From: Nigel Hay MILWEB (nigel@milweb.net)
Date: Wed Sep 21 2005 - 05:38:05 PDT
My uncle had an intersting flying career in RAF - I see in his biog he flew
Handley Page Hastings after the war. I do'nt think any of these survive.
http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Stanbridge.htm
I only wish he had taught me to fly......even though I had a go at it years
ago and found it wasn't for me.
NIGE
-----Original Message-----
From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org]On
Behalf Of Rick v100
Sent: 21 September 2005 13:32
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] B-29 Superfortress
The brother of a woman in our church was killed while
flight testing the B29.
Rick
--- Everette <194cbteng@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> September 21
>
> 1942 The Superfortress takes flight
> On this day in 1942, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress
> makes its debut flight in
> Seattle, Washington. It was the largest bomber used
> in the war by any
> nation.
> The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold,
> who was afraid a German
> victory in Europe would mean the United States would
> be devoid of bases on
> the eastern side of the Atlantic from which to
> counterattack. A plane was
> needed that would travel faster, farther, and higher
> than any then
> available, so Boeing set to creating the four-engine
> heavy bomber. The plane
> was extraordinary, able to carry loads almost equal
> to its own weight at
> altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It contained a
> pilot console in the rear
> of the plane, in the event the front pilot was
> knocked out of commission. It
> also sported the first radar bombing system of any
> U.S. bomber.
> The Superfortress made its test run over the
> continental United States on
> September 21, but would not make its bombing-run
> debut until June 5, 1944,
> against Bangkok, in preparation for the Allied
> liberation of Burma from
> Japanese hands. A little more than a week later, the
> B-29 made its first run
> against the Japanese mainland. On June 14, 60 B-29s
> based in Chengtu, China,
> bombed an iron and steel works factory on Honshu
> Island. While the raid was
> less than successful, it proved to be a morale
> booster to Americans, who
> were now on the offensive.
> Meanwhile, the Marianas Islands in the South Pacific
> were being recaptured
> by the United States, primarily to provide air bases
> for their new B-29s-a
> perfect position from which to strike the Japanese
> mainland on a consistent
> basis. Once the bases were ready, the B-29s were
> employed in a long series
> of bombing raids against Tokyo. Although capable of
> precision bombing at
> high altitudes, the Superfortresses began dropping
> incendiary devices from a
> mere 5,000 feet, firebombing the Japanese capital in
> an attempt to break the
> will of the Axis power. One raid, in March 1945,
> killed more than 80,000
> people. But the most famous, or perhaps infamous,
> use of the B-29 would come
> in August, as it was the only plane capable of
> delivering a 10,000-pound
> bomb--the atomic bomb. The Enola Gay and the Bock's
> Car took off from the
> Marianas, on August 6 and 9, respectively, and flew
> into history.
>
>
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