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.

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B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2 (Osprey)

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.

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

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.

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B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (Osprey)

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.

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

The history of the B-29 Superfortress has been associated with two pivotal events in history: Enola Gay's devastating and controversial bombing of Hiroshima and, three days later, Bockscar's bombing of Nagasaki.
But the aircraft is also the basis for fascinating stories of courage and innovation that unfolded throughout operations in World War II and the Korean War.

Hastily produced, the B-29 included the latest military technology for the time, many of which had not been tested. Many of its systems were not fully functional, and some - the Wright Cyclone engines, for example - were far from being ready for operational use.

Early Cyclone models proved more dangerous to aircrew than the fighters and anti-aircraft fire they faced on their missions. But the tenacity and courage of the airmen, both in flight and on the ground, the robustness and power of the B-29 made real miracles possible.

"B-29 Les missions de combat" tells the story of the remarkable Superfortress, both historically and through the eyes of the men who flew it.

Approximately seventy-five people testify to triumphant successes and near-death experiences...as well as heartbreaking and tragic stories of loss. The bond between this remarkable aircraft and its intrepid crews made it more than just a collection of sheet metal and rivets.

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