Recon Superforts over Alaska

The Archive recently acquired three origial 8x10 prints from the late 1940s that feature specially-outfitted reconnaissance Superfortresses in flight over Alaska. The two shown here are backstamped "Air Force Photo, 72 RCN. SQ. (VLR) PHOTO" and are dated Sep 18, 1948. The third, which features the infamous F-13 The Clobbered Turkey, will be featured in an upcoming article.

The lead plane's s/n is illegible, left wing is 45-21762 and right wing is 45-21773, Leaking Lena

The Boeing F-13 was a little-known variant of the B-29 Superfortress. In an era when fighter planes had "P" for "Pursuit" numbers, the Army Air Forces used the "F" designation for aircraft dedicated to photo reconnaissance. One hundred eighteen early B-29-BW and B-29A Superfortresses were converted to F-13/F-13A photo reconnaissance aircraft (later changed first to FB-29J and then to RB-29), and were equipped with six high powered cameras, three 9"x9" K-17Bs, two 9x9 K-22 and a 9x18 K-18. Some were assigned to the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Long Range, Photographic), which was activated on June 1, 1946 and was based at Ladd Army Airfield, Fairbanks Alaska. On October 13, 1947, the squadron was redesignated the 72nd Reconnaissance Squadron.

The Squadron was part of the newly-formed Strategic Air Command, and participated in a number of early SAC efforts, including Project NANOOK, as well as the subsequent LEOPARD. Their mission was to provide long range reconnaissance over the Arctic, especially along the Soviet Union's northern border. The unit was also tasked with deep-penetration reconnaissance missions over Soviet Union territory, which were kept classified Top Secret until 2001.

In order to accomplish its mission, the 46th/72nd RS pioneered a number of techniques, including the configuration of the aircraft (of eighteen B-29s that the squadron acquired, it converted eight of them to the F-13 configuration), and the Grid System of navigation for use in the polar environment where magnetic compasses were unreliable. Besides The Clobbered Turkey, the squadron also was home to another famous F-13A, Kee Bird. One of the F-13, 45-21848 (possibly shown in the photo below), was the first aircraft on record to fly over the geographic North Pole, on October 16, 1946.

The image's focus is not sufficiently clear to distinguish the tail numbers (see below), so I'll let you, the reader, try to guess which is which. That being said, the closest plane to the camera is possibly 45-21848, which was the first aircraft to fly over the geographic North Pole. Note the enlarged structure in place of the tail gunner's station on the lead plane...I'm guessing that it houses some additional electronics, since these were recon birds.

Gremlin Hotel

I'm continually amazed at how, in my hunt for vintage photos to feature here, I can find related prints in very different locations. Today's pair of photos is a case in point: one came from an antiques store in Long Beach, one from a store in Cambria. No connection, yet they are of the same plane, from what appears to be the same photo chase flight.

The plane shown is XB-29 serial 41-18335, the third of three prototype Superfortresses, which also carried Boeing Model No. 345. The first two aircraft had been ordered by the Army Air Corps in August, 1940, with the order for the third prototype being placed that December.

There is a tradition at Boeing, which continues to this day,  of shooting portraits
of all their new models with Mount Rainier in the background. Note the three-
bladed props - production aircraft were equipped with four-bladed propellers.

The first flight of an XB-29 (41-002) took place on September 21, 1942. Early in the test program, there were numerous problems with the R-3350 engines, and some of these resulted in small fires. Then disaster befell the program on February 18, 1943 when the second prototype (41-003) developed a fuel leak just eight minutes into the flight and caught fire, crashing into a meat packing plant while trying to get back to the airfield. At that time, the existence of the B-29 was still a secret, so press accounts of the crash and fire only referred to the plane as a "bomber".

Killed in the crash were all eleven on board, including Boeing Chief Test Pilot Edmund "Eddie" Allen (who also served as chief of Boeing's research division), test pilot Bob Dansfield, and a number of other senior Boeing flight test engineers and senior staff. Another 21 people on the ground, including a firefighter, were killed as well.

After the crash, a congressional investigation led by Senator Harry S. Truman resulted in a scathing report which revealed that Curtiss-Wright, the manufacturer of the engines, was using substandard parts. As a result of the report, the Army took over the flight test program from Boeing, with the two XB-29s and fourteen YB-29s soldiering on.

Also as a result, 41-18335 received upgraded engines and a number of other improvements to help prevent future fires. When originally ordered, the plane was given the name The Flying Guinea Pig, but at some point, she was affectionately named Gremlin Hotel by her crews (in the photo at this link, from the Museum of the U.S. Air Force, you can just barely make out that name painted in small letters on the nose of the plane).

The gremlins had their time with this plane as well. On May 23, 1943, during a high speed taxi test in which Col. Leonard "Jake" Harmon intended to take the plane to flying speed, but not leave the runway , it was found that plane tipped to the right when he moved the control wheel to the left, with the right wingtip scraping the runway. He managed to use engine power to recover, and the plane became airborne for a short time before Harmon set it down on a parallel taxiway. After an investigation, it was found that the aileron cables had been connected backwards, causing the ailerons to move in the opposite direction as intended. The "official" first flight didn't come until late June, after the first of the YB-29s had taken to the air.

After the initial phases of flight testing were complete, Gremlin Hotel was also used to set up the production line at Boeing, and later crashed during further flight testing.

The Museum of the U.S. Air Force also has another photo of the plane with Mount Rainier, at this link.

A fascinating article about the crash - and the art museum that came to be as a result - can be found at this Seattle Times link.

Scott's Superforts

Handwritten on back:
"B-29 Engine"

Today’s series of photos is the first from a collection taken by a young aviation enthusiast (we’ll see more in the coming weeks). While these photos won’t win any awards for photographic excellence, they are nevertheless wonderful snapshots of a very brief moment in time when majestic Boeing B-29s graced Scott Air Force Base in Illinois with their presence.

Anyone with info on the specific aircraft shown is invited to comment!

B-29-86-BW tail number 44-87719.

B-29A-55-BN tail number 44-61956 is on the left; the tail number of the
aircraft on the right is too out-of-focus to read. Handwritten on back
is "B-29s on Runway at Scott Field."

Update, 8/3/12 - While I've yet to be able to find any detailed information on the B-29s shown, I have found some history of the C-54 at the bottom of this post. As the post originally was written, I surmised that these photos were taken in the early 1950s. However, it is clear by the aircraft data that these were taken sometime in 1945 or '46.

C-54B-1 serial 42-72362 (Douglas c/n 10467), was originally delivered on December 8, 1944, and damaged in a landing accident in Kungming, China, in February 1945. After it was repaired, it was bought back by Douglas and converted to civilian DC-4 specifications. From August 9, 1946 to 1950, it flew with Pan Am, carrying civilian registration N60115; unlike other DC-4/C-54s operated by PAA, it doesn't appear to have been given a "Clipper" name, however. They then leased it to Transocean, before it went on to subsidiary Pan American Grace Airlines (PANAGRA). It was then sold to AeroMéxico and flew as XA-KOK.

Douglas C-54 Skymaster tail number 42-72362.

The plane was then leased to LAMSA (Lineas Aereas Mexicanas, S.A.), and later flew with Fuerza Aérea Mexicana as ETP-7004. It is reported to have been destroyed in an accident at Cozumel, January 11, 1979.