The first "Publicly Displayed" B-29 ...

[Mark Allen M]

Guess you could say before there was the CAF's "FIFI" there was this one that started it all off.
Washington, D.C. Nov. 29, 1944. Washington National Airport first public showing of the Army's B-29 Superfortress.
(According to what these photos state)
Source, Library of Congress photo archives.

[Mark Allen M]

Interesting display in the first few photos. Be cool to see that type of display at an airshow today.

[Pat Carry]

Love the photos Mark The public must have been in awe of this behemoth of an aircraft.

[The Inspector]

What is that light colored antennalike item on the spine of the O.D. Bamboo Bomber over by the tower?

[AG pilot]

Is there any more close-ups of the display items? Looks like possibly a cannon on a table, and wheel/tires on the ground. Very interesting!

[Tiger Tim]

What is that light colored antennalike item on the spine of the O.D. Bamboo Bomber over by the tower?

ADF football, I would assume.

-Tim

[The Inspector]

What is that light colored antennalike item on the spine of the O.D. Bamboo Bomber over by the tower?

ADF football, I would assume.

-Tim

THNX-hard for me to enlarge it on the monitor without it getting really fuzzy

[Cubs]

Interesting display in the first few photos. Be cool to see that type of display at an airshow today.

You could not have a display like that today. Look at the oil it's dripping on the ramp.
( a healthy sign for a radial engine by the way, sort of like a dog's cold, wet nose).

[JohnB]

My guess is the aircraft wing shown in photo 5 is a B-26?
The aircraft next to the UC-78 looks to be a Howard, with an Interstate (?) across from it (it's too big for a Cub/Taylorcraft/Aeronca and the tail shape is wrong for a Stinson 10).

[Tiger Tim]

My guess is the aircraft wing shown in photo 5 is a B-26?
The aircraft next to the UC-78 looks to be a Howard, with an Interstate (?) across from it (it's too big for a Cub/Taylorcraft/Aeronca and the tail shape is wrong for a Stinson 10).

I thought the wing was a Lockheed from the flap track. Looks like maybe a gullwing Stinson beside the bamboo bomber and the little guy across the ramp from them is a pre-war Aeronca Chief.

I kind of chuckled when I saw the Lockheed wing, I figured there's someone out there in WIX land who can tell you exactly what model of Hudson/Lodestar/Harpoon it is and someone else probably knows the exact serial number and ultimate fate of it.

-Tim

[Taylor Stevenson]

Anyone know why they nixed the (20mm?) cannon in the tail turret?

[b747cf]

The small aircraft looks like an Aeronca K.


Mark Fidler

[airnutz]

Anyone know why they nixed the (20mm?) cannon in the tail turret?

The 20mm shell had a different trajectory than the .50's complicating the fire control execution. A decent page on the B-29 tailgun position...
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ny330bg/tailgunner.htm

[Brad]

Anyone know why they nixed the (20mm?) cannon in the tail turret?

They were prone to jamming and there was no way to access them from inside to try and clear the jam. The biggest thing was that the difference in firing speed of the .50 and 20mm messed with the gunnery computer.

[JohnB]

Wow, I forgot about the Aeronca Chief, it sure isn't a tandem seat.