B-29 Hawg Wild had been sitting at China Lake, California, for 23 years when an extraordinary aircraft recovery project began: make the historic Superfortress airworthy enough to fly one final mission across America and the North Atlantic.
Serial number 44-61748 was built in 1945, later flew combat missions during the Korean War, and eventually arrived at China Lake in 1956. By 1979, the Imperial War Museum wanted the bomber for permanent display at Duxford. Instead of dismantling and shipping it, a recovery team spent seven months preparing B-29 Hawg Wild to leave the desert under its own power.
This was not a cosmetic restoration. Corrosion and damage had to be addressed, including replacement of the outer section of the left wing. Engines, controls, instruments, and other essential systems had to survive an actual ferry flight. After two unsuccessful departure attempts, B-29 Hawg Wild finally lifted off from China Lake on November 16, 1979.
The challenge only grew from there. Severe oil consumption forced maintenance at Loring AFB. During the North Atlantic crossing, the crew faced failed cabin heating, frost inside the aircraft, navigation challenges, and problems affecting gyro instruments.
On March 2, 1980, B-29 Hawg Wild reached Duxford and shut down for the final time—ending one of aviation history’s most remarkable warbird recovery journeys.
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Be careful out there at China Lake , it's hotter than hell . Drink a lot of water .
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark with Elliot Gould as the B29 pilot. One of my favourite films
There was once a warbird nut named Dave Tallichet. He also pulled a B-29 out of China Lake. In 1983 he and I flew his T-28 to China Lake for an airshow. When we got out of the airplane he was very excited and asked if I saw the B-29’s underneath us on final. I said no. Then his voice slowed down and he said, “this is where I got mine”. Then slowly, with much love in his voice, he told me of the story of buying the B-29. Of how many mechanics he had to send into the desert to get it flyable, and of what all they had to do, and how many weeks it took them to do it. How he found a WWII B-29 pilot to fly it out and that he flew right seat. This was obviously a big moment in his life as it would have been for any one of us. Thank you Dave Tallichet.
Some of the photos here seem to be of B-50’s with their taller tails. I wonder if there are any more warbird bombers still to be found and flown? Maybe Kermit Weeks has some info, or the Russians as in the 90’s when quite a few warbirds made their way to England….
This would have been cool to be a part of… Hope ine to be able to see her in Duxford!!
OMG. Ok March 1980 I was finishing my military career at RAF Mildenhall. I was an EC135H Boom Operator in the 10th Airborne Command and Control squadron. Operation "Silk Purse". We were the USAFE airborne command post, Similar to SAC's Looking Glass over N America. I distinctly remember this B29 coming into Mildenhall. I was thrilled to see the old war bird. To this day 46 years later and well into my 70's every time there is a B 29 story. I remember this plane, its crew and somehow most of all the plywood plug where the tali turret had been with "The End" painted on it. The crew were really, really tired and had themselves one hell of an adventure getting across the "pond" to Mildenhall and we were delighted to host them. A lot of us at Mildenhall used to drive over to Duxford and help out at the Imperial War museum. I remember countless hours on my days off drilling rivets out of the skin of a B17 in its restoration. Also bringing B17 parts in my personal baggage back to Duxford after trips back to USA. My reward was a VERY low-level pass in the nose of the bomber over the coast before my "Fini" flight in USAF. Thank you so much for this video! Some near half century old memories are flooding back tonight.
Engine oil capacity on a B 29 is 100 gallons per engine. Oil usage up to 5 gallons per hour on the Wright 3350 is considered normal.
Many years ago Hollywood wanted to make a war movie "War Lovers" and they needed a B-17 in England to make it. Martin Caiden wrote a book about the restoration and flight to England. It was called "Everything but the Flack". I recommend it highly.
I've actually seen this plane at the duxford museum. A great museum, see it if you are in england. A lot of cool aircraft in the American museum. Almost everything you can imagine. Unlike a certain horrible present day "president" there was and hopefully will still be a special relationship between these 2 countries.
You can't kill an old classic warbird!
Never knew this actually flew to Duxford.
Always thought it was dismantled and shipped by sea.
It's such a disgrace that they took a B-29 that was flyable although barely and put it in a museum never to fly again. Why the hell they didn't donate one that wold never be able to be flown again to be put on static display is beyond belief. Since the US only has two flying B-29's flying out of over 10k and gave this one to another country to be put on static display is a disgrace. I think Duxford should absolutely have one but not one that could fly if it was just going to sit in a hanger.
Duxford has an American hall where every aircraft displayed is American, Mustang, B52, U2, etc it is very good and well worth a visit.
