HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. — “Masters of the Air,” an Apple TV+ series based on a book by Lafayette College Emeritus Professor of History Don Miller, chronicles the treacherous feats of the 100th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, known as the Bloody Hundredth.
But there are lesser-known stories from World War II involving the B-29 Superfortress bomber, which pummeled the Japanese into surrender and became a symbol of both dread and assurance for American airmen.
One of those historic warbirds — one of the 1,644 B-29 Superfortress aircraft built by the Boeing Company during World War II — was on the ground outside Hangar 10 at Lehigh Valley International Airport on Thursday and will remain there through the weekend.
Its mission now is to educate the public and serve as a flying tribute to the men and women who designed, built, maintained and served in the B-29.
The aircraft entered service only as the war in Europe was coming to an end and had something other bombers didn’t — the ability to operate over vast distances and fly at altitudes enemy fighters couldn’t reach.
Without it, America likely would have had to fight much longer, the flight crew of Doc told visitors taking ground and cockpit tours.
About five months after Doc (officially B-29 No. 44-69972) came off the line and was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corp., another B-29, the Enola Gay, was used to drop one of two atomic bombs, eventually leading to Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II.
Bringing Doc back to life
Doc is one of only two B-29s still airworthy and flying today.
Its configuration — once 20,000 pounds for bomb load, with a fuel load of 6,300 gallons and 11 passengers aboard — now is outfitted for six crew and nine passengers.
The impressive wingspan — at 141 feet — makes the plane hard to miss, on the ground or in the air.
“The flights are sold out, but we're adding more."Josh Wells, executive director and general manager of B-29 Doc
Retired aviation workers and countless other volunteers spent more than 450,000 hours and 16 years working to bring Doc back to life and get it in front of the crowds at airports around the country, where it’s typically the centerpiece of any fly-in.
This week marked the first time the plane has touched down in the Lehigh Valley and opened to the public for ground and cockpit tours, as well as flights, which will be available Saturday and Sunday.
“The flights are sold out, but we're adding more,” said Josh Wells, executive director and general manager of B-29 Doc.
He said he expected those tickets to go online later Thursday or Friday and be grabbed up in short order, with demand high despite the price tag of $600 to $1,500 depending on where in the plane the seat is located.
Seating options include gunner, master gunner, navigator, radio operator, cockpit or bombardier.
Each flight experience will last about 90 minutes and includes a 30-minute ride.
Wells said that the tickets are so expensive because Doc consumes 450 gallons of fuel per hour, and continued maintenance of the aircraft also is factored into the cost.
“We've transitioned in from restoration and we've transferred into operations, and so there's a whole other team of volunteers back home in Wichita, Kansas, that work through the winter,” Wells said.
“They work when we come back off tour. They come out and they polish the aircraft and look it over, they inspect it, they correct squawks and things.
"Again, without that volunteer team we don't have this majestic airplane.”
‘It’s almost magical’
“It might sound a little cliche, but when World War II veterans, especially B-29 veterans see the airplane, it's almost magical,” Wells said.
“They reach out and touch the airplane and it's kind of like the Disney pixie dust. And all of a sudden, they're 17, 18, 19 years old again.
"And they're telling stories that their family never heard, and it’s very interesting and humbling to be with those family members when their grandpa or dad or whatever the case may be just start spilling stories about history and what they were and what they did.”
It’s the reason men such as Al Miller of Bangor were on the ground Thursday.
“The aircraft is beautiful," Miller said. "What a restoration, and to know there’s only two of these flying in the world it’s just amazing they got it off the ground."
Miller, a Vietnam veteran, said he plans to return with his family on Friday and bring the grandkids, ages 2 to 9.
Wells said there are a lot of other families doing the same.
“We don't sensationalize the destruction [the B-29 caused]. We don't hide from it," he said. "It’s part of learning from our history about what to do and what not to do so that we can teach that.
"And what better way to learn about history than being able to use this artifact to see it.
"There are young kids here because we're immersing them. They can't learn this in a book, right? To get up close to an airplane like this, they just can't.
“Doing this is part of our legacy. It's part of our mission to make sure the legacies of those airmen are preserved.
"We love going on around the country letting people get up close and personal with history and teaching about the greatest generation.”
If you go:
Admission for ground and cockpit tours is $10 per person or $20 per family. Tickets for ground tours will be available at the gate.
Tours are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday.
B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides will be available Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. both days, with additional flights being added, followed by ground and cockpit tours from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Parking will be available in the lot behind Hangar 7.
For more visit https://www.b29doc.com.
