B-29 Superfort (and B-36 below)
Korean Conflict and Postwar Service
Photo: Husky 1,000-pound demolition bombs hurtle from this U.S. Far East Air Forces B-29 "Superfort" of the 19th Bomb Group toward a Communist target somewhere beneath the cloud layers in Korea. Bomber Command "Superforts" were able to unload heavy tonnages of bombs with pin-point precision despite thick cloud coverage by use of new techniques in radar aiming. August 1951 (U.S. Air Force photo) The B-29 was used in 1950-53 in the Korean War. At first, the bomber was used in normal strategic day-bombing missions, though North Korea's few strategic targets and industries were quickly reduced to rubble. More importantly, in 1950 numbers of Soviet MiG-15 "Fagot" jet fighters appeared over Korea (an aircraft specifically designed to shoot down the B-29), and after the loss of several aircraft, future B-29 raids were restricted to night-only missions, largely in a supply-interdiction role. Over the course of the war, B-29s flew 20,000 sorties and dropped 200,000 tons (180,000 tonnes) of bombs. B-29 gunners were credited with shooting down 27 enemy aircraft.[21] The B-29 was notable for dropping the large "Razon" and "Tarzon" radio-controlled bomb in Korea, mostly for demolishing major bridges, like the ones across the Yalu River. The B-29 was soon made obsolete by the development of the jet engined fighter plane. With the arrival of the mammoth Convair B-36, the B-29 was reclassified as a medium bomber with the new Air Force. However, the later B-50 Superfortress variant (which was initially designated B-29D) was good enough to handle auxiliary roles such as air-sea rescue, electronic intelligence gathering, and even air-to-air refueling. The B-50D was replaced in its primary role during the early 1950s by the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which in turn was replaced by the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The final active-duty variants were phased out in the mid-1960s. 3,970 B-29s were built before they were retired in 1960. Below is a comparison photo of a B-29 on the left and the B-36 on the right. As a kid, my dad took me to the "flight line" many times and I can still remember the awesome size of the B-36.
Go here to see the B-36 |
