B-29 ‘Doc’ arrives at Ogden-Hinckley Airport as part of tour
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- “Doc,” the B-29, taxiing to the terminal at Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Monday, Sept 23, 2024.
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- The bombardier’s position aboard “Doc,” the B-29, at Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Monday, Sept 23, 2024.
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- Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski walks around “Doc,” the B-29, at Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Monday, Sept 23, 2024.
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- “Doc,” the B-29, at Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Monday, Sept 23, 2024.
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- The cockpit of “Doc,” the B-29, at Ogden-Hinckley Airport on Monday, Sept 23, 2024.
OGDEN — Ogden-Hinckley Airport is receiving a special World War II-era visitor this week.
Monday afternoon, “Doc” — one of only two airworthy B-29s — landed in Ogden as part of “The B-29 Doc History Restored Tour.” The B-29 will host a handful of flight experiences in the coming days.
Josh Wells, executive director for B-29 Doc, told assembled media that the tour is a nationwide effort to keep an important period of world history alive.
“It is our mission to make sure that people don’t forget about the greatest generation and to honor the sacrifices the greatest generation made during World War II and to tell that story,” he said. “That’s important for the history of our nation. It’s important for the future of our nation that we continue to honor the greatest generation, tell about their stories and to really let people get up close and personal with a B-29. It’s not every day people get to see a B-29. There’s only two still flying in the world today out of just under 4,000 that were built.”
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is one of the most well-known aircraft of WWII.
“Without the B-29, the war probably drags on longer,” Wells said. “The B-29 was a technological marvel in the 1940s. It was the first all-electric aircraft. it was the first high-altitude, long-range bomber pressurized. It had all the bells and whistles. The United States and the Allies needed something to deliver firepower to Japan and the Pacific. While I think we would’ve done that without the B-29, the B-29 was that piece of machinery that led to victory for the Allies.”
Doc rolled off the assembly line in Wichita, Kansas, in March 1945. The plane would serve in noncombat roles, including as a trainer and for radar calibration. The plane would spend several decades in the California desert near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. In 2000, the plane was transported to Wichita where 450,000 volunteer hours over 16 years would return the plane to airworthiness. The plane took to the skies once again in July 2016.
“The biggest difference are the six crew that are required to fly,” said Doc’s commander and pilot Sean Elliott, who started in civil aviation and has 25 years of experience flying World War II-era aircraft. “This is not a one- or two-pilot airplane. You really have to learn to act as a team and function effectively with six different positions that all have serious responsibilities in how we operate the airplane.”
As part of the tour stops, flight experiences are sold, allowing people to sit in various positions of the plane for a short flight. As of Monday evening, these experiences — set for Monday through Thursday — were sold out.
Wells said having a working example of a B-29 in action does something that history books can’t do.
“Everybody can read history,” he said. “You can read history; you can go to a museum. A lot of times when you go to a museum, you can’t touch things, and that’s not what we do. We want people to climb up inside, see it, touch it, get hands-on with the technology of the 1940s and get up close and personal. What better way to learn about history than to have a 90,000-pound artifact move across the country and tell the story.”
The B-29 also served in the Korean War, even as jets began to take over the skies. The B-29 was retired from active service in 1960.
Flying a WWII-era aircraft approaching its 80th birthday does come with its challenges, according to Wells.
“You can’t go to Amazon.com and buy a B-29 part,” he said. “We must rely on acquiring cores of parts, parts that are on other airplanes, parts that we have and then we rely on a network of repair stations across the country that work on these very specific parts.”
Elliott said having a piece of living history is especially important for keeping the past alive.
“This is truly living history,” he said. “When you see one of these in a museum, it’s really a morgue. I understand preserving history and I certainly love aviation museums — don’t get me wrong — but when you have the ability to still operate examples of a very iconic type like the B-29, it’s really important to tell the story as effectively as it does.”
On hand for Doc’s arrival Monday was Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski, who told the Standard-Examiner the B-29’s arrival left him speechless.
“It did not disappoint,” he said. “It’s a hard thing to describe. It’s something I read so much about as a kid. Just to see it in operation is a whole other level of appreciation.”
Brian Condie, who was celebrating day one of his job as Ogden’s airport director on Monday, joked the B-29’s appearance was more than a coincidence.
“They brought it on purpose — to welcome me to the airport,” he said. “At least that’s what I’m telling everybody.”
He added that getting to see a B-29 up close was enjoyable.
“It’s awesome to have aviation history here on my first day,” he said.
Condie said there aren’t any formal display plans, but that the public can view the plane from the public areas around the terminal building.
