CAF B-29 FIFI & paint

[APG85]

Just wanted other peoples opinion. I've always thought that FIFI didn't look right painted. Does anyone know why they don't strip that ugly grey/silver paint off the aircraft and go with natural polished metal? I can't think of a single B-29 that was painted grey (or silver). A few in the beginning were olive drab. Some even had black undersides. None were painted grey/silver. A few preserved as gate guards are painted and look just as bad. I think FIFI would be a lot more impressive if it was natural metal (take a look at Doc, Enola Gay, Jack's Hack, etc.) Just my opinion......

[CH2Tdriver]

IIRC FIFI was natural metal when she apeared in the movies Enola Gay and Right Stuff (with temp black undersides). She would look great in NMF but I imagine there would be alot of sore arms from all that polishing.

[APG85]

Once stripped and polished, it would probably be a once a year job to touch her up. I would think it would be cheaper than a full paint job.

[Eureka181]

You have to consider what these old aircraft are fighting against. Corrosion! The paint protects the aircraft from corrosion. Plus the B-29 is such a huge airplane, corrosion control is somewhat tough.

It is hard to stay on top of corrosion for such a big airplane. Once you fix some, you find more to repair. I know this from the C-46, which is not as big of a plane.

Eric

[Randy Haskin]

Once stripped and polished, it would probably be a once a year job to touch her up. I would think it would be cheaper than a full paint job.

Except for the fact that [one of] her last paint jobs (1991 in Seattle) was donated and cost nothing.

[APG85]

Maybe Boeing could donate some stripper and a buffer!!!!!
If it needs to be painted because of cost, corrosion, etc. then paint it OD green! At least that would be more accurate...........

[RyanShort1]

Maybe Boeing could donate some stripper and a buffer!!!!!
If it needs to be painted because of cost, corrosion, etc. then paint it OD green! At least that would be more accurate...........

I could be wrong but I believe that I once asked the folks up in Burnet, TX why they didn't have their C-47 in OD, and they said that OD paint made the plane a lot warmer to fly in as opposed to the silver or polished color.

Ryan

[N3Njeff]

Bare metal B-29.........yes that would be nice to see but............I for one helped take care of a Bare metal DC-3. I am glad that the other 2 were painted!!!

[Cking]

"Naked" aeroplanes are like naked people. The older they get the worse they look close up!!. Air Canada have just stripped one of their 767's down to bare metal. Given the age of their aircraft and considering that they have spent all their lives painted, it must look awful close up. Whilst FiFi has not been exposed to baggage trucks and the like, she has spent most of her life painted. If they did strip her I suspect she would look rough and it would take a lot of work to make her look presentable. As the CAF is a voluntry organisation they might have trouble also keeping her looking nice too. Perhas a compromise might be to develop a silver paint that looks more silver?.
Anyway she still looks magnificent and the CAF do a fantastic job keeping her airborne. Any chance of a U.K. tour please?

Rgds Cking

[C170BDan]

Being the owner of a polished airplane I would say.... WAY TOO MUCH WORK! Yes... FIFI would look awesome in bare metal. But the upkeep of a polsihed airplane that size would be SO MUCH more labor than just cleaning paint!!!

The CAF doesnt have the manpower to keep up with a polished B29. The time and effort should be in keeping it flying... safely.

The pictures I have of it from a couple months ago show that some touch up paint was done on the fuselage... and that many problem areas in the interior that were hiding corrosion were addressed. When FIFI returns to the airshow curcuit it will be in much better shape than it has been in years.

Now if I could just break away from work for a long weekend I would go give Gary a hand out in Midland and work on getting FIFI flying again!

[Originalboxcar]

YAF's Yankee Lady is NMF and they have a volunteer polishing party every spring. Yeah a 29 is bigger than a 17 but how many more volunteers would it take to make up the difference?

I'd imagine that the paint (how many coats?) weighs several hundred pounds too. Wouldn't a NMF save in fuel cost over the long run? Wasn't that one of the reasons (besides air superiority) why the USAAF went to NMF?

regards,

t~

[T-6G Pilot]

Speaking from the vantage point of just painting my bird, when stripped, I bet FIFI would have hundreds or more dents and dings accumulated over the years. You would have thought I have stock in bondo after they were done with mine! (See the picture)

We used to have a polishing party for our BT-13. It was amazing how quickly the decision was made to paint her after that.


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Mike Hogan
National Capitol Squadron
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[retroaviation]

As the Crew Chief on the B-29, I always value the opinions of my fellow Warbird enthusiasts. When I first started working on FIFI (May, 2004), I was addament about taking her back to her natural state. I, too, felt that she would look much better as she would have looked back in 1944, but after the extensive work we've completed on her the last year or so, this would be essentially impossible for us to pull off.

As you all are aware, FIFI has led a busy life with the CAF. It's been flying for the last 30 years, and has quite frankly, been banged up and beat up by various volunteers, workers, flight crews, and the general public. There are some fuselage skins that have been sanded and grinded on, which would make a polish job very unattractive. Not to mention the collection of dents on the (stainless steel) cowlings, nosebowls, etc. that is has collected over the years.

It's true, if we had all or mostly new fuselage skins like Doc will have, or the Enola Gay, FIFI would be a beautiful machine indeed. We're not scared of a little work by keeping her polished, it's just not a feasible idea until more of the refurbishment work is completed. We have worked over 11,500 hours on the airplane since last October, which has included replacing much of the fuselage and L/H, outer wing panel skins. But there is much more work to be done before an "all natural" FIFI could happen.

Safety is my primary concern with how we maintain this rare aircraft. Followed closely with attention to detail. I can assure you that if it were in my ability right now, I would have her looking like she did out of the factory. But until then, I'll just try to keep her flying as safe and as pretty as I can.

Gary Austin
Crew Chief, B-29/B-24 Squadron
Commemorative Air Force

[Originalboxcar]

Thanks Gary for that valuable insight to those of us who only possess the enthusiast perspective and not the behind the scenes knowledge.

FIFI has been a workhorse and I can remember seeing her back in the late 70's at my first airshow as a boy. She and all who have worked to preserve her have served well in keeping a significant historical artifact alive and presented before the pubic.

Keep up the good work and I'll look forward to seeing FIFI hopefully this coming airshow season '06 with her coat of silver/grey.

regards,

t~

[mrhenniger]

Gary Austin
Crew Chief, B-29/B-24 Squadron
Commemorative Air Force

That looks like your first post here. Welcome to WIX!


Mike