Boeing B-29 W Bell X-1

Item#: MPBB29WBX1

MSRP Price: $299.95

Factory Direct Price: $199.95

Wing Span: 21.73
Length: 15.23

Manufacturer: Boeing

When the B-29 reached 8000 feet, Yeager climbed into the bomb bay and lowered himself on the little elevator down to the X-1's open hatch. In some discomfort he managed to get in, get hooked up to all the aircraft's systems(radio, oxygen, etc), then the door was lowered and with the aid of the broom handle he was able to lock the door. After climbing to the launch altitude of 20000 feet, Cardenas put the B-29 into a shallow dive to obtain the lauching speed of 250 mph, then the countdown began 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,2,1, drop(Cardenas always missed out either 3 or 2 in the count).

After dropping away from the B-29 Yeager quickly lit off all the engine chambers and climbed on out to 35000 feet and turned off 2 of the chambers, he continued climing out to 42000 feet and in level flight he re lit the 3rd chamber, at Mach 0.92 he encountered the usual buffetting, the machmeter climbed to mach 0.97 when it then fluctuated off the scale(the meter was only calibrated to mach 1.0, thats how much faith there was in the project at that time in being able to exceed mach 1.0). Chuck Yeager said "hey Ridley, there's something wrong with this old Machmeter, its gone kinda screwy on me, its jumped on off the scale", Jack Ridley retorted "well if it is go ahead and bust it, personally I think your seeing things". That was how the USAF learned about breaking the sound barrier. The maximum speed of the flight was Mach 1.07(650 mph at 42000 feet). After gliding back to base for an unpowered landing Yeager and the rest of the team wrote up their reports, click the image below to read the flight report from Yeager's first supersonic flight.

The Boeing B-29 was designed in 1940 as an eventual replacement for the B-17 and B-24. The first one built made its maiden flight on Sept. 21, 1942. In December 1943, it was decided not to use the B-29 in the European Theater, thereby permitting the airplane to be sent to the Pacific area where its great range made it particularly suited for the long over water flight required to attack the Japanese homeland from bases in China. During the last two months of 1944, B-29s began operating against Japan from the islands of Saipan, Guam and Tinian. With the advent of the conflict in Korea in June 1950, the B-29 was once again thrust into battle. For the next several years it was effectively used for attacking targets in North Korea.

Perhaps the most famous B29 is the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. Bockscar, another B-29, dropped 'Fat Man' on Nagasaki three days later. These two actions brought the Japanese to surrender and the official end of World War II. Both aircraft were handpicked for modification from the assembly line at the Omaha plant that was to become Offutt Air Force Base.

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