Steam & Excursion > Big Girl, Not Big Boy!!!

Since the Big Boy tour is over I thought I would change-it-up a bit with a short video I shot earlier this year of the big B-29.  It has 4 engines compared to two on the 4014, so take that!!!  One of only 2 flying today, these were the largest US Bombers of World War Two.  Enjoy something different for a change!
Greg Scholl
http://www.gregschollvideo.com

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Aka "Sunken Lunken"...thank you for sharing!

Thanks from Wichita, KS. wag216

SO COOL!
Steve

Very nice! Thank you.

Beautiful machine!  Did you shoot her taking off?  What a lovely sound.

That is very nice.I recently got the royal tour of the restored B-29 up at Paine Field.Thought about getting into the tail gunners position ,but may have had trouble getting out.
Regards,DK

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> Beautiful machine!  Did you shoot her taking
> off?  What a lovely sound.

Funny you should ask Don.  I did a video on this plane from footage shot in 2014 and got broadside takeoffs looking east, against the sun mostly.  But you can get inside the fence with the throngs that way, and they let me in the infield a little bit during those times.  I shot at the golf course 2 years ago and this year trying for a takeoff right at me, but alas they went away from me each time, so I decided to stick around for the return and landings.  To show how things are never the same, the two flights I shot(all they did that day), each time they orbited for the landing from different sides.  I have gotten a few nice flyovers but these warbirds are not easy to get good action flying shots.  You basically stay at the airport and take your chances.  At least you know they will be back once they take-off.  But, if you go outside the airport you don't know which way they will go for their flight with passengers.  I have actually gotten a couple of scenes at the airport, then gone home, only to have the darned thing fly by my house some 20 miles east of the airport, but of course no time for the gear to set it up.
  They tend to come to Cincinnati every other year, and its usually hot as blazes here in July, but I like to make the effort to see it when it comes here.  Its like when 611 always came to Cincinnati I felt obligated to pay my respects and shoot some video at least.  This is the one owned by the Commemorative Air Force, and they usually come with 3-4 other aircraft.  This year they came with a PT-17 Stearman, P-51 Mustang, AT-6, and C-45 (Bucket of Bolts).  Flights in the C-45 are reasonable at around $65-100.00, as are the Stearman.  By contrast tickets in the B-29 are around 550-600 for so-so seats and can be up to $1500-$1700 for  premium seating in the nose and behind the pilot.  I got some footage from behind the pilot(Called the flight engineer's jump seat) and used it in my show "The Last B-29), which we did in 2014-15.  I also aquired a neat 2-3 minute film from 1944-45 of one of this B-29's arriving in China to begin flights over Japan.
   B-29's are nice, but I like the B-25's and B-17's a bit more!
Cheers,
Greg Scholl
http://www.gregschollvideo.com

PS Clip I put up here is not in any formal video.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/19 13:19 by gregscholl.

Hi Greg! I love to see a B-29 flying! Saw a lot of them when I was a kid in the early 50's! By the way, The 4014 DOES have 4 engines...2 ahead of the first set of drivers and 2  ahead of the second set of drivers!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/19 13:34 by patd3985.

Since we are on the subject, 11 years ago...........................

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gregscholl Wrote:
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 > these were the largest US Bombers of World War Two.

Nice, Greg! Thanks for sharing. Love all the WWII warbirds.

They were indeed large. I remember my late father ... an infantryman in the Pacific ... who was used to having B-24's flying low overhead ... saying that the Superfortresses were a way different animal.

Jim Lee
Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Do you rember the B-29 that was dug out of the ice somewhere up in the Arctic and rebuilt to fly and it caught fire and burned up on a frozen lake while conducting it's re-maiden flight! They told the owner not try and fly it out because the ice was too rough, but he wouldn't listen to reason. It was a kerosene heater that caught fire, I believe.
   You can find the documentary they made of the whole process from the begining (when they found it) to the end (when they destroyed it.) Sad to say and sad to see. I think it's on the "Y" channel. I saw it on PBS years ago.

 

If you think about it, there are technically four steam engines on the 4014 as well.

Just sayin'...
MWPerkins

Posted from Android

EMD2024 Wrote:
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> If you think about it, there are technically four
> steam engines on the 4014 as well.
>
> Just sayin'...
> MWPerkins

Well, 4 double acting CYLINDERS to be exact.

B-29 Superfortress named FiFi visited Rocky Mountain Metro Airport, Broomfield, Colorado, 26 August 2016.  Impressive plane-!  Also visiting that year was P-51 named Gunfighter (at far right by control tower on runway).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/19 17:47 by cozephyr.

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I took a flight on "Fifi" a couple years ago to celebrate my Father - A WW-II B-29 man. (497th Bomb group/869th Bomb Squadron - Saipan).

Great flight and smoothest landing I've ever experienced. Take off was a different matter. They did a rather long run up for a magneto check while sitting on the hammerhead and that was very much like being in a paint shaker for about 3 minutes.

GREAT EXPERIENCE

Brian E 

 

Here are a few more FIFI images for Greg that were taken near Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix.

Greg Stadter
Phoenix, AZ

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Nice photos.  Here is the cover for our B-29 show we did a few years back, and some of the images we used.
I may be in the market for some multi-engine aircraft photos in the next couple of months.  Anyone have some can contact me and I can let you know what I am looking for.
http://www.gregschollvideo.com/images/lastb29.jpg

Greg

patd3985 Wrote:
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> Do you rember the B-29 that was dug out of the ice
> somewhere up in the Arctic and rebuilt to fly and
> it caught fire and burned up on a frozen lake
> while conducting it's re-maiden flight! They told
> the owner not try and fly it out because the ice
> was too rough, but he wouldn't listen to reason.
> It was a kerosene heater that caught fire, I
> believe.
>    You can find the documentary they made of the
> whole process from the begining (when they found
> it) to the end (when they destroyed it.) Sad to
> say and sad to see. I think it's on the "Y"
> channel. I saw it on PBS years ago.
>
>  
That was "KEE BIRD" and yes sadly she burnt up following an APU fire in the tail. A result of a ruptured fuel line. IIRC the APU used AvGas from the main tanks, not a separate fuel source. (unlike the 25 foot small response boat the Coast Guard uses. The heater on that boat uses diesel. Engines use gasoline. Don't start me on this one).

Darryl Groenmeyer (sp?) was the project director on KEE BIRD and tried to fly the plane(then only 1 of 2 in "flying" condition). Should have taken her apart and shipped her. Then we'd have 3 29s.

While not operational, I've seen/photographed Enola Gay and Bockscar. Beautiful aircraft.

Regards,
Burlington John