Boeing B-29 Superfortress Photographs

The first B-29 prototype made its maiden flight from Boeing Field in Seattle on September 21, 1942. Initial models were plagued with problems, and faced a constant series of modifications. The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engine.

A total of 3,970 B-29s were built. Boeing built 2,766 B-29s at plants in Wichita, Kansas and Renton, Washington. The Bell Aircraft Co. built 668 Superfortresses in Georgia, and the Glenn L. Martin Co. built 536 in at its plant in Omaha, Nebraska.

In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight up to 31,850 feet at speeds of 350 mph. Designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, the B-29 flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions.

The B-29 is most known by many for two missions that occurred in August 1945, over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that lead to the end of World War II. 

The last B-29 in squadron use retired from service in September 1960.

Original Photographs of Restored B-29 Superfortress Bombers

Only 22 complete B-29 airframes are currently restored in the United States. Two of these are airworthy.

We've had the privilege of seeing, and photographing, 16 of these during the last two years ... highlights of our photos are included below.

B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio click for more photos of Bockscar

Nose art on the B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" click for more photos of Bockscar

Close-up view of the bombadier station on the B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" click for more photos of Bockscar

Left front fuselage view of the B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, D.C. click for more photos of the Enola Gay

B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. click for more photos of the Enola Gay

Nose art on the B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport click for more photos of the Enola Gay

B-29 Superfortress "Sentimental Journey" at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona click for more photos of Sentimental Journey

B-29 Superfortress "Peachy" S/N 44-62022 at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum in Colorado click for more photos of Peachy

B-29A Superfortress "Raz'n Hell" at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California Composite aircraft built from three airframes: B-29-75-BW 44-70064 ; B-29A-35-BN 44-61535 (the original Raz'n Hell); and B-29-50-BA 44-84084. displayed as S/N 44-61535 click for more photos of Raz'n Hell

B-29A Superfortress "Jack's Hack" S/N 44-61975 at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT click for more photos of Jack's Hack

Cockpit view of the B-29 Superfortress "Tinker's Heritage" S/N 427343 in the markings of the 57th Weather Recon Squadro at the entrance to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City click for more photos of Tinker's Heritage

B-29 Superfortress "Tinker's Heritage" S/N 427343 at the Charles B. Hall Airpark at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma click for more photos of Tinker's Heritage

Boeing B-29 Superfortress S/N 487627, Buzz Number BF-627, at the Global Power Museum click for more photos of B-29 Superfortress 44-87627

Boeing B-29 Superfortress S/N 487627 at the Global Power Museum at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana click for more photos of B-29 Superfortress 44-87627

B-29 Superfortress "Legal Eagle II", S/N 484112, Buzz Number BF-112 South Dakota Air & Space Museum, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota click for more photos of Legal Eagle II

B-29 Superfortress "Three Feathers", S/N 44-61669, on display at the March Field Air Museum in California click for more photos of Three Feathers

B-29 Superfortress "Three Feathers", S/N 44-61669, at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside click for more photos of Three Feathers

Left front fuselage view of the B-29TB Superfortress "Lucky Lady", S/N 44-84076, restored and on display at the Strategic Air Command and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska click for more photos of Lucky Lady

B-29 Superfortress "Straight Flush" in Ogden, Utah at Hill Air Force Base click for more photos of Straight Flush

B-29 Superfortress 45-21748 at the National Museum of Nuclear Science in Albuquerque, New Mexico click for more photos

B-29 Superfortress, S/N 44-84053, at the Museum of Aviation in Warner-Robins, Georgia click for more photos

Boeing B-29 Superfortress "T-Square 54" in the Aviation Pavilion at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

B-29 Superfortress "T-Square 54", restored and shrink-wrapped, prior to its move to permanent display in the Aviation Pavilion at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington (May 2013)

Boeing WB-50D Superfortress, S/N 49-0310, a later variant of the B-29, in Dayton, Ohio

Photos of B-29 Survivors Outside the U.S.

