Reading 2006 - The 'Doc'-tor makes it's first appearance???

[ww2John]

on a related B29 subject...

EAA website just announced that CAF B29 "Fifi" & CAF LB30 "Diamond Lil" will be at Oshkosh this summer.

http://www.airventure.org/2006/news/060109_b29.html

They will arrive on Monday, but it appears they will not fly in the daily airshow from this press release.

They were both scheduled to appear last year, but "Fifi" required maintenance and did not fly up. "Diamond Lil" spent the week on static display.

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

I just typed on all 3 links in the 3 previous messages and they all worked ! I hate computers !

[airnutz]

Hey Jiggers..you were short the letter 'l'..as in html.
www.360wichita.com/Attractions/DocB-29S ... ation.html

The preview button is very handy for checking your links before posting,
thanks for the link!

[Waltz41]

Good job on all the info and comments. Like I said.....When I see it I'll believe it, but my ears definitley perked up when I was told about this and had to share. Very very optimistic it seems to have this happen. Oh well........we'll see.

Brian

[Wolverine]

The guys that were working on it when I was, including the project leader (on weekends) said that they didn't expect it until 2007 or so. They weren't as optimistic. I must say, neither am I. The plane won't be ready to fly until they get the engines. So if they got them right now, Doc wouldn't fly until the Fall. But hey, I know next to nothing about restorations, and I don't know the exact status of Doc.

Oh well, I'll get my B-29 fix looking at the Enola Gay...

[krlang]

Hmmm,
I thought I read somewhere that those guys were at the ICAS meeting looking for people interested in booking Doc for the 2007 season. If they flew by the end of 2006.

[rambow]

Hi Guys,

I'm the webmaster for the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum and I can give you the straight poop on the airshow lineup for this June's show. "Doc" will not be there, but 'Fifi', along with her hangar-mate, 'Diamond Lil' will be. The CAF Superfort has a brand new paint job and - wait for it.......... she's selling rides! For the first time ever, those with deep enough pockets can buy a seat on a B-29. The seats are going for $1500 in the forward crew compartment and $1250 in the aft compartment. In fact, show-goers will have the opportunity to fly aboard six different aircraft. The YAM's B-17G 'Yankee Lady' will be selling seats, as will 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', their C-47/R4D. Our own museum will be taking folks up in our SNJ and "Stearman". Ride details are here: http://www.maam.org/wwii/ww2_rides.htm

We have an amazing lineup of planes coming this year - the best ever in our 15 year show history. Speaking of history-- 'Gunny' R- Lee Ermey with his Jeep and tent will be there, along with his History Channel "Mail Call" crew.

Please check out all the WWII Weekend info at http://www.maam.org/maamwwii.html Be sure to hit your refresh button as things are changing all the time.

If you do make it to the show, pop in the Main Hangar and say hi. I'll be running the MAAM-SIM flightsim display - first position on your left as you come through the doors.

Incidentally, I am currently working on a complete revamp of the 'Widow's Web' P-61 pages. There will be scores of new photos going up in the next couple of days telling the whole story of the recovery of the wreck from Mt. Cyclops and the restoration to date. With the help of photographer Chuck Trainor, I'll be keeping the pages up to date as the restoration progresses. http://www.maam.org/p61.html

Hope to see you all in Reading!

Bill Rambow
MAAM Webmaster
MAAM-SIM
www.maam.org

[TimAPNY]

Bill
Thanks for the update and I can't wait for the updated Widow page. I also can't wait to head down for the show. Great work on the website also.

Tim

[Mudge]

Mrs. Mudge and I will be there on Sat. & Sun. Sure would like to meet some of youse troops. My targets are the P-61 and the 109. I've only seen a 109 in a museum and have never seen a P-61.

Mudge the anxious

[TAdan]

I will be there Friday. This show is my favorite.

Some of my favorite memories:

Last year on Friday, it was drizzling and cloudy all day. As I parked the car at the very end of the runway a B-25 dropped out of the clouds (had to be at about 50' ) right on top of me as it landed. That was an awsome suprise.

Maybe two years ago I remember glancing up and seeing a Spitfire entering the pattern to land. It was the first Spit I had ever seen in the air. I thought to myself "Wow, you dont see that every day!" Glance up and see a Spitfire, that was great.

I went for a ride in a C-47 a few years back.

Not to mention meeting all the Veterans, Pilots, etc...

[dors]

hey bill,

any chance that your flight sim team is considering the p-61 as a project?

[rambow]

You bet! But the bad news is, it will have to wait until the real P-61 is flying. That's because of the way we build our sims. All the textures are produced from digital photos of the real MAAM plane and the sounds are recorded from the original as well. That's the way we did it with our B-25J 'Briefing Time' and our R4D / DC-3 / C-47 package. Check them out here: http://www.maam.org/maam_sim.html

So if you have any pull with Northrop Grumman, get them to drop about a million of their tax-deductible dollars on the project and watch our dust! Believe me, we have tried and tried again to get some support from them, to no avail.

I mean really -- picture this: You and several thousand other aviation enthusiasts are at World War II Weekend when a couple dark shapes appear over the crest of Mt. Penn. You hear the growing, mixed roar and whine of a pair of P&W 2800's and a quartet of F118-GE-100 turbojets. Two unmistakable aircraft sillouettes take shape as they approach the air show line. The P-61B 'Black Widow' and the B-2 'Spirit' execute a formation show pass - both black, both stealthy, both deadly, both Northrop! Does that sound like the ultimate Heritage Flight and a Northrop Grumman press agent's ***dream, or what?

It leaves me shaking my head over what could be. Short-sighted is a polite term. I can think of others!

BTW, the new 'Widow's Web' is up. It's still a work in progress and I have not finished checking it for broken links, etc., so if you find any, please let me know. But there are some fascinating photos, never before published, of the recovery from Mt. Cyclops and the ongoing restoration.
http://www.maam.org/p61.html Don't forget the refresh button. I just changed some links'.

Eventually we'll be adding some film clips and other features. Our Museum President has a film clip showing the helicopter lifting out the P-61 components from the mountain. According to Russ, that chopper pilot had a pair of "giant pumpkins!" It was reportedly a very hairy operation!

[TAdan]

Rambow that what-if heritage flight brought a big grin to my face

I cant wait to see the Widow in person again. I really like seeing how far it has progressed each year I visit.

[Todd Hackbarth]

I wanted to add a slight correction to an earlier posting by Rambow. The Yankee Air Force/Yankee Air Museum's C-47 and B-25D will not be selling "Flight Experiences" at the Reading show. Our B-17G "Yankee Lady" will be "selling rides there.
Todd Hackbarth Yankee Air Force

[chico]

My fault on that listing Todd, I either misread the sheet I was sent or was working from an out of date listing. If you've got something recent, can you send me a copy?