 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
“The B-29 was the world’s protector. Seattle Boeing designed it. Wichita Boeing helped build it. The Army Air Corps flew it and the world was saved.”
--Kermit K. Thompson
Boeing Engineering Service Manager, 1936-1945
from 2001 interview for "Bombers on the Prairie: The B-29 in Kansas" documentary
Span: 141 ft. 2 in.
Length: 99 ft.
Height: 27 ft. 9 in. (tail fin)
Wing area: 1,736 sq. ft.
Weights
Empty: 70,140 lb.
Loaded: 135,000 lb. with 12,000 lb. bomb load
Powerpack: Four Wright R-3350-23 Cyclone 18-cylinder radials each with a pair of General Electric B-11 superchargers to give 2,200 brake horsepower at takeoff
Propellers: Four-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatics (16ft. 7in diameter) with constant-speed governors and hydraulics operations for pitch change and feathering. Engine gear ratio was 0.35 (that is, the propeller turned at just over one-third of the engine revolutions, so at 2,800 engine rpm the propeller was turning at 980 rpm)
Maximum Range: 3,250 miles at 25,000 ft, with full fuel and 5,000 lb. bomb load (This was raised to 4,100 miles under the same load conditions by the addition of auxiliary fuel tanks in the bomb bays of later models)
Practical Operational Radius: 1,600 miles, rising to 1,800 miles after engine and fuel improvements
Maximum Ferry Range: 5,600 miles, rising to 6,000 miles after improvements
Maximum Speed: 375 mph at 25,000 ft. (although speeds in excess of 450 mph were recorded in the jet stream over Japan in 1944-45)
Normal Cruising Speed: 200-250 mph
Fuel-load Capacity: 8,198 US gallons on early models, carried in four wing-tanks. Increased to 9,548 US gallons after the installation of extra tanks in the wing center section on Boeing production block 25, Bell incorporated the same on block 5, all Martin B-29s had them standard fit. Under operational conditions a B-29 would carry 6,988 US gallons only if the semi-permanent fuel tanks in one of the two bomb bays were taken out.
Rate of Climb: 38 minutes to 25,000 ft. at 110,000lb gross weight
Service Ceiling: 31,850 ft.
Bomb-load: 5,000 lb. over 1,600 mile radius at high altitude; 12,000 lb. over 1,600 mile radius at medium altitude; 20,000 lb. maximum over short distances at low altitude. High explosive and incendiary bombs carried, either exclusively or mixed, depending on type of raid.
Armament: Ten 0.5 in. (50 Caliber) machine guns and one 20mm cannon and two 0.5 in. in the tail, two 0.5 in. in each of the four remotely-controlled power turrets.
Eleven-Man Crew comprising:
Aircraft Commander (sometimes termed the Command Pilot)
Pilot (sometimes termed the Co-Pilot)
Bombardier
Navigator
Flight Engineer
Radio Operator
Radar Operator
Central Fire Control Gunner
Left Side Gunner
Right Side Gunner
Tail Gunner
The
first six were housed in the forward pressurized cabin, connected by a
34 in. diameter tube to the next four in the mid-fuselage pressurized
area. The tail gunner, in his own completely separate pressurized turret,
was in the rear. The Aircraft Commander, Pilot, Bombardier, Navigator
and Flight Engineer were all officers, the remainder enlisted men. The
post of Flight Engineer was gradually opened to suitable qualified enlisted
men as World War II progressed.