Birth of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress - 1945 

I have worked at Boeing in Wichita, KS since 1986 and now Spirit AeroSystems since 2005 after Boeing sold off the Wichita plant. I have done volunteer work on "Doc" which is one of only two flying B-29s. I helped remove and reinstall the rear Flaps so work could be done to repair the Flap Tracks. Doc was originally built in Wichita and then returned in the late 90's for a complete restoration. Doc started flying again in 2016 timeframe. I have one of the piston cylinders that I bought from one of the old engines. The Doc team sold off lots of old engine and airframe parts to help raise money for the restoration. I had that cylinder degreased, sandblasted and then coated with satin clearcoat. It still has the valves and rocker arms, it's one of my prize possessions and a great conversation piece.

Don't think many folks realize what a leap in technology the B-29 was over the B-17/B-24......

Due to engine difficulties and other concerns Project Silverplate was commenced. My Uncle Ollie was hand picked to mill the crankshafts for the Enola Gay, The Great Artiste, and Bockscar. Can't remember if he had his hand on Necessary Evil, but he never spoke a word of this as long as I knew him, and I knew him for many great years. He wanted to serve in the military, but his skill set was needed for this job. I only learned of this while attending his funeral, where he was honored by the Commemorative Air Force. I knew he worked on the B-29, but not in what capacity. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned of this. RIP Uncle Ollie.

My dad flew B-17's and B-24's during WW2. He had a converted B-17 as a hospital plane that flew from Guam by way of Hawaii to Oakland. My mom had a picture of him flying under the Golden gate Bridge taken from Vista Point.

My dad worked at the Boeing Renton plant on the B-17 and the B-29. It's remarkable to see this.

As a builder of F-35s I am absolutely astounded at what was required in the 1940s to build the incredible B-29! Unbelievable!

All those specialized machines in the beginning, making parts. Its truly mind boggling how all that can come together.

It is said, that sometime after the first B-29 aeroplatform did a low level recon-mission o'er Tokyo, mes amis, the Empress Nagako (the wife of Emperor Hirohito), wrote in a letter: “Every day from morning to night, B-29's fly freely over the palace making an enormous noise. As I sit at my desk writing and look up at the sky, countless numbers are passing over. Unfortunately... the B-29 is a splendid plane.”

During WWII the Hudson Motor Car Co. (of postwar Hudson Hornet fame) was one of the "subcontractors" that help build the B-29. Hudson made three different B-29 fuselage assemblies and the outer wings at their Detroit, MI plants. It's estimated that Hudson built 16% of the total airplane. Terrific period film showing the construction (or birth!) of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Thanks for sharing!

بوينغ . . فخر الصناعة الأمريكية والعالمية . . تحية لكل العاملين في شركة بوينغ . . دمتم بخير ومجد ورمز عالمي يفتخر بكم كل البشر . .

Being a retired engineer I find this factory and the people in in to be beautiful. I was two years old the year the film was made. At some point I realized that those beautiful airplanes would contribute nothing to the country if there were no war. They were weapons, designed to kill people and destroy things far away from home. They did nothing to make life better for Americans. In two years they would all be scrapped and sold for the aluminum metal. We won the war but never quite seemed to win the peace. In 1945 worker productivity was probably less than half of what it is today. Look at those hundreds of people doing incredibly complex tasks, no robots, no computers. Every part that you see was drawn with a pencil on a piece of paper. Blueprints were made with ammonia gas and they were, surprise blue! Hard to read, that's what. Yet we had the wealth, the motivation and the intelligence to invent and build so many complex machines and 76 years later we are still incredibly wealthy, not all of us, but on average. If we could do all of this in 1945 why are people telling me that today we can't afford to feed hungry children and the homeless? Educate poor children? Why do we not have universal health care like most of the rest of the developed world? What are we doing with our wealth?

