Restoration of the B-29 Superfortress at Nuclear Museum

[snoopy]

Not exactly modern electronics but still an interesting project

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nuclear-museum/restoration-of-the-b-29-superfortress-at-nuclear-m

[Skimask]

Somewhere I've got a picture of me and my truck sitting under the wing of that very aircraft while I was stationed at Chanute AFB back in 1988.
Now I gotta dig it up.

[Wytnucls]

Why do they want to paint it? I seem to remember most if not all B-29s were left in bare metal during the war.

[PeterFW]

Why do they want to paint it? I seem to remember most if not all B-29s were left in bare metal during the war.

Protection i guess, aluminum can "rust" just as well als steel.

Maybe they were left bare in the war because it was more important to get them out quick because... well, they were at war

[rob77]

Maybe they were left bare in the war because it was more important to get them out quick because... well, they were at war

painting them would decrease the lifting capacity half a ton less paint means half a ton more bombs to carry

[Towger]

It also offers flash projection to have a reflective surface.

[SeanB]

Maybe they were left bare in the war because it was more important to get them out quick because... well, they were at war

painting them would decrease the lifting capacity half a ton less paint means half a ton more bombs to carry

Half ton more fuel or ammunition is a better bet. Most pilots wanted to make it back rather than drop more bombs per mission. BOPAH is a lot more important. My dad did not make it back, he sorta got to lake Constance, then him and the plane kind of parted company. he woke up in a hospital  ( now a hotel, he went through Austria in the 1980's on business, and went into his room just to see) and as he spoke fluent German he did not like the final destination, Dachau, so escaped with a lot of help of the hospital staff. Still has an arrest warrant in Switzerland for hitting a policeman.

[DaGlitch]

I actually live just a few blocks away from this. Amazing museum that really tries to do the best it can with what they get. Since we live in a desert, the dust and wind really wreak havoc around here and also the amount of UV we get is pretty decent since we are at a fairly high altitude (5600ft). They do their best to restore things back to as close to their original condition as possible. Most of what they can do over there is based off of donations (which is why their parking lot is only half paved if you check them out on google earth lol). I'd be more than happy to post up some pictures of some of the cool stuff they have around if people were interested.