Boeing B-29 Superfortress "FIFI"

The Commemorative Air Force B-29 is one of the largest airplanes to see service during World War II. A very advanced bomber for this time period, it included features such as a pressurized cabin, an electronic fire control system, and remote controlled machine-gun turrets. Though it was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, in practice it actually flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions. By 1946, more than 3,900 B-29s had been built and delivered into service. When the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force) began searching for a B-29 for the collection of WWII aircraft, the war had been over for 21 years. The Superforts that helped end it had long since yielded to new generations of jet-powered strategic bombers, and vanished. According to the Air Force, no B-29s remained in inventory ~ even at storage or disposal depots. In 1971, a pilot reported sighting a number of what might be B-29s on the California desert near China Lake. The CAF learned the aircraft were indeed Superforts that had been parked at a Navy weapons center for 17 years. After much negotiation (the Air Force still owned the planes; the Navy had to agree to release one), much paperwork and a painstaking process of elimination to find the best survivor, the CAF became the owner of B-29 SN44-62070. That was just the beginning of the task. A CAF maintenance team arrived at China Lake on March 31, 1971. In only nine weeks, with the help of CAF volunteers, they restored all systems and replaced fuel, oil and hydraulic hoses. They restored the controls and installed instruments. They ran the engines, tested propellers and landing gear, and had new window bubbles made. By August 3, 1971, SN44-62070 was ready to fly again. The complete restoration to CAF standards of airworthiness was a long and expensive project involving more than three years of fund-raising and hard work. Late in 1974, the CAF's B-29 was christened "FIFI" and joined the other WWII fighters and bombers to preserve the memories and teach of lessons of mankind's greatest war.Limited Edition, Signed and Numbered Prints, Boeing B-29 Superfortress "FIFI", Licensed by CAF. See more...