Read in some book many years ago that one B-29 consumed roughly the same amount of raw materials and man-hours of labor as eleven P-51 Mustangs. Absolute pinnacle of 1940s tech.

When you look at all that American machinery back then and what they were capable of , one is astounded that now everything now has to be imported , even the machinery for the Tesla production line comes from Germany , the cost to build this cutting edge aircraft in its day cost more than the Manhattan project to develop the Atom Bomb .

I work in a factory building Large electric transformers and we still us equipment like in this video to this day.. the press, shear everything.. we even use band saws and stuff that were once powered by steam but now the have electric motors retrofitted on them it is like stepping back in time! The machines that wind the core and coils are made from old Hudson car transmissions

I worked in the same building for 15 years.

Worked for some years in one of those assembly buildings; The Martin Bomber Plant at Offutt AFB, NE. Amazing the size.

I can't believe how fast and far technology went since the days these bombers were being built to the days i, a person who was born 20 years after this film was released, till the days of RU-vid.

A few years ago I was on our deck and saw a large a aircraft in the sky that sounded like something out of WWII, it made an impressive sight complete with an intimidating sound. A few weeks later I was speaking to a relative and told him about my experience. He responded yes it was a B-29, that was in the vicinity as part of an Air Show!! It was a educational experience since I only read about them in history textbooks 📚!! 🤔

Goddamn we made some beautiful planes back then.

My grandfather was a photographer at Boeing in Wichita KS, he took photos and videos of the factory and test flights. I always like to think that he might have taken some of these. He passed away before I was born, so I watch these to get an idea of who he was.

"Wingspan longer then Wright's first flight through the air in Kitty Hawk"

Almost gives one the perspective . . that our country was more united at home, when we were at war . . . overseas ! 🇺🇸

It is good to recall the great role played by women in the war effort to achieve victory over Nazi and Japanese barbarism. Bravissimo and thank You Ladies.

Que impresionante despliegue de tecnología, trabajo mecanizado y manual con tanta gente diversa, es admirable la producción de una máquina tan grande como ésta. Siempre quise ver como se fabricaban. Thanks!!

The beautiful thing in B 29 movie is how this people organized this works in many field , and each one know what he will do .... team work. with good plan overall.

Impressive! And thank you for liberating us in WW2. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.

Freedom is'nt free. It requires the sacrifice of all.

The diverse talents, the designs, the source materials, shipping , other transport, the tool designs and fabrication , retrofitted plants , machinery, engines, expansive and dedicated labor and sequencing and managing of same. Testing and on and on .... And those companies, that earned and reaped the financial rewards

I love this film! American ingenuity at work with every person involved in the process.

The music is insane !

Amazing. Congratulations. Here Brazil.

This sound liberated Europe in 1945...Gracias.

B-29’s were running missions over, then onto Iwo Jima. The complex, and sometimes dangerous bomber was introduced in the PTO well before 1945. In addition to the 29’s under the command of Paul Tibet’s, who saw to the bomber’s readiness for the A-Bomb drops, he flew missions in the 29 over Tokyo, etc. I’m merely pointing out that people shouldn’t simply throw things onto RU-vid without knowing their subject. The amazing B-29 flew missions well before 1945, it was born many years before and began testing for combat not long after some of the aircraft’s bad habits were sent packing.

These were men and women who worked hard to eliminate the enemy Japanese with their megalomania .. Congratulations to all of these HEROES who made it that we live free today

I totally enjoyed your video, it shows how people from all walks of life come together to help end a major world coflict.

My father flew this big heavy bird over Japan in 1945, the year I was born.

Thanks

My Dad was in the 883rd Squadron, 500th Bomb Group, 73rd Wing.

Come on …… 75 years ago. The words were “deft hands”. You should be proud of any connection with these workers !

My Dad was a flight Engineer on B29’s. An EXPERT MECHANIC HE WAS STILL WORKING ON THE ENGINE PROBLEMS WHEN THE WAR ENDED. ALL THE PICTURES THAT WE HAVE FROM THE BASE HAVE IDENTIFYING FEATURES BLURRED OUT, SECURITY WAS TIGHT!

