My Great uncle's B-29 (long)

[Yossarian]

  and thanks for posting that.  Also for all the work you did in your research.

[dirt911]

  Really hope to see the skin and would love to participate in a memorial flight.

[M0nkey_Man]

 

[Zoney]

Good job.  I gotta tell you if this was my relative I would immediately throw away all my perkies to have an ingame name that reflects his, and I would fly that B-29 all the time.

Skin it please 

[Big Rat]

Great Post, I knew that took a lot of work to get all that info   Yes, please skin this aircraft.

 
BigRat

[VonKost]

I saw that the accident reported states that is the crash was believed to be a result of pilot error but also mentioned that the #4 engine was feathered.  Does the report anywhere say why the engine was feathered?

Also noticed the "Hump" mission markings on your great-uncle's original B-29...man those must have been some hair raising flights.

<S> to your great uncle and I hope he gets honored with his B-29 being skinned.

ack-ack

Engine 4 lost a magneto about an hour out. They thought maybe it just conked out and they could get it restarted, but no dice so they turned back to land at Tinian. They wanted to land, but control told then to fly ten miles out to sea and jettison their bombs. They did this then came back to land, this was on three engines. There was an investigation ordered by General LeMay's staff to determine if the plane had had it's instruments properly calibrated. The investigation said that everything seemed in order and the calibration flight took place a few days before the crash. The best guess is that the pilot was not used to flying on three engines. The report said that when they saw how low they were, they evidently applied power to the engine, but being that #4 was out the right wing dropped because of the uneven thrust and this is the wing that caught. Also being that there was still a great load of fuel on board, there was instant fire I guess. When I spoke to Azel Hall, he said that the group medical officer was on the scene and he put on a fire proof suit and went in to try and rescue the guys caught in the nose, but it was too late. Azel said this was the bravest thing he ever saw.

[DarkHawk]

great write up, thanks for all of the in site. My dad was navigator/bombardier on b24's in the Pacific, later on was in b29.  One bit of information I received from my mom, of the 18 planes in his squadron, The crew he was on was the only crew that completed their tour without loosing any members of that crew, even through some were injured.     He died from injuries received when his b24 crashed in the jungle. That was about 10 years later, I was 11 at that time in 1954.  I have his complete service record, listing all the difference bomb groups he was assigned to, along with each base he was stationed.


Dhawk

[8313jbx]

 

[HighTone]

  Thank you for posting and sharing that with us.

[VonKost]

Many Salutes to Greebo who has volunteered to skin it! 

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,299998.60.html

[Dichotomy]

D*@$ straight...

Greebo's a good <S>

[skychief29]

Hello,

I recently started to search information about my dad on his B-29 missions and came across your posts...great information, thanks very much for all of your research and follow up! 

My dad, Robert LeBreck, was also a member of the Mather crew that included your Great Uncle - he was the radar operator who was positioned in the rear of the aircraft and survived the crash.  He passed away 5 years ago, but my mother is still alive and very active/alert and she has an excellent memory of this time if their lives.  Shortly after they were married, my dad was sent to radar/mechanic school in Chicago and then off to Great Bend, Kansas to begin training for the B-29.  My mom explains how nervous she was as they were training for an aircraft that was new and unproved.

Couple of things my mom has explained to me...I assume the crews remained together for their duration unless one became ill or was killed, if this is the case, then there was another crash that your Great Uncle was involved in.  I don't have many details other than they made a water landing and were in a raft for 15+ hours at sea when a ship approached them.  Based on the conversations, they thought it was a Japanese ship and that they were going to be taken POW.  However, it was a British ship that had some 'friendly' natives on board that help aid in their rescue and eventual return back to their base at West Field in Tinian Islands.  All of the crew survived and they resumed their duties that eventually led to the flight that crashed and killed your Great Uncle.  All members of the forward portion of the B-29 were killed.  My mom remembers a conversation with my dad whereby he explained that he got up from his radar seat (positioned behind the painted star on the fuselage) and told the rear gunner that he thought they were coming in very slow.  Shortly afterward, the plane crashed and you explained in your post and one of the engines busted through where my dad would've been seated had he not gone to speak with the rear gunner.  He suffered shrapnel wounds, but was able to return to service.

My mom has the same picture of the plane and crew that you posted.  I am not certain of the chain of events regarding the aircraft they are pictured with as it relates to their water rescue...still trying to investigate, but my mom is certain that the water event occurred before the crash on Tinian.

My dad never like to speak much about his memories from the war - based on what these guys experienced at such a young age, I couldn't blame him. 

If you have any interest in speaking with my mom, I will be happy to put you in touch with her.

Let's try to stay connected and share any additional information either of us come across.

Thanks,

Steve LeBreck

[lyric1]

Hello,

I recently started to search information about my dad on his B-29 missions and came across your posts...great information, thanks very much for all of your research and follow up! 

My dad, Robert LeBreck, was also a member of the Mather crew that included your Great Uncle - he was the radar operator who was positioned in the rear of the aircraft and survived the crash.  He passed away 5 years ago, but my mother is still alive and very active/alert and she has an excellent memory of this time if their lives.  Shortly after they were married, my dad was sent to radar/mechanic school in Chicago and then off to Great Bend, Kansas to begin training for the B-29.  My mom explains how nervous she was as they were training for an aircraft that was new and unproved.

Couple of things my mom has explained to me...I assume the crews remained together for their duration unless one became ill or was killed, if this is the case, then there was another crash that your Great Uncle was involved in.  I don't have many details other than they made a water landing and were in a raft for 15+ hours at sea when a ship approached them.  Based on the conversations, they thought it was a Japanese ship and that they were going to be taken POW.  However, it was a British ship that had some 'friendly' natives on board that help aid in their rescue and eventual return back to their base at West Field in Tinian Islands.  All of the crew survived and they resumed their duties that eventually led to the flight that crashed and killed your Great Uncle.  All members of the forward portion of the B-29 were killed.  My mom remembers a conversation with my dad whereby he explained that he got up from his radar seat (positioned behind the painted star on the fuselage) and told the rear gunner that he thought they were coming in very slow.  Shortly afterward, the plane crashed and you explained in your post and one of the engines busted through where my dad would've been seated had he not gone to speak with the rear gunner.  He suffered shrapnel wounds, but was able to return to service.

My mom has the same picture of the plane and crew that you posted.  I am not certain of the chain of events regarding the aircraft they are pictured with as it relates to their water rescue...still trying to investigate, but my mom is certain that the water event occurred before the crash on Tinian.

My dad never like to speak much about his memories from the war - based on what these guys experienced at such a young age, I couldn't blame him. 

If you have any interest in speaking with my mom, I will be happy to put you in touch with her.

Let's try to stay connected and share any additional information either of us come across.

Thanks,

Steve LeBreck

Thank you for sharing.

[Daddkev]

  To you and the Crew  Im gonna go fly one right now!

[matt]