He flew FIFI last year and one other time before that. He’s a really nice guy.

Can you tell us what’s it like to maintain re spares etc?

I’ve never seen any particular difficulty in the maintenance of it. We have some spare parts and a wrecked Huskie to use for a source on occasion. Most parts are not difficult to find if we look hard enough. The main rotor blades are the only exception. Those are hen’s teeth rare. They are fabric covered wood and operate via tabs on the trailing edge. Servicable spares do not exist. If we damage one, that is the end of flying this helicopter. Otherwise, I see no reason it won’t be operating for several more years.

The combination Landing Gear / Dive Brake handle is out of an FG1D or F4U-1 Corsair. It was a different style on the -4 and up.

Time of crash ? The one I sadly watched was at 13.21 approx.The heading on the report says “The AAIB was notified of the accident at 1235 hrs”

The report has the timeline in Zulu so it is one hour behind your time.

Such a shame all the years of planning, hard work and personal sacrifice destroyed in a mater of minutes by a couple of bloody loose bolts on the APU…..

It wasn’t a loose APU. The fuel pump quit on the APU so it couldn’t feed from the fuel tank. A gas can was suspended above the APU with a line to the carberatuor so it could gravity feed. During the taxi, the gas can broke loose and fell on the APU, starting the fire. In typical operation, the APU on the B-29 stays running from before engine start until after takeoff. It is started again again prior to landing and is shut down after landing , just prior to everybody getting out of the plane. The reason for this is the only hydraulic system in the airplane is the brakes. There is no engine driven hydraulic pump so that power comes from an electric motor that runs the hydraulic pump the engine driven generators (6 of them) can’t be relied on to keep the pump running while the engines are at idle speed. As a result the APU (1 generator) is kept running to power the hydraulic pump for the brakes. After takeoff the APU is shut down and all the electrical load is take by the engine driven generators. Before landing the APU is started and brought on line. The hydraulic systems, (primary and emergency) are charged by the engine driven generators and after landing, when the engine RPMs drop off, the APU generator picks up the load of the hydraulic pump again. What we have done on “FIFI” now, and Doc too, is add extra batteries to the airplane to run the hydraulic pumps and aid in starting the engines. The APU is still in the airplane and still used as intended on occasion and we still train with it.

As for using the wings of Kee Bird for another airplane, I don’t believe they would be suitable due to heat damage from the fire. Truthfully, I don’t see a single part of Kee Bird left up there that would be worth the effort to retrieve. The wings are not that difficult to rebuild, just time consuming and expensive.

I’d say there are about 30-40 surviving B-29s if you count semi complete airframes and wrecks. I’d say about 25 complete and displayable airframes. Personally speaking, I don’t believe there will ever be any B-29 taking flight again except for “FIFI” and Doc. Kermit Weeks has one that could get back in the air with a LOT of very serious airframe work. He also has enough parts of two other airframes to make one more fly. I don’t believe he will ever make an attempt to get any of them flying. All the nice looking ones on display at museums around the world are all either the property of the USAF Museum program or given to other organizations by the AF Museum with the requirement that they not fly. Sadly, some of the ones on outside display at Air Force bases here in the states are in seriously bad shape and probably won’t last another 20yrs without serious time, effort and money.

While my dearly loved and badly missed friend Gary is often given credit for the re engine program for “FIFI”, it should actually go to Dave Miller. Dave did 99% of the work as Gary had moved on from the B-29 squadron by the time the program got rolling and was the CAF’s Director of Maintenance at the time. The idea for the new style engines was the brain child of Mike Looney, Rodney Jackson and Charlie Tilghman, before Gary ever came to the CAF. The last failures with the old engines in 2006 was the justification for Gary (as the crew chief at the time) to ground the airplane until the engine situation was handled. The idea for the engines had been around for a while (prior to Gary coming to work in 2004) and they just never had the money to do it. The grounding of the airplane by Gary put the fund raising into high gear and forced the engine change. A lot of the leg work and getting the engine plan actually underway was the result of Gary doing the pushing. But, in all fairness, the credit for the actual job itself has to go to Dave Miller. Now the very significant airframe overhaul and skin work that happened before the engine change was 100% Gary Austin. And, the conversion work on the B-24 was 100% Gary also.