Mission

The main objective of the B-29A was the destruction of enemy equipment and facilities through aerial bombing.

Differences with B-29

While no external differences were visible between the B-29 and B-29A, a significant distinction existed in the wing installation. The B-29A featured a stub wing center section installed into the fuselage, while all other B-29s had two inboard wing panels joined at the aircraft’s centerline. This difference, which increased the B-29A’s wingspan by a foot, warranted a new aircraft designator.

Although the structural change simplified construction, it negatively impacted aircraft performance by increasing the empty weight by 706 pounds. Moreover, the usable fuel capacity in the center wing tank decreased by 213 gallons (from 1333 to 1120 gallons total capacity).

Development

The first B-29A saw acceptance in January 1944. Its production run lasted until June 1946. This aircraft was exclusively produced at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington, which focused solely on manufacturing the B-29A version. Throughout its production period, the Renton plant successfully built 1,122 units of the B-29A variant.

Dimensions and Weights

DIMENSIONS	US	Metric
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)	72,206 lbs	32.752 kg
Basic (A)	74,760 lbs	33.911 kg
Operating
Design	120,000 lbs	54.431 kg
Combat (*)	101,472 lbs	46.027 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-3350-57 or-57A
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-29A crew was made up of eleven members, comprising five officers and six enlisted personnel.

The crew was split into two pressurized sections: the forward compartment housed the bombardier, aircraft commander, pilot, flight engineer, navigator, and radio operator. Meanwhile, the rear compartment accommodated the central fire control gunner, left and right gunners, and the radar operator. The tail gunner operated from a distinct pressurized area beneath the rudder.

The list of crew members is the following:

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

As said at the top, the design change of the wing center section resulted in a loss of 213 gallons of fuel in the center wing tank.

Location	No. Tanks	Gals	Liters
Wing, outbond*	2	2640	9993
Wing, inbound*	2	2830	10713
Wing, center*	1	1120	4240
Bomb bay	2	2560	9691
	Total	9150	34637

(*) Self Sealing tanks

Bombs and Guns

Defensive armament

The defensive setup of the B-29A featured five turrets governed by a centralized fire control system.

The weaponry comprised four remotely directed .50 caliber machine guns in the front dorsal turret, and two remotely directed .50 caliber machine guns each in the rear dorsal, front ventral, and rear ventral turrets.

Furthermore, the tail turret was equipped with two .50 caliber machine guns.

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

When contrasted with the B-24 and B-17, the B-29A boasted a significantly greater maximum internal bomb load of 20,000 lb. This capacity was four times larger than that of the B-24 and five times greater than the B-17’s capacity.

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-29A 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	46,490 lbs	21.088 kg	38,690 lbs	17.549 kg	46,490 lbs	21.088 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	397,4 kg/m2	81.4 lb/sq ft	397,4 kg/m2	81.4 lb/sq ft	397,4 kg/m2
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	3,321 n.mi	6150 km	2,583 n.mi	4.784 km	3,025 n.mi	5.602 km
Avg cruising speed	199 kn	369 km/h	204 kn	378 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	16.88 hrs		12.85 hrs		13.71 hrs
COMBAT RADIUS (5)	1800 n.mi	3.334 km	1,428 n.mi	2.645 km	1563 n.mi	2.895 km
Avg cruising speed	216 kn	400 km/h	215 kn	398 km/h	239 kn	443 km/h
Cruising altitude (s)	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3.048 m & 7.620 m	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3.048 m & 7.620 m	20,000 & 30,000 ft	6.096 m & 9.144 m
Total mission time	16.90 hrs		13.41 hrs		13.33 hrs
COMBAT WEIGHT (6)	101,472 lbs	46.027 kg	96,900 lbs	43.953 kg	99,330 lbs	45.055 kg
Combat altitude	25,000 ft	7.620 m	25,000 ft	7.620 m	30,000 ft	9.144 m
Combat speed (2)	331 kn	613 km	332 kn	615 km	347 kn	643 km
Combat climb	1260 fpm	384 m/min	1,395 fpm	425 m/min	1,165 fpm	355 m/min
Combat ceiling (500 fpm) (2)	36,150 ft	11.019 m	37,100 ft	11.308 m	36,550 ft	11.140 m
Service ceiling (100 fpm) (3)	39,550 ft	12.055 m	40,500 ft	12.344 m	40,000 ft	12.192 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(3)	34,550 ft	10.531 m	36,000 ft	10.973 m	35,300 ft	10.759 m
Max rate-of-climb at SL(2)	1,620 fpm	494 m/min	1,745 fpm	532 m/min	1,675 fpm	511 m/min
Max speed at 10,000 ft(2)	347 kn	643 km	348 kn	644 km	347 kn	643 km
LANDING WEIGHT	84,236 lbs	38.209 kg	83,245 lbs	37.759 kg	84,236 lbs	38.209 kg
Ground roll at SL(4)	2,250 ft	686 m	2,225 ft	678 m	2,250 ft	686 m
Total from 50 ft(4)	2,980 ft	908 m	2,950 ft	899 m	2,980 ft	908 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.