This is awesome 👏 thank you 👍

it is incredible to see so much energy, and genius deployed for the destruction of mankind. Humanity paradox.

I love these old vids👍🇳🇿

Excellent

Produção enorme !!!

The vertical stabilizer is soooo Art Deco omg it's almost silly!

Filmed at the Bell Aircraft Plant in Marietta, Georgia.

Absolutely amazing the complexity of those planes. Only the USA at that time could have done it.

Que geração magnífica!

Without handymen and experts no war can be won.

Dad was a B-29 pilot with the 9th Bombardment Group on Tinian.

Wonderfull spirites... from the workers

Of the 3,970 built, 26 survive in complete form today, 24 of which reside in the United States. They should have build them already in 1939 when WWII started

Very good team work at the time

Excelente vídeo, lindas imagens.

Cool

Muy buen documental felicidades

I'm a third-generation hibakusha in Hiroshima, but I have cancer that seems to be affected by radiation.

fenomenale

Legend Luar biasa Tetap terbang sampai sekarang

She was a beauty!

Спасибо за материал!!! Работают в парадной форме!!!

Nice B-29.

And what a great song it was, sadly, never 2 B played again.

これが日本を地獄に落としたB-29。別視点で見られるとまた感慨深い。戦争は良くないよ。

i love this, this is america, all these people working together all from different backgrounds, colors, religions, just trying to make something to protect their country, what happened to this america, so sad the state its in now hope everyone stops bickering over stupid things and see what we can accomplish together

My mother was a "Rosie the riveter" during WW II

Công nhận những năm 45 mà ngành công nghiệp quốc phòng chế tạo máy bay của hãng Boeing có những tiến bộ khoa học kỹ thuật kinh khủng như vậy,🇺🇸💪

Helen Longstreet wife of Confederate General Longstreet worked on the B-29. Look it up.

thanks Americans, for saving Chinese in WW2

Thank Curtis LeMay for knowing how to use it.

Marvelous

Precision engineering!

Incrível que imagens lindas

The 509th composite group was testing the B-29 in '44 out at Wendover

Make no mistake, it wasn't the B-29, Essex Class Carrier or the P-51 Mustang that won the war. It was American industrial might that brought victory.

America is the greatest ❤️🇵🇭

Bir tanesi simdi denizin derinliklerinde yatiyor.🐳✈

@idwaranwar good video... LIKE

Love de sounds

Rất hay và bổ ích

WAIT.......50 TONS OF BLUEBRINTS?

All this and think of all the other planes being built at the same time. 🇺🇸

8:30 *me and the bois about to tow a B-29 with a farm tractor*

america won in ww2 thanx to working women who builded much of military gears,, its basically first time in history that women were given such a massive and important task.

Very nice to old. Technology

Hard to know such great technologies and capabilities sont exist now in US....rotary engines itself is a larger subject....wish few aircrafts exists around world...makes nostalgic

❤️

Более удивительно как всё это удалось воспроизвести в Казани. Неужели там такие же цеха, оборудование, оснастка?

Wonder if any of the tooling used to build these still exists?

I live in Brazil. Even today (2021), there's any factory here in Brazil, anything coparable to this massive American factory, in 1940 decade.

B - 29 The Legend 👍👍

"The less little ones" LOL

Ｂ-29の製作に多くの女性が関わっていたのに秀樹感激Goodです=3

🇧🇷👏👏👏👏👏 Espetacular!!!

B-29 is hero ever.

Brilliant Engineer ♥️♥️

كنت اتمنا ان بلادي العربيه يكون فيها نفس التكنولوجيا الي الغرب وصل ليها من 70 سنه.

The little ones.....and the less little ones :D. try to say that these days :D

Today Americans would import the B-29 from China