Birth of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress - 1945

[@Roybwatchin]

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.

[@OrangPasien]

Roy, thank you for your willingness to keep this girl in the air. We who just get to watch are envious of those permitted to get up close to her. Thank you for sharing!

[@tricycleguy2657]

I just saw Fifi last week...the other b-29 still flying...beautiful machinery

[@kleenk8]

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.

[@Dark_Knight_USA]

RIP uncle Ollie. Thank U 4 Ur service.

[@ssms3978]

Hand picked? 😂😂😂

[@toddb930]

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

[@cpcattin]

And fast !

[@OrangPasien]

Todd; here’s a story about an equally amazing development effort. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-4

[@tomdemerly]

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

[@packingten]

If he's alive say Thank You for me😊.

[@topixfromthetropix1674]

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.

[@robc4191]

Wow that must be an incredible photo.

[@rohanpanditharatne3422]

Great to be Son who witness today mighty power

[@crooked-halo]

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

[@ralfie8801]

Crooked Halo I am surmising that you work at Air Force Plant 4 - just think about that plant building the B-24 and B-32 during the war and then developing the B-36 during the war and putting it into production at war's end. That plant was truly a beehive of activity during those years.

[@ronaldderonde]

No computers,no QR codes. Unbelivable that engenering and developing in so little time. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@Ricky40369]

You actually admit to building that crap?

[@crooked-halo]

@@Ricky40369 And love every minute of it.

[@renatoigmed]

this "crap" could save the free world against communism. In other words, if there is a war between the West and the communists of the East, pray that you are wrong.

[@oldthudman]

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

[@WAL_DC-6B]

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!

[@4thstooge75]

Dodge Div. of Chrysler Corp. built most of the engines making many improvements on a flawed design.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@4thstooge75 Your referring to the Dodge Chicago plant on Chicago's south side that during WWII help build the Wright Cyclone 3350 18-cylinder radial engine used not only for the thousands of B-29s built, but the over 100 Consolidated B-32s as well. Dodge-Chicago built 18,413 of the Wright engines at the cancelling of the engine contract with Chrysler after Japan's surrender. This figure was more than half the production of these powerplants during the war and I'm sure the company incorporated and added improvements of their own on what initially was a troublesome aircraft engine.

[@drhikmat6829]

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

[@mikewhipkey6863]

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

[@amelierenoncule]

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.”

[@jrkorman]

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

[@muratcicek3990]

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[@muratcicek3990]

Jqioaa1Kliksa hz qqbqq qq jqaqai qqqqqqq qqqqqqqqq

[@jjhpor]

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?

[@michae8jackson378]

Well said! My wife is from Wichita where the B-29 was built. It is an extremely fragile existence working in these factories….I come from a military family. Grandpa lost his leg in France fighting Germans. Dad was a career AF pilot. I’m a AF vet. We all served so that ALL people should have freedom. Yet they don’t! So much hate and fighting still in this world. So much misery! Why can’t we set aside our differences and make the world a better place? I’m an old white man, I’m not better because I’m white! Chinese, Japanese, Serbian, etc! All people are trying to make it through this short life attempting to have some health, happiness and a good family! Is that really too much to ask!?

[@robc4191]

@@michae8jackson378 it shouldn't be. It really shouldn't be.

[@michae8jackson378]

@@robc4191 agreed!😎👊🤔

[@Dark_Knight_USA]

Ask the politicians and those who support them.

[@brinsonharris9816]

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.

[@anibalcesarnishizk2205]

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 KZbin.

[@markpettinato2823]

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 📚!! 🤔

[@whalesong999]

That airplane had to be one of two B-29s restored to airworthiness, the last one, DOC, which is housed now in a special hangar at Eisenhower Airport in Wichita. Once in a while, we get a glimpse of it heading out to airshows across the country. With the pandemic, viewing it in it's museum hangar is now minimized.

[@flybye130817]

I worked in the same building for 15 years.

