Mission

The B-29 was primarily designed for aerial bombardment to destroy enemy materiel and installations. It was equipped with pressurized crew compartments, along with sufficient heating and oxygen facilities, to enable the crew to undertake long-range missions.

Development

The development of the B-29 began in June 1940, with the first flight of the XB-29 prototype taking place in September 1942. The first acceptance of the aircraft occurred in September 1943, and production was completed in June 1946. In total, 2,533 B-29 without suffix were produced during its manufacturing run.

Dimensions and Weights

Atribute	US	Metric
DIMENSIONS
Wing
Span	141.2 ft	43 m
Incidence	4°	4°
Dihedral	4°29'23"	4°29'23"
Sweepback(LE)	7°1'26"	7°1'26"
Wing Area	1720 ft2	159.8 m2
Aspect Ratio	11.5	11.5
Wing Section	Boeing 117	Boeing 117
M.A.C.	154.41	47.1 m
Length	99 ft	30.2 m
Height	27.8 ft	8.5 m
Tread	28.5 ft	8.7 m
Prop. Grd Clearance	1.3 ft	0.4 m
WEIGHTS
Loading
Empty (A)	71,500 lbs	32.432 kg
Basic (A)	74,050 lbs	33.589 kg
Operating
Design	120,000 lbs	54.431 kg
Combat (*)	101,250 lbs	45.926 kg
Max Take Off (1)	140,000 lbs	63.503 kg
Max Landing (2)	135,000 lbs	61.235 kg

(A) Actual
(*) For basic mission
(1) Limited by performance
(2) Limited by gear strength

Engines

Attribute	Value
POWER PLANT
No, & Model	(4) R-3350-79 or-81
Manufacturer	Curtiss - Wright Corp., Wright Aeronautical Corp. Division
Engine Spec	95-28266-5
Sup	(Dual Turbo) B-11 or B-31
Red, Gear Ratio	0.35
PROPELLER
Propeller Manufacturer	United Aircraft Corp., Hamilton Standard Propeller Division
Blade Design No.	6521A-6
Propeller Type	Hydromatic
No. Blades	4
Propeller Diameter	16' 7" (5 m)
ENGINE RATINGS
Take Off	2200/2800rpm
Military	2200/2600rpm/2500ft
Normal	2000/2400rpm/4000ft

Electronics

Equipment	US Designation
VHF Command	AN/ARC-3
Interphone	AN/AIC-2A
Liaison	AN/ARC-8
Radio Compass	AN/ARN-7
Marker Beacon	RC-193A
Homing Adapter	AN/ARR-1
Localizer	RC-103
Glide Path	AN/ARN-5A
Radio Altimeter	SCR-718C
Interrogator	SCR-729
Radar	AN/APQ-7 or AN/APQ-23A
Loran	AN/APN-9 or AN/APN-4
IFF	SCR-695
Raven	RCM

Crew

The B-29 crew consisted of eleven members, with five officers and six enlisted men. The crew included a flight engineer, who was responsible for controlling the mechanical systems of the plane while the pilot and copilot flew. The flight engineer was often a trained pilot himself and sat behind the pilot and copilot, monitoring the plane’s vital signs.

The crew was divided into two pressurized compartments, with the forward compartment housing the bombardier, aircraft commander, pilot, flight engineer, navigator, and radio operator. The rear compartment included the central fire control gunner, the left and right gunners, and the radar operator. Finally, the tail gunner worked in a separate pressurized compartment under the rudder.

1. Pilot
2. Co-pilot
3. Navigator
4. Flight engineer
5. Bombardier
6. Radio operator
7. Radar operator
8. Top gunner
9. Left gunner
10. Right gunner
11. Tail gunner

Fuel system

The B-29 had a maximum internal fuel capacity of 9,363 gallons, which included the bomb bay ferry tanks. This amount was equivalent to the capacity of a railroad tank car.

The B-29’s fuel system underwent a design change from transfer-type to manifold-type between the early and later models.

Location	No. Tanks	Gals	Liters
Wing, outbond*	2	2640	9993
Wing, inbound*	2	2830	10713
Wing, center*	1	1333	5046
Bomb bay	2	2560	9691
	Total	9363	35443

(*) Self Sealing tanks

Bombs and Guns

Defensive armament

The B-29’s defensive system consisted of five turrets that were controlled by a central fire control system.

