Warbird Information Exchange

Hey guys,
just got a little info on Reading WWII weekend for 2006. i'm in a reenactment group there and our group leader just had the first meeting on saturday about the event this year. besides some reeanctor changes, the big news is the aircraft. right now, as mentioned on here before, the Lancaster and 109 are in, as well as at Spitfire, Hurricane, P-40, P-47, Corsair, TBM, Val, and PBY. I don't know which examples, but thats what they were telling them at the meeting. But here's the big news:

Yes, this requires a whole new paragraph!! Apparently, 'Doc' the B-29 under restoration, might be making it's first appearance at Reading 2006. The restorers have been in contact with the museum and want to make it out to the airshow in the worst way! That's the way it was described to me by our group leader.

So let the pondering and questioning begin!!! And better mark that date of the airshow off on your calanders just in case! June 2-4, 2006. When I hear anything else, I'll let you guys know.

Brian

Wow! Exciting news ineed. Restoration on Doc must be moving at a very fast pace now!

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

Brain
Thanks for that news, like June can take any longer to arrive. That will be some show! A P-61 on it's legs and a "new" B-29. I can't wait! lets hope things come together (part of me says "no way" but I do like to hope for the best and that negtive part helps me enjoy the shows even if everything doesn't come together as hoped)

Tim

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Thats the perfect remedy after a tough year. The Doctor making a house call!

Tim, yeah I almost completely forgot about the p-61!!! wow, look what a restored b-29 can do to you. i just hope it all comes through, it's great to have high hopes, but you know how it goes,.....i'll believe it when i see it. anyways...the countdown to june begins!

brian

So does this mean I should fly over with the Focke-Wulf to Reading next June?

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Olivier Lacombe -- Harvard Mk.4 C-GBQB

I doubt it. I visited Doc at the end of September and I would be absolutely astounded if it was ready by June 2006. Last I heard they didn't even have the engines off to the overhaul facility yet because they didn't have the money.

If you sit down and think about it you will realize how impractical this is. If they aren't hanging engines now, there is no way they will have the thing flight tested and ready to go on the road in a little over five months.

I tried finding the Boeing webpage on "DOC" and only received a message that the page has been moved or no longer exists. Anybody know where the page went?

If I remember correctly, the folks that "manage" the potential appearances of the plane and the actual Boeing/restoration people are two completely seperate entities. They were hot to trot to get Doc and the Collings bombers together in 2003/2004 season and said it would be ready too... and we know where she stands now. I echo Warbird Pilot on his assumptions... it would be great, but its a little pie in the sky right now.

Ryan Keough

The DOC website is gone... Before it "departed", it hadn't been updated in a long time. From what I know, I can't see it flying in 2006..........

This site seems to have some current info on Doc.


http://www.360wichita.com/Attractions/D ... ation.html


Doesn't look good for June in Reading.l

That page appears to be gone now as well:

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If you type B-29 into the search box, it will then bring you to the (exact) same url as listed in the link above... only with the information for which you are looking. Must be one of those 'gremlins' ....

Hmmm,

I think that seeing DOC on the airshow circuit this year is being a touch overly optimistic. Even though they got her back on her feet. It seemed that from the last photo's I had seen of her, she needed quite abit more work. But then again, maybe it is just a case of putting the big pieces back in place again. At this point who knows. It would be nice to see Doc and FiFi back together at some point. Maybe this is why the CAF was putting FiFi through a heavy maintenance visit, with an eye towards the potential of flying with Doc in the near future.

My two cents anyway.

Paul

Hello All!... I'm all for seeing Doc in the air, but they still have some tough decisions to make on the engines...... This is per a personal conversation with crew chief Gary Austin of Fifi. The engine that runs on the B-29 has only about three similar items vs the engine that runs in todays Skyraiders and Sea Fury's. It has 3350 CI, its a fuel air combustion engine, and it was made by CW. The B-29 engines are used by no one else.... overhaul comes out to about $140,000 PER ENGINE, not counting all of the accessories.... The team with Fifi has looked into converting to the R-3350-26WD, but there are some hurdles to overcome.... but in the end, one would get a much more reliable engine, plus one that cost about 1/3 less from the overhaul shop.... Gary, if you see this, can you, or would you elaborate more..... you are one of the current B-29 guru's... TIA, Alan Brooks