[@davidsiller9078]

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

[@MrBluoct]

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

[@kiwitrainguy]

The beginning of the Military Industrial Complex.

[@bruceburns1672]

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 .

[@750suzuki]

The billable value of American manufacturing has increased every year since 1945. Don't believe the talking heads hype....current US manufacturing capabilities and latent capabilities are still astounding

[@jaquigreenlees]

@@750suzuki I haven't heard anything about either the US nor Canada being incapable of production, just the cost of doing so with our high cost of living so high wages makes it far less costly to build elsewhere.

[@cavaleermountaineer3839]

Marxist infiltration of politics since WWII, but beginning with FDR, are the reasons for the decline. The single biggest reason being currency devaluation courtesy of the private bank known as the Federal Reserve. This entire power structure is what Trump is opposing and taking down. They've been weakening US in every way - Physically, Morally, Nutritionally, Fiscally, Economically, Industrially. But they will lose. And this is the big one.

[@roscoefoofoo]

@@cavaleermountaineer3839 Take your thorazine, Cavaleer. Trump was and is and always will be a hate-mongering, power-sucking, would-be-king moron. And he LOST.

[@willberry6434]

The U.S actually produces a lot more now then back then…

[@germanbarros7115]

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!!

[@paulsuprono7225]

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

[@cpcattin]

No “almost”.

[@packingten]

People loved our Country back then,Now stupid people want....Socialism???...You kidding me...??!

[@bigredc222]

@@packingten You are being lied to by right wing news, there are very few people in the country that want socialism, it's scare tactics.

[@robc4191]

@@packingten America has been socialist for about a hundred years. You're being fed a bunch of fearmongering garbage. You're being told to hate your fellow Americans by a cable news person who gets paid millions to keep you watching.

[@hamdyelsewedy3336]

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.

[@JohnUMusic]

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.

[@martinmontano891]

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

[@rigolonzinbrin]

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.

[@carpediem4290]

This sound liberated Europe in 1945...Gracias.

[@rossf5945]

The music is insane !

[@whalesong999]

I was just a young boy while my father served as a government inspector at the Boeing - Wichita plant. That kind of music was so influential during the war effort to bolster our sense of pride in a nation coming together for a common purpose. That continued into the '50s and through the first NASA years. After that, it trailed off, not so emblematic any more.

[@robc4191]

Goddamn we made some beautiful planes back then.

[@jessicameister461]

I got to watch Doc fly! Its coming to Olathe for a tour next week. So excited

[@nikolaos9906]

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

[@scotmandel6699]

what Japan was going to invade and conquer North America? Not in a million years.

[@zvonimirvidovic1714]

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

[@mathbrown9099]

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 KZbin 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.

[@MrShobar]

Filmed at the Bell Aircraft Plant in Marietta, Georgia.

[@PhilG999]

OMG! Somewhere in all that is my Grandfather! There was one guy shown briefly that might have been him! Have to go back and see this again and freeze frame and compare to old photos! He took me there in the early 60s as a toddler (born in 1958). Other kids would have been terrified but I was fascinated! The sound, the smell. He always told everybody I would be an Engineer and in fact I am! Got to see FIFI at PDK years ago with my Pop and we did the tour, got inside. After the guy finished I stood up and said: "My Granddad built these!"

[@rce2198]

@@PhilG999 Somewhere in there is my grandfather also. He worked at the Chevrolet plant in Atlanta, took time off to build bombers , then went back.

[@daltonagre]

@@PhilG999 Here in Brazil, I must give my congratulations to you. I'm a jobless agronomist.

[@PhilG999]

@@daltonagre That would be a specialty that is very valuable for food production! I used to be jobless, but now (at 62) I'm retired!

[@lenpey]

I thought the primary plant was in Wichita. The largest and most expensive factory ever built to that point in time- specifically to manufacture '29s

[@antonioperez2623]

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

[@SustenanceNCovering]

In fact, Freedom is so expensive that all of the mass murders ever committed by Satan's children have never freed so much as a single individual.