The armament included four remotely aimed .50 caliber machine guns in the forward dorsal turret, with two remotely aimed .50 caliber machine guns each in the aft dorsal, forward ventral, and aft ventral turrets.

In addition, there were two .50 caliber machine guns in the tail turret. Early models also had a 20mm cannon mounted between the tail machine guns, but due to sighting problems and trajectory differences, the cannon was removed from later production models.

No.	Calibre/ Rounds each	Location
4	.50 / 500	Fuselage, upper forward
2	.50 / 500	Fuselage, upper aft
2	.50 / 500	Fuselage, lower forward
2	.50 / 500	Fuselage, lower aft
2	.50 / 500	Tail turret

Bombs

Compared to the B-24 and B-17, the B-29 had a much larger maximum internal bombload of 20,000 lb, which was four times the capacity of the B-24 and five times that of the B-17.

No.	Size	Type
4	4000 lbs	General-purpose (G.P.)
8	2000 lbs	General-purpose (G.P.)
12	1600 lbs	Armor-piercing (A.P.)
12	1000 lbs	General-purpose (G.P.)
40	500 lbs	General-purpose (G.P.)

Performance

The basic performance of the B-29 was the following:

Loading and Performance

Basic mission, Max bombs mission, High alt. mission

CONDITIONS	BASIC MISSION		MAX. BOMBS MISSION		HIGH ALT MISSION
TAKE-OFF WEIGHT	140,000 lbs	63.503 kg	140,000 lbs	63.503 kg	140,000 lbs	63.503 kg
Fuel at 6. lb/gal	47,196 lbs	21.408 kg	39,396 lbs	17.870 kg	47,196 lbs	21.408 kg
Military load (Bombs)	10,000 lbs	4.536 kg	20,000 lbs	9.072 kg	10,000 lbs	4.536 kg
Wing loading	81.4 lb/sq ft		81.4 lb/sq ft		81.4 lb/sq ft
Stall speed (power off)	103 kn	191 km/h	103 kn	191 km/h	103 kn	191 km/h
Take-off ground run at SL	5,230 ft	1.594 m	5,230 ft	1.594 m	5,230 ft	1.594 m
Take-off to clear 50 ft	7,825 ft	2.385 m	7,825 ft	2.385 m	7,825 ft	2.385 m
Rate-of-climb at SL (3)	500 fpm	152 m/min	500 fpm	152 m/min	500 fpm	152 m/min
Time: SL to 10,000 ft (3)	23.5 min		23.5 min		23.5 min
Time: SL to 20,000 ft	61.5 min		61.5 min		61.5 min
Service ceiling (100 fpm)	23,950 ft	7.300 m	23,950 ft	7.300 m	23,950 ft	7.300 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(2)	19,400 ft	5.913 m	19,400 ft	5.913 m	19,400 ft	5.913 m
COMBAT RANGE	3,445 n.mi	6.380 km	2,627 n.mi	4.865 km	3,095 n.mi	5.732 km
Avg cruising speed	198 kn	367 km/h	202 kn	374 km/h	223 kn	413 km/h
Cruising altitude	10,000 ft	3.048 m	10,000 ft	3.048 m	20,000 ft	6.096 m
Total mission time	17.54 hr		13.15 hr		14.04 hr
COMBAT RADIUS (5)	1843 n.mi	3.413 km	1,466 n.mi	2.715 km	1,603 n.mi	2.969 km
Avg cruising speed	215 kn	398 km/h	216 kn	400 km/h	238 kn	441 km/h
Cruising altitude (s)	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3048 & 7620 m	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3048 & 7620 m	20,000 & 30,000 ft	6096 & 9144 m
Total mission time	17.37 hr		13.80 hr		13.73 hr
COMBAT WEIGHT (6)	101,250 lbs	45.926 kg	96,500 lbs	43.772 kg	98,900 lbs	44.860 kg
Combat altitude	25,000 ft	7.620 m	25,000 ft	7.620 kg	30,000 ft	9.144 m
Combat speed (2)	331 kn	613 km/h	333 kn	617 km/h	348 kn	644 km/h
Combat climb	1,265 fpm	386 m/min	1,410 fpm	430 m/min	1,180 fpm	360 m/min
Combat ceiling (500 fpm) (2)	36,200 ft	11.034 m	37,200 ft	11.339 m	36,650 ft	11.171 m
Service ceiling (100 fpm) (3)	39,600 ft	12.070 m	40,600 ft	12.375 m	40,100 ft	12.222 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(3)	34,700 ft	10.577 m	36,100 ft	11.003 m	35,450 ft	10.805 m
Max rate-of-climb at SL(2)	1,625 fpm	495 m/min	1,760 fpm	536 m/min	1,690 fpm	515 m/min
Max speed at 10,000 ft(2)	347 kn	643 km/h	348 kn	644 km/h	348 kn	644 km/h
LANDING WEIGHT	83,564 lbs	37.904 kg	82,574 lbs	37.455 kg	83,564 lbs	37.904 kg
Ground roll at SL(4)	2,230 ft	680 m	2,210 ft	674 m	2,230 ft	680 m
Total from 50 ft(4)	2,960 ft	902 m	2,930 ft	893 m	2,960 ft	902 m

