge of how to rebuild them, Ziegler said. Most of the airplane's existing parts can be used in the restoration. Some will have to be reworked, while others will have to be fabricated. Some spare parts from other B-29s may be used as well, Ziegler said.
About 300 volunteers have stepped forward to work on the project, but more are needed, he said. Work will be performed in four-hour shifts: from 8 a.m. until noon, noon until 4 p.m., and 4 until 8 p.m.
Boeing is donating the hangar space, the use of some equipment and some materials. It also is coordinating the volunteers. Mazzolini is securing donations from aircraft and component manufacturers.
Mazzolini found the airplane after years of searching for a B-29 that could be restored to airworthiness. He and a partner hold the title to the aircraft. After the restoration, the plane will tour the country, but a permanent home for it has not been decided, he said. "It's been a long road," Mazzolini said at Thursday's ceremonies. "I know that a Boeing-built airplane -- especially a Wichita-built airplane -- will be back in the skies again because of you people."
Seeing Superfortress sparks memories
One of the 300 volunteers who will help restore the B-29 built in Wichita remembers his days building the planes during World War II.
His eyes sparkled as he surveyed the forward section and massive wings of the airplane sitting on trailer beds outside a hangar at Boeing.
"Oh boy, it's great," he said.
The wings look as they did a half-century ago when he was helping to build them, said the white-haired Briscoe.
Briscoe, 83, began working on the super-secret B-29 project at Boeing Wichita in 1941, six days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was a tool designer.
Briscoe is one of about 300 people, many of them Boeing retirees, who have volunteered to help restore the vintage warbird.
"I was proud of it," Briscoe said of the B-29. The plane ultimately saved many lives, he said.
The B-29 brings back feelings of patriotism, he said -- and of sadness as he remembers co-workers who lost sons and husbands to the war.
Workers came from farms and ranches and classrooms and homes to work on the plane, one of Wichita's key contributions to the war effort. No one complained about working 10 or more hours a day, often seven days a week, he said.
Briscoe recalled watching the maiden flight of the first B-29 to come out of production from Boeing's Plant II. Everyone gathered to watch.
But the plane began to smoke and looked as if it was on fire. Briscoe said he began to cry, fearful that it would have the same fate as its Seattle counterpart, which on its first test flight plowed into a building, killing 12 crew members and 19 people on the ground. But the plane Briscoe watched that day had only an oil leak, he said, and its initial flight ended without mishap.
The B-29 was unique, Briscoe said. Besides being the largest warplane ever built at the time, it also was the first to be pressurized. It was able to fly high enough to cross the Himalayas to reach Japan. In addition, "The B-29 was being engineered the same time we were building it," he said.
In his job, making the intricate tools to build the B-29, Briscoe used everyday materials of wood and masonite, since steel was being used to build ships, Jeeps and tanks. But the tools would last for only about 100 airplanes.
Briscoe returned to Boeing after a stint in the Navy, retiring in 1984, although he returned later for six more months. When he saw a film of the B-29 found by the U.S. Aviation Museum and heard it was coming to Wichita, "I was thrilled," he said.
Boeing B-29 To Be Returned To Flying Status
Wichita, Kansas played a major role in aircraft production during World War II. One of the most famous aircraft produced here was the B-29. From mid 1943 to early 1945, Boeing Wichita delivered to the U. S. Army Air Forces, 1644 B-29's, including the 14 YB-29 prototypes.
One of those famous B-29's, "Doc" has come back to Wichita to be restored to flying status. "Doc, a B-29 that was built at Boeing Wichita's Plant II in 1944, spent the last 42 years sitting in the desert near China Lake, California.
"Doc" was one of a squadron of eight planes named as one of the dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs story.
After being decommissioned in 1956, it was one of a number of B-29's used as targets at the China Lake Naval Warfare Center Weapons Division in California. Through the perseverance of Tony Mazzolini, founder of the United States Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and Inyokern, Calif., and the help of Boeing Wichita, the project is "taking-off."
According to Dick Ziegler, Boeing Wichita B-29 Restoration project coordinator, the airplane is in fairly good condition. "Doc" was disassembled and shipped to Wichita, where it has been placed in the Experimental Flight Hanger for reassembly and restoration.
Ziegler said that Mazzolini began looking about 15 years ago for a B-29 to restore, a difficult task because most were destroyed in target practice or consigned to the shredder years ago. Mazzolini labored obsessively to acquire "Doc" and had it moved to the Air Museum at Inyokern, a small town in the desert northeast of Los Angeles, where restoration of the airplane was to take place.
However, it was discovered that more resources were needed for the restoration. That's where Boeing Wichita stepped in.
"We had made arrangements with the museum to truck the airplane here in mid-May, " Ziegler said. "We have put it in our Experimental Flight Hanger. Thanks to Boeing Wichita's leadership, we are going to be able to take "Doc" under our wing, and through the use of a volunteer work force, we're going to try to restore this airplane to flying status."
Ziegler said Boeing employees and Boeing retirees will be invited to participate in the restoration on a volunteer basis. Ziegler said when the project is completed, it will join the ranks of "Fifi," the only B-29 that has been restored to flying status.
The decision on where the flying museum piece will reside after restoration has not been finalized.
Reprinted from Boeing Plane Talk, May 3, 2000 by Susan Calbeck.