[@gungadin3]

Amazing. Congratulations. Here Brazil.

[@allgood6760]

I love these old vids👍🇳🇿

[@cpcattin]

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

[@ВладимирБарашкин-п8м]

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

[@Happy11807]

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!

[@stevennack8945]

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

[@МаринаМарина-л1д]

а мой папа ,защищал Сталинград ,был ранен там ,выжил. Дошел до Берлина.

[@mshotz1]

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

[@loonyzombie5690]

nice

[@crabapple1951]

My Uncle Joe Dunne was crew 17, 60th Squadron,39th Bomber Group.He was right gunner on the "City of Spokane over Tokyo many runs.

[@dr.wilfriedhitzler1885]

....and killed lot of innocent childrens and women.......

[@loonyzombie5690]

@@dr.wilfriedhitzler1885 well they start the war

[@loonyzombie5690]

there fault

[@TheRealPopol]

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

[@SustenanceNCovering]

I love the look of pride on the faces of the workers. It's as if they are all saying "One day my children might use this machine to murder other people's children!"

[@dehoedisc7247]

Yes, it is Pure Killing Machine, not designed for traveling in style

[@robc4191]

Seems we are at our best when we are killing each other... and at our worst. The Space program was a great example of how great we could be... But we got bored of that, so let's go back to making better toys for killung each other.

[@TigerDominic-uh1dv]

I like these old films 🎥 Educational experience. 😊

[@dehoedisc7247]

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

[@lenny108]

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

[@MegaJohnhammond]

and thanks to Daryl Greembreyer there's one less

[@jasenhuang2394]

thanks Americans, for saving Chinese in WW2

[@paulsuprono7225]

Do they remember that . . . TODAY ?

[@topixfromthetropix1674]

If the Chinese had not occupied half a million Japanese troops the US might be speaking Japanese now. My mother's brother flew with the Flying Tigers, he is buried in Shandong Province.

[@packingten]

@@paulsuprono7225 Oh yeah they SURE DO!,Along with RUSSIA!.😡

[@Simon-lb1tl]

@@paulsuprono7225 they remember, and are grateful, indeed.

[@jamesroberts2743]

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

[@briankimmell7960]

Excellent

[@C-130-Hercules]

This is awesome 👏 thank you 👍

[@Dark_Knight_USA]

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

[@ssisnake]

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

[@peterterry398]

TRUMP 2020

[@ronlynquist9183]

Working together? Segregation wasn't working together!

[@ronlynquist9183]

@Appomattox Rose Black people were.

[@davidleethompsoniii8263]

It is a great example of America... What happened was Banks and greed...

[@ronlynquist9183]

@@davidleethompsoniii8263 Banks and greed existed then. Plenty of capitalist profiteering from the war happened.

[@ichmalealsobinich]

Without handymen and experts no war can be won.

[@binhnguyenquannavy2640]

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,🇺🇸💪

[@TheDustysix]

Thank Curtis LeMay for knowing how to use it.

[@packingten]

He wanted to Nuke Russia😑😑😑... Not a good idea,but Japan @ time okay.

[@TheDustysix]

I was referring to the removal of all but the ail gun to save weight and going in at lower altitude for firebombing.

[@hansvandijk1487]

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

[@karldawson3050]

Very good team work at the time

[@johnaugsburger6192]

Thanks

[@762forest_railway]

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

[@laverdajota8089]

阪急電車急行は速い My mother lost two older brothers that were taken prisoner by the Japanese in WW2 and put to work on the Changi Railway !! and one to Japan’s allies ie Germany in WW2 .

[@enthalpiaentropia7804]

@@laverdajota8089 And then...??

[@laverdajota8089]

And then!! , no and then, Countries that start aggressive actions and cause such sadness and death , should be prepared that they may affect people for generations in the future , winners or losers.

