Boeing B-29 Superfortress (WW 2): Books - History (2/2)

The B-29 Superfortress - a Comprehensive Registry of the Planes and Their Missions

The B-29 Superfortress was for many years a cornerstone of American military aviation. Best known as a bomber, it also served in reconnaissance, as a tanker, and as a rescue plane. It was a crucial tool for American and Allied forces during World War II, Korea and beyond.
This operational history of the B-29 gives in-depth information on the career of each plane. A list of the names and serial numbers of the planes, each plane's history from delivery date to removal from service, a description of the B-29's physical characteristics and performance parameters, and a description of the five B-29 variants are provided.
Sections of the book give complete mission data for the B-29's World War II service in the China-Burma-India theater of operations, operations over Japan, aerial mining missions and test atomic bombing runs.

B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2

The ultimate piston-engined heavy bomber of World War 2, the first production B-29s were delivered to the 58th Very Heavy Bomb Wing in the autumn of 1943. By the spring of 1944 the Superfortress was bombing targets in the Pacific, and by war's end the aircraft had played as great a part as any weapon in ending the conflict with the Japanese. Indeed, the final dropping of two atomic bombs from the B-29 convinced the Japanese to sue for peace.

This book traces the wartime career of the B-29, as the aircraft went from strength to strength in the Pacific Theatre.

B-29 Superfortress vs Ki-44 'Tojo' - Pacific 1944-45

By the time the Americans began their aerial bombardment of Japan in 1944, both the JAAF and IJNAF were spent forces. What the Japanese did have though was the Ki-44 "Tojo". Armed with two 40 mm cannon, it was the most heavily armed and feared single-seat fighter to see action against the new American bomber, the B-29 Superfortress.

For the bomber crews, they had what they believed was their `ace in hole': a fully armed B-29 carried four remotely operated gun turrets and a tail gunner's position, making it the world's most advanced self-defending bomber.
In every respect the Ki-44 pilots were fighting a desperate battle. Many who made their mark did so using suicidal ramming attacks or "taiatari".

Illustrated with full colour artwork, this volume examines why the Ki-44 was unable to break up bomber formations conventionally during the Pacific War, and how its ramming tactics, while terrifying, graphically revealed Japan's inability to stop the B-29.

B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War

This book is the story of a majestic bomber of the propeller era flying perilous combat missions against a sleek, nimble warplane of the jet age, the Soviet MiG-15. A very heavy bomber and a sky giant during World War 2, at that time the B-29 was the most advanced combat aircraft in the world.
By the time North Korea attacked its southern neighbour in 1950, the B-29 had been reclassified a medium bomber. Many of its crew members had fought their war and settled down to raise families and begin careers only to be recalled to fight another war on a distant Asian peninsula.

B-29 - Missions de combat : Témoignages uniques d'équipages de Superfortress

L'histoire du B-29 Superfortress a été associée à la base avec deux événements déterminants de l'histoire : le bombardement dévastateur et très controversé d'Hiroshima effectué par Enola Gay et, trois jours plus tard, celui de Nagasaki par Bockscar.
Mais cet appareil est également à la base de fascinantes histoires de courage et d'innovations qui se déroulèrent tout au long des opérations effectuées durant la Seconde guerre mondiale puis durant la guerre de Corée.

Hâtivement produit, le B-29 comprenait des technologies militaires dernier cri pour l'époque dont de nombreux éléments n'avaient pas été testés. Beaucoup de ses systèmes n'étaient pas totalement fonctionnels et certains d'entre eux - les moteurs Wright Cyclone, par exemple - étaient très loin d'être au point et de pouvoir être employés en opérations.

Les premiers modèles des Cyclone se révélèrent plus dangereux pour les équipages que les chasseurs et la DCA qu'ils affrontèrent au cours de leurs missions. Mais la ténacité et le courage des aviateurs, aussi bien en vol qu'au sol, la robustesse et la puissance du B-29 rendirent possibles de vrais miracles.

"B-29 Les missions de combat" raconte l'histoire de la remarquable Superfortress, à la fois sur le plan historique et au travers des yeux des hommes qui volèrent sur l'appareil.

Environ soixante-quinze personnes témoignent de succès triomphants et d'expériences au cours desquelles la mort n'est pas passée loin... ainsi que des histoires aussi déchirantes que tragiques de pertes. Le lien entre ce remarquable avion et ces équipages intrépides fit de cet appareil bien plus qu'un assemblage de tôles et de rivets.