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Doc is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress four-engined heavy bomber, and one of only two that are currently flying. It is owned by Doc's Friends.
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Military career
The B-29 was built in 1944 as part of a production run of 1620 aircraft built by Boeing at Wichita, Kansas and allocated the military Serial Number 44-69972. It was delivered to the United States Army Air Forces in March 1945. The aircraft did not see combat, and was converted to a radar calibration aircraft in 1951 and based at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. While based at Griffiss, the squadron named their B-29s after Disney characters and 469972 became Doc. In 1955, the aircraft, modified as a TB-29, was moved to Yuma County Airport in Arizona to be used as a target tug. Retired from the United States Air Force in 1956, it was sent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake for use as a ballistic missile target.
Restoration
The airframe was acquired by the United States Aviation Museum for restoration to flight status. After a great deal of work at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas where it was originally built, the aircraft was moved in March 2007 to the Kansas Aviation Museum. In February 2013, the aircraft was acquired by the non-profit organization "Doc's Friends", and the restoration to flight status was still underway. As of June 2014, all four overhauled engines and propellers had been reinstalled and the spokesperson of the group said, at that time, the aircraft would be airborne by the end of 2014. After delay, rollout occurred on 23 March 2015. First post-restoration flight was anticipated in 2016. At 8am on September 18, 2015, Doc successfully completed its first engine start & testing of all four engines in Wichita. On 11 May 2016 the restoration crew performed the first of many low-speed taxi tests as the final preparations are underway before first flight. For the first time since 1956, the nearly restored B-29 moved under its own power. The crew used engines #1 and #4 for the low-speed taxi. Doc traveled more than a half mile during the taxi test and the crew was able to successfully test the brakes and steering. The aircraft received a certificate of airworthiness from the Federal Aviation Administration on May 20, 2016, allowing it be flown.
On 17 July 2016, it flew for the first time since 1956, flown by members of FIFI flight crews. Take off was delayed due to issues with the forward bomb bay doors latching shut, and the flight was conducted with the undercarriage down. The event was livestreamed on YouTube and the Doc's Friends website.
The Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space magazine carried an in depth review of Doc's history in their September 2016 issue.