[@josephbingham1255]

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

[@mechengineer4894]

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.

[@jackkircher1755]

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

[@jwhoward182]

Mine made bullets at a Remington factory.

[@silviovladimirtrentin9605]

Excelente vídeo, lindas imagens.

[@firemustang6678]

Wonderfull spirites... from the workers

[@peekiethedogpeekie1080]

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

[@kayhyde2161]

Nice B-29.

[@nikolaos9906]

These were men and women who worked hard to eliminate the enemy NAZI. Congratulations

[@fabrizzioserranocastillo4571]

Muy buen documental felicidades

[@rajeshnarayanaswamy5773]

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

[@सुजल-ब7ल]

Brilliant Engineer ♥️♥️

[@heyitsvos]

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

[@seadog2396]

Yep. Seems just about right. Big plane. LOTS of systems....

[@travistucker7317]

Yeah now go find that missing page

[@colinmiles1052]

She was a beauty!

[@ctr5113]

Legend Luar biasa Tetap terbang sampai sekarang

[@АлександрЖуков-з3ю8ы]

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

[@Chastity_Belt]

Нет, зато там гораздо больше дешёвой рабочей силы))) США за три года построили этих самолётов что-то около 4000 штук. СССР своих копий В-29 построил около 1000 штук и не за три года а за пять лет. То есть, разница в темпах производства огромнейшая. И труда это стоило колоссального. И если так подумать, стоило ли в разрушенной войной стране столько ресурсов отдавать на постройку стратегического поршневого бомбардировщика? Куда на нём летать то и зачем?

[@daltonagre]

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

[@mrvn000]

Pero tenéis buenas playas 😜

[@joseluizdesouzasouza8748]

Produção enorme !!!

[@Mocking69]

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

[@nadirdilemek5367]

Bir tanesi simdi denizin derinliklerinde yatiyor.🐳✈

[@IdwarAnwar]

@idwaranwar good video... LIKE

[@shinwuka9178]

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.

[@domingolabong6317]

America is the greatest ❤️🇵🇭

[@استوكا-ص5س]

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

[@pietrodurso211]

Ma avete ancora i cammelli

[@alexandrecassimiro682]

Que geração magnífica!

[@nauuwgtx]

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

[@giuseppesciarra1199]

fenomenale

[@sundar999]

Precision engineering!

[@louttitfamily2449]

Cool

[@shreddder999]

When is production scheduled to end?

[@williamkeith8944]

Look it up

[@WAL_DC-6B]

B-29 production ended at Boeing's Renton, Washington plant when the last one was built there in May, 1946.

[@williamsimmons152]

Couple of weeks...

[@michaelwoodward5787]

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

[@pattykuvshin]

Today Americans would import the B-29 from China

[@kiwitrainguy]

Kind of awkward if you are at war with them.

[@jmw9904]

Control panel less complicated than an automobile's? I don't think so Tim.

[@gordonblank6845]

The Manhattan project cost 2 billon dollars at the time. The B-29 cost 3 billion and we have only 2 still flying, FiFi and Doc. Sad, very sad.

[@hazelwood55]

I never heard of Fifi and Doc before I saw your comment. I looked them up and Fifi was being used for missle practice before restoration and you can actually fly on Doc for $600-$1500.

[@heyitsvos]

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

[@chocachips]

150% I thought exactly the same thing, good call!

[@fernandonando7380]

Incrível que imagens lindas

[@pietrodurso211]

Sei Italiano, parla come mangi

[@rickmaggie1]

"The less little ones" LOL

[@nealk6387]

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

[@pramodhnuwan8463]

Have you seen the gods work as aircraft technicians? This is it..

[@saharajesh2214]

பெரிய பணக்காரனா தான் இருந்திருப்பார் போல இந்த flight கம்பெனிக்காரங்க

[@Ayaki6166]

B-29 is hero ever.

[@michaelwallbrown3726]

Industrial Military Complex not going to overcome that advantage