FIFI getting makeover!

[JohnB]

I'll be happy with smaller CAF titles and logos.

Not really a fan of the Fifi name. Was that the ship's original name or something the CAR did?

[Brad]

I'll be happy with smaller CAF titles and logos.

Not really a fan of the Fifi name. Was that the ship's original name or something the CAR did?

Did you even read what I wrote on here earlier today? The whole story is right there.

[JohnB]

Thanks for the Fifi lesson.
I still think it's a bit of a silly name, more appropriate for a poodle than the most advanced warplanes of WWII...but then again, I didn't write any checks so I don't expect anyone to listen to me.

Any word about the CAF titles and logos?
With 10 B-17s flying (or the 20 + B-25s), the operators have a bit more latitude in markings, but with just 2 Superfortresses out there, she has a heavier burden to get it "right" since she is representing the entire B-29 community.

[Mark Allen M]

The Agather family could suggest a name change.



"FIFI''s just fine IMHO.

[steve dickey]

Nice one Mark!! Don't forget "FU-KEMAL-TU"!!!

http://www.ww2incolor.com/us-air-force/aifor24.html

Hey Brad, in the "Yesterdays Wings" book it mentioned Vic was with Boeing(while in the Army Air Corps) in the development of the 29.
Then followed the airplane into the CBI and on into the Marianas. I assume he was just a "tech rep"? Do you know if he ever went on any combat missions and what rank
he had? Thanks. Oh, and it doesn't say in the book other than FIFI was named after Vic's wife, but isn't FIFI a nickname for her? What
was her real name? I'm thinking Josefina??
Thanks again.

[Brad]

Hey Brad, in the "Yesterdays Wings" book it mentioned Vic was with Boeing(while in the Army Air Corps) in the development of the 29.
Then followed the airplane into the CBI and on into the Marianas. I assume he was just a "tech rep"? Do you know if he ever went on any combat missions and what rank
he had? Thanks. Oh, and it doesn't say in the book other than FIFI was named after Vic's wife, but isn't FIFI a nickname for her? What
was her real name? I'm thinking Josefina??
Thanks again.

Hi Steve, Hope yall are well.

Vic Agather was recalled into the Army (apparently as a result of taking engineering classes in college before going to Wall Street) and made personal trouble shooter to BGen Erik Nelson. Erik Nelson was the pilot of the Douglas World Cruiser "New Orleans" that completed the first flight around the world. That put him in line of being the liaison between Hap Arnold/Army Air Force and Boeing. All of this was early in the development of the B-29. He was a "tech Rep" of sorts between the two entities. He was a Major when the war ended and I believe he did fly some combat missions. I've got copies of his personal notebooks from this time frame. I just haven't set down and gone through all of it. If you were to write a book about the developmental problems of the B-29 and getting the first ones to combat, these notes would be the bible to go off of. He was unbelievably detailed in his notes. I believe he left the Air Force reserves as a full bird Colonel. Mrs. Agather's name was Josephine but nobody ever called her that. Her nickname was FIFI and that is basically all she ever went by.

[TheBigBadGman]

I’d love to see them polish her up, but I don’t know how feasible that would be.

I do agree that she looked gorgeous during that brief period with the black belly.

-G

[CAPFlyer]

I think the original idea was to polish her, but they found the surface corrosion and damage from sitting at China Lake to have been too much for it to polish up, so they painted her. The new paint more metallic to look more like polished metal, but I suspect that she would need to be completely re-skinned (which is basically what they did with "Doc") to be able to go with a pure polished finish.

[Brad]

There was never, at any point since the acquisition in 1971, a plan to polish FIFI. It has been mentioned many times but there was never a plan to do it. The reason early on being corrosion protection. The airplane lived on the gulf coast and wouldn’t have done well with polished skin. They knew that at the time so the plan was always to paint her. Later on in life, when it became popular to polish big warbirds, the common reply was that the skin was in too bad of shape to polish. Yes there are some parts that would be harder to polish than others. But none of it is beyond polishing. It is simply the fact that the upkeep wouldn’t be worth the effort and expense required and the B-29/B-24 squadron has no desire, plan or intent to ever do it.

For those wondering, yes the “tramp stamp” will go back on the airplane. The difference being that now it will be up on the forward fuselage, just behind the Navigator’s and Engineer’s windows. Other than that, one or two smaller changes and brighter paint, she will essentially look the same. She won’t look polished or like she’s in bare aluminum, but she will look better.

[glider90]

I am definitely in the "She will always be FiFi camp". Since I was a few years old, FiFi has been a fixture at Oshkosh. Seeing a B-29 at that age is something that sticks with you forever. When it arrived back after a sixteen-year hiatus, it brought a tear to my eye. Now my kids have the same attachment to her, as they were about that same age in 2011 when it returned. Glad to hear the name is safe. Have to admit that had the CAF gone with the name Steve suggested, a few of my elementary school "what I did this summer" reports might have landed me in the principals office:)
Thanks for expanded history Brad.
A pic of me and my older brother with FiFi in the mid 70 at Osh….

Attachments

[Combatmech]

Thank you Brad.

[steve dickey]

Yes thank you Brad, all is well and probably better than I deserve! Looking fwd to seeing her in a shiny new coat!

[Old Shep]

To go with Brad’s comments about Vic Agather....we inducted him in the American AirPower Heritage Museum Combat Airman Hall of Fame in the mid 2000’s. A number of CAF members pushed the selection, but Neils Agather protested that his father did not fly any combat missions. However, the selection committee determined that Vic’s contribution to making the B-29 a viable weapon of war were so vital to the airplane’s success that his induction was entirely appropriate. Perhaps at some point the Combat Airman Hall of Fame will be reestablished in Dallas: lots of research, first person interviews, etc, were part of the exhibitry here in Midland and hopefully weren’t lost in the move. I’m not optimistic however.

[Combatmech]

Thank you Shep, I'm sure if anyone has any of that stuff, it would be Brad. Seems to be the only guy that keeps a lot of the CAF Heritage stuff. The past CAF "leadership" would have been more than happy to have erased all of it. A good number of stories about how the then Confederate Air Force came to be are pretty darn cool. Hearing Brad tell them over beers is really entertaining BTW. Without those guys in the early days, the current CAF probably would not exist today. We are VERY lucky to have these airplanes around. Just MHO........

[Mark Allen M]

We are VERY lucky to have these airplanes around. Just MHO........

Mine too. Glad to have the group alive and working hard to keep em flying. I'm kinda happy to be able to help support that ole Hellcat they've got. Keep taking good care of that thing, my ole man is always watching