NOTES
(1) Take-off power
(2) Max power
(3) Normal power
(4) Take-off and landing distances are obtainable at sea level using normal techniques. For airport planning, distances should be increased by appropriate factors to determine runway requirements.

Training mission, Ferry range

CONDITIONS	TRAINING MISSION		FERRY RANGE
TAKE-OFF WEIGHT	120,000 lbs	54.431 kg	138,278 lbs	62.722 kg
Fuel at 6. lb/gal	38,880 lbs	17.636 kg	56,178 lbs	25.482 kg
Military load (Bombs)	None		None
Wing loading	70.6 lb/sq ft		80.4 lb/sq ft
Stall speed (power off)	96 kn	178 km/h	102 kn	189 km/h
Take-off ground run at SL	3,425 ft	1.044 m	5,050 ft	1.539 m
Take-off to clear 50 ft	5,000 ft	1.524 m	7, 530 ft	2.295 m
Rate-of-climb at SL (3)	795 fpm	242 m/min	520 fpm	158 m/min
Time: SL to 10,000 ft (3)	14.0 min		22.5 min
Time: SL to 20,000 ft	31,3 min		58.0 min
Service ceiling (100 fpm)	35,650 ft	10.866 m	25,000 ft	7.620 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(2)	30,750 ft	9.373 m	20,650 ft	6.294 m
COMBAT RANGE	3,213 n.mi	5.950 km	4,493 kn	8.321 m
Avg cruising speed	190 kn	352 km/h	191 kn	354 km/h
Cruising altitude	10,000 ft	3.048 m	10,000 ft	3.048 m
Total mission time	17.07 hr		23.65 hr
COMBAT RADIUS (5)	1,640 n.mi	3.037 km
Avg cruising speed	211 kn	391 km/h
Cruising altitude (s)	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3048 & 7620 m
Total mission time	15.78 hr
COMBAT WEIGHT (6)	98,810 lbs	44.819 kg	84,518 lbs	38.337 kg
Combat altitude	25,000 lbs	7.620 kg	10,000 lbs	3.048 kg
Combat speed (2)	332 kn	615 km/h	293 kn	543 km/h
Combat climb	1,340 fpm	408 m/min	2,045 fpm	623 m/min
Combat ceiling (500 fpm) (2)	36,650 ft	11.171 m	39,800 ft	12.131 m
Service ceiling (100 fpm) (3)	40,100 ft	12.222 m	43,200 ft	13.167 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(3)	35,450 ft	10.805 m	39,150 ft	11.933 m
Max rate-of-climb at SL(2)	1,690 fpm	515 m/min	2,160 fpm	658 m/min
Max speed at 10,000 ft(2)	348 kn	644 km/h	353 kn	654 km/h
LANDING WEIGHT	83,064 lbs	37.677 kg	84,518 lbs	38.337 kg
Ground roll at SL(4)	2,220 ft	677 m	2,255 ft	687 m
Total from 50 ft(4)	2,950 ft	899 m	2,985 ft	910 m

NOTES
(1) Take-off power
(2) Max power
(3) Normal power
(4) Take-off and landing distances are obtainable at sea level using normal techniques. For airport planning, distances should be increased by appropriate factors to determine runway requirements.

Further reading

• Boeing B-29A Superfortress Specifications (1950)
• Boeing B-29B Superfortress Specifications (1950)
• Boeing KB-29P Superfortress Specifications (1951)
• Boeing SB-29 Superfortress Specifications (1954)
• Tupolev Tu-4 Standard Specification & Performance
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress Facts: 11 things to know

Bibliography

• B-29 Superfortress SAC 19-APR-1950, Air Materiel Command, U.S. Air Force