Last operational B-29 flies over Vance

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nancy Falcon
  • 71st FTW/PA
The world's only operational B-29 Superfortress "Fifi" landed at Woodring Regional Airport, Enid, Oklahoma, Sept. 22 after performing a flyover at Vance.

The B-29 is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber that was used in combat during WWII and the Korean War.

A B-29 came equipped with a fully pressurized cabin and remote-controlled machine gun turrets.  It was designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, capable of reaching about 40,000 feet, but was often used in low-altitude, night-time incendiary bombing missions.

The most famous B-29 mission of all was the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

The B-29 fleet was retired in the 1960s. Most of them are used today as static displays.
Fifi is owned by the Commemorative Air Force. This B-29 is to educate people about the history of the B-29s as it flies around the U.S.

The aircraft is maintained by a volunteer force mostly comprised of veterans.