There are only two air worthy B-29 Fortresses in the US these days, Fifi and Doc.
Fifi is on display and giving rides at the Des Moines airport this week. We won’t get to see it unless its flight pattern comes over our house, but last year we did get to watch (and hear it) take off. That had been on my bucket list since 1991.
By 1945, Dad had been instructing advanced cadets at Marfa ABF, Texas, for a couple of years, since the earning of his own wings there in early 1943. At the end of WWII, seasoned pilots were trained for combat in bombers. Dad became the commander of a B-29 Superfortress, the largest the USAAF had at the time. They, crew of ten, had combat orders for September 1945, but the dropping of the two atomic bombs (August 6 and 9) brought the war to a halt. Japan finally surrendered September 2.
Dad had a chance to visit a B-29 at Offutt AFB, Omaha, years later. The old warbirds were displayed outside, with birds nesting in their engines. (Since then, we’ve enjoyed exploring the air conditioned SAC (Strategic Air Command) and Aerospace Museum which was built just SW of Omaha, with old planes displayed on two levels, along with other items.)
Years ago, 1991, when we learned that Fifi would be on display at the Clear Lake Airport, Mom, Gloria and I drove up to tour it.
Of the 3970 B-29s built during the 1940, 26 survive and only two are air worthy. Here is a list of the surviving Superfortresses.