Superfortress Graveyard review

[Craig59]

Having just finished a cover-to-cover read of author Christopher Van Valkenburgh’s, Superfortress Graveyard: The B-29’s of China Lake, I thought I’d offer up a review of my impressions.

The book is a well-researched and in depth review of the histories of the (identifiable) 68 total B-29’s transferred to the Navy and flown to China Lake for destruction in live munitions testing. Accompanying the well written text are lots of interesting photographs of some of the B-29’s covering their active duty service, to the “boneyard,” to the condition of some today, both restored and unrestored.

The format is very much like that of author Scott Thompson’s B-17 and B-25 books in both format and ongoing usefulness as reference guide. Aircraft are referenced first by their manufacturer (Boeing, Wichita; Boeing, Renton; Martin, Omaha; Bell, Marietta) and then by their serial numbers, oldest to newest. Each aircraft’s history is taken from the Individual Aircraft Record Cards and is presented to the reader in a conversational style. Some even have anecdotal history attached from crew members who crewed in them in WWII or Korea.

The biggest shock for me was the fact that no fewer than three of the “Silverplate” B-29’s especially built and equipped by Martin for Paul Tibbet’s 509th Composite Group met their fates at China Lake. That said, it’s important to remember the words of the author when he states in his introduction that, “The reality is, had the B-29’s not been brought to China Lake [they] would have otherwise not been preserved. The United States Navy ultimately but, unintentionally, saved and preserved the history of the B-29 Superfortress.” He also notes the only two flying examples, FiFi and Doc, came from the China Lake ranks.

In closing, this is a thorough B-29 reference guide worthy of inclusion in any warbird aficionados library.

[quemerford]

I'd recommend it too: proud to have contributed.

[OD/NG]

Yep, excellent book! I got it right away after it was published. I highly recommend it and besides, it was written by one of our very own forum members, so we need to support him as well!

Good job!

[Dan Jones]

Just Amazoned up mine tonight.

[bomberfan]

I'd recommend it too: proud to have contributed.

Same, I'm proud to have some of my photos published. Mine was a small contribution compared to others, but it feels good to open it up and see them.