Warbird Information Exchange

The latest Doc's Friends "Tweet" from December 11th:

"Say prayer for Doc. We are parked outside this weekend and the weather could get a bit rough!"

Sounds like they are done until Spring:

https://youtu.be/kWht11iGIeA

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

Latest update video from Doc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWht11iGIeA

Video confirms all speculation. FAA AW inspection has not been completed at this time, nor is it scheduled to be completed any time before spring. Doc is out of the hanger and parked on the ramp for the winter, which maked working on the plane virtually impossible until spring. Cant expect anything to happen here until spring/summer of 2016. I am surprised a big museum did not step up to get it flying and ferried somewhere where it could be kept inside.

Or if they had reached out a small museum in Wendover Utah would have donated hangar space for Doc - we have a purpose built B-29 hangar! But my guess is getting even a ferry permit would have been tough.

Tom P.

Doc at Wenover, that would be a Kodak moment...

Few things real quick-

The hangar that Doc has been in for the last couple years was owned by Boeing and unused. About a year ago, a local business family bought all the former Boeing Wichita property, and suddenly Docs friends was told to get out. Fortunately, they were able to negotiate to have ramp space (incidentally, the same ramps the infamous Battle of Kansas took place in), and occasionally hangar space when foul weather looms. Bombardier is now renting the hangar space Doc had been allowed to occupy where they are refurbishing their CSeries test aircraft. So Doc is on the ramp. I'd like to think, and have reason to suspect, that if the forecast is especially poor they will make room to put him inside.

In other news, I'm 95% sure the engines were running yesterday late afternoon. We've had a stretch of good weather the last few weeks 50s and 60s) and so work is progressing.

Bump. . . How has the weather been there and what is the general situation - still the same?

Tom P.

No updates I'm aware of. Still see it sitting outside from where I park to go to work. We've had a very mild winter though too and the forecast looks unusually dry and warm for the next couple weeks still. Hoping they can get airborne and across town into a hangar soon before the spring thunderstorms hit.

Are they still looking for a tug? I was working with people at our corporate HQ to see about possibly donating something to them, but we just got bought out and I'm having to start all over again. As I work for a large FBO chain, I'm pretty sure we can find a tug of sufficient size that's sitting in a boneyard or underutilized at one of our locations that can be refurbished, repainted, and sent to them as a donation. In fact, I think we now have an in-network location across town from them.

They just posted a list of the backers from the Kickstarter campaign.

http://www.b-29doc.com/docs-friends/

New update video from Doc. I love that they put original style tires on.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_r3ZhKRMI

Very cool. Anyone know where they got the proper tires?

Dunlop Tire Co. in England will run a batch of obsolete tires upon request. The 36" nose tires on the B-29 also fit the nose of A-26s, and nose of B-24s and main wheels of P-38s. The main wheel tires of B-29s also fit, B-17s, B-24, P2 Neptunes. The wairbird community gets together once every few years and orders a batch from Dunlop.

Thanks, that's really useful and interesting info.

The FAA is in town going through the paperwork prior to airworthiness being granted. I've received a few calls from them over the last week requesting standards, etc. Sounds like all is progressing smoothly from what I know.