From the Kansas Aviation Museum website:
With the restoration complete and first stages of the highly anticipated B-29 certification flight testing right around the corner, Doc's Friends and The Kansas Aviation Museum (KAM) are teaming together to provide The Air Capital the ultimate vantage point to watch history being made once again.
"From the roar of the four 3350-95W turbo compound engines being fired up, taxi testing all the way to wheels up," Daniel W. Bateman, executive director of KAM says "the views from the aviation museum second floor patio and the upper control tower build in 1941 will be outstanding." Due to security and logistics issues, the grounds of the Kansas Aviation Museum will be the best vantage point for the testing phases of "Doc." Doc's Friends and the Kansas Aviation Museum have partnered to get the word out about these milestones to flight. "Since we have very similar missions, it only makes sense that we would work together on the project," said Bateman.
Richard Moore, KAM board president and Doc restoration volunteer will be heading up the "Doc Watch" with direct weekly progress reports from T.J. Norman, Doc's project manager. These updates are very important so that Doc's Friends and KAM can give the viewing public and media at least 24 hour notice to make plans to get to the museum before each stage of flight testing, Moore says.
Seventy years ago on March 23, 1945, a B-29, one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II, rolled off the assembly line at Boeing and was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces. On March 23, 2015, that same aircraft "Doc" was rolled out and "delivered" again, in commemoration of its restoration and progress back toward flying condition.
Please visit
www.kansasaviationmuseum.org or contact Daniel W. Bateman at 316-683-9242 for "Doc Watch" milestone updates starting in early July, 2015.