Photos: B-29 Superfortress ‘Doc’ Flies for First Time in 60 Years

Molly McMillin July 17, 2016

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” preflight

Credit: Frank Craven

B-29 Superfortress “Doc” prepares for first flight at McConnell AFB early on Sunday, July 17.

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” at sunrise

Credit: Frank Craven

Connie Palacioz, Boeing Wichita riveter

Credit: Molly McMillin

Connie Palacioz was 18 when she became a riveter at Boeing Wichita during World War II. Some of her original rivets are still in the B-29 Superfortress known as “Doc.” Palacioz prepared to watch the plane's first flight after volunteers restored the aircraft.

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” taxiing

Credit: Frank Craven

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” taxiing

Credit: Frank Craven

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” taxiing

Credit: Frank Craven

Charles Chauncey, WWII B-29 pilot

Credit: Molly McMillin

Charles Chauncey flew B-29s during World War II and volunteered to work on “Doc.” During the war, he was across the runway from the Enola Gay and the atomic bomb crew.

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” taxiing

Credit: Frank Craven

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” airborne

Credit: Frank Craven

The B-29 Superfortress called “Doc” is airborne for the first time in 60 years.

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” after landing

Credit: Molly McMillin

B-29 Superfortress “Doc” lands after engine indicator light illuminates

Credit: Molly McMillin
And it’s down. “Doc” returns after only about five minutes of flight after an engine indicator light came on. The pilot said later that a loose wire is the likely cause of the warning light.

B-29 Superfortress “Doc,” after landing

Credit: Molly McMillin

B-29 Superfortress Doc’s crew members congratulate Tony Mazzolini

Credit: Molly McMillin
Doc’s pilots and crew members congratulate Tony Mazzolini, the man who discovered the B-29 in the Mojave Desert and brought it to Wichita for restoration, after the flight.

Tony Mazzolini congratulates Connie Palacioz

Credit: Molly McMillin
Tony Mazzolini, who brought “Doc” out of the desert to Wichita, congratulates Connie Palacioz, a volunteer who worked on the B-29. During the war, Palacioz riveted B-29 forward sections. Of the thousands of rivets in Doc’s forward section, only seven had to be replaced in the restoration.

Charlie Tilghman, pilot-in-command

Credit: Molly McMillin

Charlie Tilghman, pilot-in-command, talks with reporters after the flight. He and several other Commemorative Air Force members participated in the flight.

“Doc”

Credit: Molly McMillin

“Doc” was part of a squadron named after the Seven Dwarfs from the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

WICHITA – “Doc,” the restored Boeing B-29 Superfortress, took its first flight in 60 years Sunday morning at McConnell Air Force Base.

Read more about the restoration project and the Doc’s Friends group, and see additional photos from its first public rollout from the hangar and the ceremony when it earned its airworthiness certificate.

Molly McMillin

Molly McMillin, a 25-year aviation journalist, is managing editor of business aviation for the Aviation Week Network and editor-in-chief of The Weekly of Business Aviation, an Aviation Week market intelligence report.

Related Content

Restored B-29 Superfortress Rolls out of Wichita Hangar