Official B-29 Doc Restoration Thread

[Jeremy Housdan]

Look just under the horizontal stabilizer... you can see the line of polishing compound

[APG85]

Wow! I've been following this bird since I first read about her being pulled from the desert in Air Classics (I think that was the magazine). What an exciting project. Can't wait to see more pictures...!!!

[Obergrafeter]

What are you using for polish? I have been polishing on our C-47 for 4 years and it is not anywhere as bright as Doc.

[Jeremy Housdan]

I'm not sure what polishing compound he uses... I'll look when I'm in the hangar on tuesday. I know the guy has arms of steel though!

[Jeremy Housdan]

Obergrafeter,

We use a compound made by Nuvite called "Nushine II." It's available in multiple grits. We hit it first with some F compound and then go back over it with some S compound, which is a finer grit. If the skin is new, we may only use the S compound. Be ready to pay... it's pricy! He also uses two different grits of pads... one is solid wool and the other is more cotton. The technique is evidently as much about HOW you polish as it is what you use... some of us are going to learn how he does it thursday evening. He's scheduled to rotate back to Andrews AFB (IE when Air Force One returns from maintenance)soon, he wants to pass on the technique to us so we can do it all on our lonesome.



In other news....

They pulled one of the fuel cells out of the box... I never got to see one fully unravelled when we first got them in.


a closeup of the manufacturing label


Also, the timetable might get moved up for the mounting of the rear control surfaces. It is entirely possible they will get put on sometime before saturday. TJ wants to give Joe (our Air Force One polisher) a chance to get the tail all finished up so there's no risk of polishing grit splash or damage to the fabric control surfaces. Once Joe declares that he's done, we're in business.

Our three chief volunteers go to Texas the first week of February to do the ground school with Fifi. There are some scheduled projects to take care of when they get back, then we're looking at hosting the ground crew for OUR team in early March. We're waiting on some parts to arrive to finish building up the fire seals, then all we will need is our new exhausts and the engines will be ready to mount, I think.

[cco23i]

SWEET!! Ah the smell of new fuel cells!!

[Jeremy Housdan]

SWEET!! Ah the smell of new fuel cells!!

you're tellin' me! You can smell the thing halfway across the hangar...

[cco23i]

Gettin' a little light headed? been there done that, I always hated stringing them in as you were next to them and in an enclosed area and no real ventilation even with blowers. Gotta love them head aches. LOL

Scott

[ryguy135]

Finally met Jeremy today. In his words "Wow, I was expecting someone older!" To give some reference- a new rule was out in place that you have to be younger than the airplane to work on top of the wings. Jeremy, myself, and TJ were the only three out of the crew of 30 today that qualified!!

Progress is continuing. TJ is pushing to get volunteers to come out more often as the finish line is in sight and a few good months of pushing will get us airborne. The rudder and elevators are now going up Friday instead of Saturday.

Also, I have some very big and exciting news I can't share just yet. Sorry for the tease!!!

[Jeremy Housdan]

Finally met Jeremy today. In his words "Wow, I was expecting someone older!" To give some reference- a new rule was out in place that you have to be younger than the airplane to work on top of the wings. Jeremy, myself, and TJ were the only three out of the crew of 30 today that qualified!!

Don't forget Scott Sarver... he's well south of the 70 year line too!

Ryan did indeed take my by surprise, but it's good to know that it's the younger generation of volunteers that are helping to get the word out.


The final preparations were underway in the south part of the hangar for the control surfaces... they finally took the rudder out of the giant crate its been stored in, and it and the rudders both look great!


As I promised, we made some major headway on the bottom pan today. We got the last of our spacers sized out and began the process of shooting the new skin. it's not riveted on yet, we just have it mounted so we can pick up the hole patterns on the ribs. This is just the center piece, we will have one more piece that will go on either side and butt up to the center piece.


Jim helping mark the centerline of the new piece of skin


Terry, Bill, and Wes measuring from the other end


I drilled all the holes. You can see in the ribs and brace sections where all I have to drill. In order to insure the skin sucked down properly, we would start from the inside and slowly work our way, out, alternating sides with each hole.


The progress is a little easier to see from the outside. Bill and Terry tag teamed it, one would brace the skin against the rib with a piece of wood for me to drill while the other placed a cleco in the hole I just drilled. We got a lot done in a short amount of time!


It's shaping up to be an exciting week... we're all anxious to see the results of hanging the control surfaces on Friday. Sadly I don't know yet if I'll be able to be there due to work. You can bet I'll take pictures as soon as I'm able though!

[B-29 Watcher]

It's shaping up to be an exciting week... we're all anxious to see the results of hanging the control surfaces on Friday. Sadly I don't know yet if I'll be able to be there due to work. You can bet I'll take pictures as soon as I'm able though![/quote]


It sure is getting exciting, haven't this much action ina good while. I think that it is good that both of you (Ryguy & Jeremy) are watching the progress for And telling us what' happening. I (and I think the rest) really appeciate you guys taking the time to tell the story in words and pictures! THANKS

[B-29 Watcher]

It's shaping up to be an exciting week... we're all anxious to see the results of hanging the control surfaces on Friday. Sadly I don't know yet if I'll be able to be there due to work. You can bet I'll take pictures as soon as I'm able though!

