Right Now LIVE! Restored WWII B-29 "Doc" Taking Off First Time In 62 Years!

[DougGuy]

This is a LIVE STREAM! Enjoy! Aircraft was rolled out, and now returning to hangar to address bomb doors not closed all the way, it should take off very soon..

https://youtu.be/VNckztvXU3I

[DougGuy]

Perfect takeoff! 10:00 am

Doc was restored in a hangar just a couple hundred yards from where it was built in WWII. 16yrs in restoration.

Perfect landing at 10:04am

[DerekP Houston]

whoops, missed the take off but cool old bird flying!

[matrixcs]

Thanks!! a great day for a great plane and the restoration team....

[DougGuy]

Interviews with flight crew and aircrew members coming up shortly.

I am sure there will be other youtube vids posted that may have better audio. This live stream you couldn't really hear the engines at all.

[DerekP Houston]

Interesting show, thanks for the link.

Got to see it land at least I caught it in time for that.

[richhodg66]

This is soooooo cool!

[Artful]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsiP5KZ04X4

[popper]

I was in the R-G AFB tower watching a JATO assist take off of one back in 55? IIRC. Saw the 36 in Wichita, early 50s.

[Blackwater]

What a great post! I'll never be un-moved by seeing those old warbirds fly again. Who could not be moved by it? And they seem like they're in slow motion even when going twice the speed of a car on our interstates, adding even more to the mystique and aura of those old planes and the men who flew them. Thanks, Doug. Great post, and one many of us truly appreciate.

If any of you ever get to Savannah, GA, the 8th Air Force volunteers erected and maintain a museum dedicated to just that wing of the AAF from WWII. They did an amazing job on a shoestring budget, and a visit there will, I promise, leave you in greater awe for what those grand men did. They managed to scronge up a number of old planes from the era, and their arrangement of the layout is eminently appropriate and fitting to what they display. And the videos are poignant and 100% true. It was old 8th AF volunteers, exclusively who did all the grunt work, planning and design on it. It's not that impressive when viewed from outside, but what's inside is truly moving. There's another AF museum near Macon near the AFB there. Good one there, too, but more static than the one in Savannah by the "Mighty 8th." If you ever get to or near Savannah, you'll really be glad if you drop in and pay some respects to those now old guys. Some of them still hang out there, just to help out and sometimes, just to remember, and pay their respects to those who fell along their way. Wonderful men running that place!

[edler7]

I was lucky enough to see the take off in person this morning. It was big, and slow compared to today's aircraft, but magnificent to watch.

Living under the the flight path, I may get to see Doc occasionally. I sure hope so!

[DougGuy]

Thank you Blackwater for informing us of the museum, I did not know there was one! The 8th took the worst of the damage and they inflicted the worst damage on the enemy. Loved Savannah, and now since we didn't take in Tybee Island on the last visit, we have another reason to go back again. This we will do!

[DougGuy]

Video from inside the cockpit during Doc's takeoff and landing..



http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=qi4_8UTzpVk

[Blackwater]

I think you'll enjoy it. Tybee's really not that great as a beach, but the fishing there is great! Shrimping and crabbing, too. And just to let you know, I saw a hammerhead on the little delta island at the south end of the beach, that HAD to be a good 14' or longer, so there ARE sharks out there, including the big bull sharks that are notorious biters. Nobody's been bit by one that I can remember, but you can never count on it with sharks like those around. That hammerhead's dorsal must have been 3' tall! And it was awfully heavy bodied. Just like for folks coming here to know the facts, and not trying to scare you off or dissuade you from a visit at all. Just trying to do what I'd want folks to do for me if the shoe were on the other foot.

PM me before coming and I can try to get you some info on a contact that can make the visit to the museum even more poignant for you. Those guys are great, and don't mind talking about their experiences with people who have the ability and experience to understand it. I think you'd fit the bill as one who'd understand quite well.

[richhodg66]

I've been through that Mighty 8th museum and loved it. If you're in the Savannah area, it's a must see.