Although information interesting, the presentation was rife with redundancies. Editing for redundancies probably would shave 7-8 minutes from the video.
My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator 1944-1945. He died in 2016 age 94. He saved and I have his original flight jacket with squadron insignia. My son and I visited (did not fly on) FIFI at Boire Field in Nashua NH in 2018. My family are Friends Of Doc.
https://youtu.be/fLkWBEOAMVI?si=2KKc9Y5PPFEi_8wZ
you should do one on 'Doc' next, also hauled out of China Lake. It's the one making the tour circuit in the US now
I don't like the "Abandoned" in the title, but she was "Mothballed" or "Stored" at China Lake.
You needed good engine mechanics and a flight engineer…
I am 93 Korean War Vet usaf ground radio opp We guided the 29 like a "Drone " to target Very Successful The Chinese Hatd Us God Bless America
Hawg Wild stopped over at Keflavik while I was there in the 57th FIS. A guy from Alert called the Q and I answered the phone and he told me 'A B-29 just landed'. I told him I wasn't born yesterday and to try his prank on someone else. He assured me that he wasn't kidding. OK, so I go down to the air terminal and, sure as Hell, there sits the bomber, it was just shutting down and I crawled up the ladder and greeted the crew and invited them to our Squadron Bar. The crew was right out of The Muppet Show, but that is another story! Anyway, they got stuck at Kef for a couple days and did come have a drink with us. I watched Hawg Wild taxi and take off a couple days later. When I went to Duxford years later, there she was. One issue not addressed in the video was the landing gear retraction. The crew told us that hobbyists had stripped the electric motors that retracted the gear to make winches etc. Replacements had to be found and installed.
Interesting story, but it could have been improved if there had been any information how it ended up at China lake, and how it was kept off the bomb range. Doc was part of the snow white squadron and all of them were pushed out on the bomb range, except somehow doc was left on the side of the range. A local historical group had plans to restore for static display and towed it to the inyo/kern airport, but they were unable to come up the money. In 1997 Tony Mazzolini took possession and it was disassembled to be trucked to Wichita not far from where it was built. It is completely rebuilt and my grandson and I took the tour thru it when it flew into inyo/kern airport in 2021s
I didn't realise this is how this B29 got to Duxford.Have seen this aircraft on display there.lntetesting!
In all my years of following warbirds I've never even heard about this. I was even stationed at Loring AFB in 1986 and nobody mentioned a word about this. Learn something new every day.
I was in A Co. 1st Recon Bn, 1st Mar Div, Camp Pendlaton Ca. When the Navy was flight testing the Cruise Missile. Launching from ship to White Sands Missile Range. We would provide airborne security teams if the missile went down en enroute. One of our launch stations was China lake. I remember seeing those three B 29s down by the end of the runway. When I asked about them, the reply making 1 out of those three. So I wonder what happened to the other 2?
I helped restore that B29 when I was a volunteer at IWM Duxford.
My buddy and I were building time on our private pilot tickets and flew down to China Lake in '77 or '78. My buddy's cousin was doing EOD at China Lake and had full access to the entire site. We saw three B29's clustered around each other and they were picking parts from 2 to make one airworthy. We stuck around for an hour, then headed off to the desert target ranges. But, I still remember being "that close" to some awesome aircraft.
It had no business being given to the British because these planes were not used in Europe and there are aviation museums in Texas that do not have a single B-29. I know because I own one of these museums, the Flying Tigers Aviation Museum. The B-29s were first operationally used in CHINA!!!! Abandoned on a military base?
Why didn't they have a chase plane leading them? Solves the problem of using sketchy navigation systems.
Very encouraging in its own right and especially welcome on you tube.
I’m still traumatised by the Kee Bird story.
I'm familiar with the stories of FIFI, DOC, & KEE BIRD. This is something I'd never heard about before! Thanks for the history!
It’s sad that Skip Creiger was killed a few days after delivering that B-29. I knew one of the mechanics on this flight.
This is long on word salad and short on film, photos, and hard information
The original hog wild , 44-70136, tail z28, crashed 1945 north korea.
That was a great story. I wonder if the B-29 is sitting out in the weather all year long? I would like to think that there is a hanger for such a special airplane, to keep it out of the weather.
In 1977-78, I served in the Coast Guard aboard a WWII vintage Buoy Tender home ported in Juneau, Alaska. Her last home port had been Honolulu, Hawaii. In Juneau we found that the Air-conditioning worked fine but the Heaters did not. Mighty unpleasant on the bridge of a ship in a blizzard, you have to keep one bridge door open to Hear things coming at you… and there is no heat!