1945 was a good year for coins, and for B-29 bombers.

UtahCoin

So I'm driving along minding my own business today....



So I think this is pretty cool, pull around to the approach to the airport and wait...

golden

Way cool!

DaveG

Wow!



You could make the pictures bigger, you know!

Cocoinut

The B-29 Super Fortress was the plane that carried the atomic bombs to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were huge planes in their day.

Jim

AnkurJ

Very cool! But please size those down!

Swampboy

I love it!!!

Thanks for posting those Wes.
It must have sounded Great!

Got a Father's Day present of a Flying Fortress ride in 2010.
Every once in a while I fire up the videos so I can listen again.

The Aluminum Overcast....

secondrepublic

Great American plane, did a lot to win the War.

stealer

Those who respond to their thread proclaim the superiority of their internet connection

cmerlo1

I saw FiFi just recently at the Randolph Air Force Base Airshow in San Antonio:



I paid the $5 to go inside - I was surprised that for such a big plane, there wasn't a lot of room (it's all about the bombs). The bombadier sits in front of the pilots, in at the very front of the plane:





Apparently, FiFi is the only flying B-29... she did take off and fly over the show, but not as close as you got!

magikbilly

My Grandfather, who worked on these planes on Tinian, and also had a 29 named after him, would strongly disagree.

Eric

LanLord

The pics are so big, my scroll bars are 1 pixel in size.

Anyone have the less than 1 yottabyte digital images?

BaronVonBaugh

<< <i>Those who respond to their thread proclaim the superiority of their internet connection >>



No problem.

BryceM

These old planes are really something. They're a tribute to an entire generation who put self aside to preserve Liberty.

I was lucky enough to take a ride in a P-51 Mustang back in 2002. There's only about 50 of them still flying and only a handful of them have a second seat. Pulling 4 Gs may not sound like much but it impressed me to no end. Given the choice between that and a ride in an F-22, I'd go for another ride in the Mustang.

scotty1419

I got to see FIFI over the summer. If Im not mistaken it's the last flyable B29 in existence?

Never get tired of seeing the 40s prop military aircraft in person

TwoSides2aCoin

My dad came home from the war that year. He served in Italy and Northern Africa. He was instrumental in getting me into coins. Those are some amazing photos.

Flatwoods

<< <i>Those who respond to their thread proclaim the superiority of their internet connection >>



Ironically, I read your post twenty-seven times while my modem was hung up.

epcjimi1

Sweet.

Great pics + post. Three thumbs up.

JCB1983

Wow, really makes me miss my Grandpa. He was a navigator on B-29's in the China Burma India Campaign during WW2. My grandmother gave me this album about a month ago.

ajaan

The first picture of the post directly above this one, is a B-24. My uncle was a tail gunner in a B-24 over Europe and flew his 25 missions.

JCB1983

Interesting. I'm pretty sure that my grandmother was as clueless as I was about plan variations. It does say " assumed to be, and no information available in the upper right corner." I just know that he was a member of the Flying Tigers in the CBI Campaign. Would love to see more WW2 pictures.

Aegis3

The left edges of your photos didn't seem that interesting.

jhdfla

<< <i>Interesting. I'm pretty sure that my grandmother was as clueless as I was about plan variations. It does say " assumed to be, and no information available in the upper right corner." I just know that he was a member of the Flying Tigers in the CBI Campaign. Would love to see more WW2 pictures. >>




My dad was a bombardier in the Pacific campaign, I believe this is a B17 they are standing in front of.

Edited to add, a member PM'd me and informed me the plane is actually a Consolidated PB4Y-2, navy version of the B-24. Thank you, epcjimi1!

lordmarcovan

<< <i>1945 was a good year for coins, and for B-29 bombers. >>

Not so good for Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, though.

Hopefully the planes didn't crash like my browser just did... twice... upon trying to load those humongo pix. (Gawd, man, downsize 'em, please!)

Looks like some cool shots, though, judging from the small corners of the images I was able to see before they froze up my 'puter.

I've never seen a B-29, but we've had some B-17s come through here locally (including the "Aluminum Overcast" that Swampboy mentioned). One day one flew right over the hotel where I was working, right in off the ocean, with no warning, only about 200 feet off the deck. That was awesome.

jesbroken

Such large pics, I have been able to view 3 but then that is all. Still a great post.
My Dad was a B24J Bomberpilot based in Leece, Italy during WWII and crash landed with crew intact at Zara(Zadar, Yugoslavia) upon a return flight from a bomb run to Vienna, He crossed the Alps with just two of four engines operating
and as his new J model was on its last legs due to many flak hits, he and his crew were watching as they crashed landed on the beach the underground defeating the Germans and them fleeing on a dead run from the underground.
He was given a new plane upon returning. His replacement bomber was a B24L model named Ruth Please! after my mom Ruth Bowling.
Sorry to drag on.
BTW, dad was the man in the center of the photo with the small black moustache.
Jim

lordmarcovan

<< <i>BTW, dad was the man in the center of the photo with the small black moustache. >>

He was rockin' the Clark Gable look. Very hot at the time, no doubt! Wonder if that had anything to do with your Mom and he meeting, huh? Aaahh... destiny.

JCB1983

Those pictures are awesome. Thanks for sharing. Honestly I do not think my grandpa did any bombing runs. He was a test pilot for B-29s before they were mainstream. He may have done one bombing run, but think he had a cush job in the CBI. Something about transporting Chinese troops or something.

ricko

Great pictures of a great plane. The largest was the B-36... when I was a kid they would occasionally fly overhead... could feel the vibration of the engines in the air.. most impressive. Cheers, RickO