B-29 S/N 45-21739 B-29 S/N 45-21739 is on static display at the KAI Aerospace Museum in Sacheon, South Korea.

B-29 S/N 45-21739 This B-29A is on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, UK. It's Hawg Wild, S/N 44-61748, is located indoors at the American Air Museum, part of the Imperial War Museum.

B-29 S/N 44-62214 At Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska is the sunken remains of B-29 S/N 44-62214, known as the "Lady of the Lake". Read more at the Eielson AFB website

A B-29 Copy: Tu-4 A Tupelov Tu-4, a copy of the B-29, is on static display at the Yuri Gagarin Air Force Academy near Moscow in Russia. It was reversed-engineered from three early model B-29s.

XB-29 Superfortress Photo

Boeing XB-29 Superfortress, S/N 41-002, the first B-29 prototype

B-29 Superfortress Photos by Our Friends and Supporters

B-29 Superfortress "Gettin Ready" 5358 with crew photo (photo courtesy of Bob Pile)

Reverse of the "Gettin Ready" photo with crew names The airplane commander was 1st Lt. Robert B. Pile of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Another crew of B-29 Superfortress "Gettin Ready" 5358 with crew photo 242 (photo courtesy of Tripp Jones)

Reverse of the "Gettin Ready" photo with 242 crew names The photo was taken at Clovis Army Air Force Base in Clovis, NM in 1945. My dad is on the front row, third from the left, SGT Asbury L. Jones Jr. He did his best years later to write their names down (below).

B-29 Superfortress Photos - From Sandra McLeod

Crew 181 of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress 4564 ... Oahu Avenger Sandra's dad, Sgt. Charlie "Buddy" Knapp, third from right

Crew W-181 of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress 4722 ... Calumet Chief

On a Boeing B-29 Superfortress

B-29 Assembly Line Photos

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Assembly Line

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Assembly Line

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Assembly Line

Completed Boeing B-29 Superfortresses parked at the Boeing-Wichita Plant

Photos of the B-29 Superfortress on Deployment

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Classic WWII military bomber nose art featuring a likeness of actress Jane Russell on the B-29 Superfortress "The Outlaw" from the 1941 movie of the same name. The nose art was painted on B-29 S/N 42-65306 of the 28th Bomb Squadron, 19th Bomb Group. The aircraft later crashed on takeoff in 1951.

Nose art on B-29 Superfortress "Sic 'Em"

Boeing B-29s on the Tarmac

Boeing B-29s parked on the tarmac during WWII

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Boeing B-29s on the Flight Line

Boeing B-29 Superfortress C3 at Alexandria Air Force Base (Photo provided by the Louisiana History Museum)

Boeing B-29 Superfortress B3 at Alexandria Air Force Base (Photo by the Louisiana History Museum)

B-29s at the Iwo Jima airfield shortly after the United States captured the island, and built the airfield. This photo was taken by a Navy Seebee working on the island building runways. Photo has never been previously published. Photo reprinted with permission from the Louisiana History Museum

B-29-55-MO Superfortress S/N 44-86422 taxis while B-50D 4854 lands at McClennan Field, Sacramento, California, circa 1948 (Photo used by permission of the photographer, William T. Larkins)

Photos of the B-29 in Desert Storage After World War II

Rows of cocooned B-29 Superfortress bombers in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, circa 1950

Rows of B-29 Superfortress bombers in desert storage after World War II - February, 1947 as reported in LIFE Magazine

Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay" in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB post-WWII Now on display at the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C,

Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Bockscar" in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB Now on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

B-29 Superfortress Historic Postcard

Historic Postcard: Boeing B-29 "Super Fortress" of the U.S. Army Air Forces

More about the B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Development and Production	B-29 in WWII & Korea	B-29 Variants	B-29 Survivors	B-29 FiFi	B-29 Photos