It sure is getting exciting, haven't this much action ina good while. I think that it is good that both of you (Ryguy & Jeremy) are watching the progress for And telling us what' happening. I (and I think the rest) really appeciate you guys taking the time to tell the story in words and pictures! THANKS[/quote]

[Jeremy Housdan]

It sure is getting exciting, haven't this much action ina good while. I think that it is good that both of you (Ryguy & Jeremy) are watching the progress for And telling us what' happening. I (and I think the rest) really appeciate you guys taking the time to tell the story in words and pictures! THANKS

And I think I speak for Ryan and myself when I say we're happy to do it! We want to share our excitement with everyone else. We want to share our success with everyone because a victory for us is a victory for the warbird community. No matter the aircraft any of you are working on or are associated with, every rivet punched, every hole drilled, EVERYTHING is another step in promoting the venerable aviation history of our forefathers (I had to modify my statement before realizing this applies to the international warbird community, not just us here in the United States). The treasure isn't so much the aircraft as is the stories they tell and the magic they embody.

I understand that as warbird restorations go, we're a bit spoiled now... There are a lot of restoration teams out there trying to accomplish what we are with a lot less to work with. (two of the ones I'm most familiar with would be the guys restoring "Desert Rat" up in Illinois, or "Lacy Lady" over in Oregon) Besides the Fifi guys, we don't have many contenders for spare parts, We've got enough funding from the business owners in "Docs Friends" to completely finish the airplane, to say nothing of the space, tools, and supplies that Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems have donated to us, but we can't begin to express enough gratitude for all the support we've had on this project. I think a lot of Wichita (those still aviation-minded anyhow) have a personal vested interest in seeing Doc wheels-up again and take a great deal of pride knowing she'll roost here as well.

Boeing bought this facility from Stearman and built it up specifically with producing the B-29 in mind... some of you may know, Boeing has sold most of their facility here to Spirit Aerosystems and will be finished with the runway-side of the facility this coming summer. We've been granted the hangar we're working in until December by which time we have to have our own housing arrangements figured out (more on that when we have info to share). It may be bittersweet to think about, but I find it very appropriate that a B-29 was the first Boeing product to fly out of that facility, and a B-29 will be the last to leave it as well.

[Jeremy Housdan]

I've also been researching the history of Doc's service record... very little exists, sadly.

B-29-70-BW 44-69972 (Production # 10805) “Doc” Deployment History

23 March, 1945
-Delivered to the USAAC

March, 1945
-to Birmingham Modification Center, Birmingham, AL
-Gun turrets removed, most likely AN/APQ-13 radar set also installed in bomb bay at this time.

April, 1945
-Arrived Barksdale Air Field. No record of exact unit assigned. Possibly assigned to the 331st Army Air Force (AAF) unit as a training aircraft (no official record exists of when the first B-29s arrived at Barksdale). Records for the months between April and November have been redacted in the logbook. Still classified. (yes, we'd very much like to know!)

November, 1945
-Transferred to 19th Bomb Group, Air Technical Service Command, Pyote Field, Texas
-Most likely placed into storage like many other B-29s at the time (including “Enola Gay”)

February, 1946
-Transferred to the 4141st AAF Base Unit. Pyote Field, TX.

October, 1950
-Transferred to the 2753rd Aircraft Storage Squadron, Pyote Field, TX (long term storage, probably spray-lat coated)

November, 1950
-Transferred to San Antonio Air Material Area, Kelly Field, TX for reconditioning to active service.

May, 1951
-Officially re-designated as a TB-29

July, 1951
-Assigned to the 7th Radar Calibration Squadron (RCS) Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF) , Air Defense Command, Griffiss AFB, New York Detachment.
-Assigned as a “faker”, a type of heavy bomber aggressor/ "bad guy" simulating soviet TU-4 Bulls or TU-95 Bears for ground radar testing and evaluation as well as fighter interception

September, 1952
-Assigned to the 109th RCS, ADC, Griffiss AFB, NY

December, 1952
-Assigned to the 1st RCS, EADF, ADC, Griffiss AFB, NY
-First recorded instance of the name “Doc”, part of the squadron “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”

March, 1954
-Assigned to the 4713rd RCS, EADF, ADC, Griffiss AFB, NY

March, 1955
-To Arco manufacturing Corporation, Berry Field, TN for rework

May, 1955
-Assigned to the 17th Tow Target Squadron (TTS), 4750th Air Defense Group, ADC Yuma County Airport, AZ
-ECM training and target towing duties
-Odd because "Doc" does not appear to ever have been rigged for target towing

March, 1956
-Stricken off charge. Transferred to United States Navy inventory NAS China Lake bomb range
-Targeted four times, missed all four times

1998
-Transferred to United States Aviation Museum, Inyokern CA
-It takes three full days to get "Doc" off the bombing range at China Lake, using fire access roads

2000
-Transferred to Boeing Aerospace and Defense Corporation, Wichita, KS for Rework

2013
-Ownership transferred to "Doc's Friends", Rework continues

Of note:
-44-69972 “Doc” Is known to have clocked in an 18.5 hour mission while serving in the 1st RCS, Travelling from New York, to California, to Mexico, to Florida, and then back home. This mission was flown with squadron-mate “Bashful”

[ryguy135]

Another interesting point of note is that Pima's B-29 Sentimental Journey / Quaker City was Dopey following her service in WWII. I understand though why the museum would rather display the plane in its combat names than "Dopey".

I think all of us working on Doc are glad we have Doc instead of something like Sneezy.