The Hunt for ‘Fifi’: WWII’s B-29 Superfortress

 

20 years after the end of World War Two, a search was underway for the mighty B-29 Superfortress to add to a collection of WWII Aircraft but they found it should be a bigger task then thought; there were no record of any surviving bombers. With hard work and a lot of phone calls to the Navy, they were able to salvage and christen the refurbished Superfort, “Fifi.” 
When the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force) began searching for a B-29 for our collection of WWII aircraft, the war had been over for 21 years. The Superforts that helped end it had long since yielded to new generations of jet-powered strategic bombers, and vanished. According to the Air Force, no B-29s remained in inventory ~ even at storage or disposal depots. But the CAF Colonels had faith and put the word out, and it paid off.

In 1971, a pilot reported sighting a number of what might be B-29s on the California desert near China Lake. The CAF learned the aircraft were indeed Superforts that had been parked at a Navy weapons center for 17 years. They had been used for gunnery targets and abused by heat, sand and vandals.

After much negotiation (the Air Force still owned the planes; the Navy had to agree to release one), much paperwork and a pain-staking process of elimination to find the best survivor, the CAF became the owner of B-29 SN44-62070. That was just the beginning of the task.

A CAF maintenance team arrived at China Lake on 31 March, 1971. In only nine weeks, with the help of CAF volunteers, they restored all systems and replaced fuel, oil and hydraulic hoses. They restored the controls and installed instruments. They ran the engines, tested propellers and landing gear, and had new window bubbles made. (Many parts and spares also came from the other B-29s at China Lake).

By 3 August, 1971, SN44-62070 was ready to fly again. The crew took on enough fuel to fly non-stop 1,250 miles to CAF Headquarters, then in Harlingen, Texas, lifted off at 7:48 a.m. and in a six hour, 38 minute flight, brought home the last flying Superfortress without incident.

The complete restoration to CAF standards of airworthiness was a long and expensive project involving more than three years of fund-raising and hard work. Late in 1974, the CAF’s B-29 was christened “Fifi” and joined the other WWII fighters and bombers to preserve the memories and teach of lessons of mankind’s greatest war.

SOURCE