High-Speed Mission, Ferry Range

Conditions	High Speed Mission		Ferry Range
TAKE-OFF WEIGHT	140,000 lbs	63.503 kg	137,610 lbs	62.419 kg
Fuel at 6. lb/gal	46,490 lbs	21.088 kg	54,900 lbs	24.902 kg
Military load (Bombs)	10,000 lbs	4.536 kg
Wing loading	81.4 lb/sq ft	397,4 kg/m2	80.0 lb/sq ft	390,6 kg/m2
Stall speed (power off)	103 kn	191 km/h	102 kn	189 km/h
Take-off ground run at SL	5,230 ft	1594 m	4,980 ft	1.518 m
Take-off to clear 50 ft	7,825 ft	2385 m	7,410 ft	2.259 m
Rate-of-climb at SL (3)	500 fpm	152 m/min	530 fpm	162 m/min
Time: SL to 10,000 ft (3)	23.5 min		21.8 min
Time: SL to 20,000 ft	61.5 min		56.5 min
Service ceiling (100 fpm)	23,950 ft	7.300 m	25,500 ft	7.772 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(2)	19,400 ft	5.913 m	21,100 ft	6.431 m
COMBAT RANGE	1,838 n.mi	3.404 km	4,393 n.mi	8.136 km
Avg cruising speed	259 kn	480 km/h	191 kn	354 km/h
Cruising altitude	10,000 ft	3.048 m	10,000 ft	3.048 m
Total mission time	7.37 hrs		23.10 hrs
COMBAT RADIUS (5)	1,036 n.mi	1.919 km
Avg cruising speed	275 kn	509 km/h
Cruising altitude (s)	10,000 & 25,000 ft	3.048 m & 7.620 m
Total mission time	7.78 hrs
COMBAT WEIGHT (6)	103,806 lbs	47.086 kg	85,000 lbs	38.555 kg
Combat altitude	25,000 ft	7.620 m	10,000 ft	3.048 m
Combat speed (2)	330 kn	611 km	293 kn	543 km
Combat climb	1,195 fpm	364 m/min	2,025 fpm	617 m/min
Combat ceiling (500 fpm) (2)	35,650 ft	10.866 m	39,700 ft	12.101 m
Service ceiling (100 fpm) (3)	39,050 ft	11.902 m	43,100 ft	13.137 m
Service ceiling (one engine out)(3)	32,750 ft	9.982 m	39,050 ft	11.902 m
Max rate-of-climb at SL(2)	1,555 fpm	474 m/min	2,140 fpm	652 m/min
Max speed at 10,000 ft(2)	346 kn	641 km	353 kn	654 km
LANDING WEIGHT	84,236 lbs	38.209 kg	85,000 lbs	38.555 kg
Ground roll at SL(4)	2,250 ft	686 m	2,260 ft	689 m
Total from 50 ft(4)	2,980 ft	908 m	3,000 ft	914 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-29 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 in detail & scale, Part 1 by Alwyn T. Lloyd
• B-29A Superfortress Standard Aircraft Characteristics, 19-APR-1950, Air Materiel Command, U.S. Air Force