Bomber crews

berny13
Actually they were called Right & Left gunners.....but the were in the waist as well as the CFC gunner,Radar and ECM.
Teise
(maybe it was 'waste' gunners.)

What was confusing to me was the term "waist gunners". I know they used optical sights for controling the upper and lower gun turrents. I was not aware they were called waist gunners.

The book I have was released by the USAAF in May, 1947. It is named "B-29 flight crew handbook". Under that is "A pocket guide for USAAF flight crew members. B-29, all versions". Inside the cover stated it was first printed in 1946. It was printed by USAAF information services in coorperation with Boeing.

Most of my information comes various books dealing with the B-29. Last count I had 7 or 8 dedicated to the B-29 alone.

The side blisters were not present on the B model nor the atomic bombers. They had a cover that was flush with the skin of the aircraft. There was a small window in the center but clearly not big enough to sight through. The cover opened inward allowing a single hand held .50 to be used. The B and the Atom bombers as well had all sighting equipment and computers removed.

The standard B-29 and the B-29A had 5 gun stations. One was the bombardier, each waist gunner, the central fire control gunner and the tail gunner.

The B model only had the tail gun present. Almost all B-29Bs were flown by the 315th bomb squadron based on Guam.

The B-29C was never produced but was intended to be used with an improved Wright R-3350 engine.

The B-29D was first converted from a B-29A and was first called the XB-44. It used the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 28cylinder 3500hp engines. This was later improved more and emerged as the B-50. The aircraft still did have the 5 gunner system of the B-29.

The atomic bombers were one of a kind pulled at random intervals from the Martin Omaha production line. They were devoid of turrets and armor, fitted with direct fuel injection engines with reversible pitch Curtiss Electric propellers. These aircraft were selected by Paul Tibbets, the commanding officer of the 509th Composite group. Paul was also the pilot of Enola Gay on the Hiroshima mission. All of the modified atom bombers went strictly to the 509th CG. They had their own separate maintenance facilities, engineering, MP and supply groups as well as their own secluded section of Tinian island. There were only 15 of these B-29s in the 509th CG and on the atomic missions only these B-29s were involved in the direct strikes. General Tibbets is a great person to talk to and I have consulted him many times on my quest for information.

I dont mean any offence but that book sounds like it has a fair amount of inaccuracies.

I have always been facinated by the B-29 and ever since I was little I have collected all sorts of info on the B-29.

Here is a great site that pretty much parallels everything I have said. http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b29.html

I have most of the books listed by this websites sources as well as a couple others that deal mainly with the special modifications to the 509th CG's atomic bombers.

Another great website is provided by the Air Force museum. It basically parallels all the information given. Here you can also click a link at the upper left hand corner that will take you to various B-29 models. When you see the pics note the B versions waist windows as well as the same configuration on the atom bombers "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar".

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/research/bombers/b3-29.htm

If I can dig it up I found a website once concerning all the projects post war B-29s were involved in, this included the B-29 "Stratovision" project where they used a B-29 to transmit TV signals from 30000 and made for excellent reception plus other things like fighter conveyors and the first AWACS.

If you need any additional info please dont hesitate to ask, I love the B-29 and literally could talk for hours on the subject!! If theres a question on the B-29 that I cant answer I surely can find someone who will be able to answer it.

I trained and flew as a crew member on B29's during Korea out of Yakota AFB in Japan.By the time we trained and got over there the truce had been signed so we just flew around doing "big stick" duty.The armament on those airplanes was as Dave described but there were 3 Guns (50's) in the tail. Never anywhere did i see provisions to actually fire guns from the waist blisters. The turret system on the B29 was remote controlled and versatile. An example the Right or Left waist gunners could have control on both lower forward and lower aft turrets there by firing 4 50's at one target. Then you can go on & on with different combos ,different gunners. The Korean version also had an additional crew member in the waist called the ECM man.Electrical Counter Measures or jamming enemy Radar.This is really bringing back memories.
Teise

Dave.

Nice rundown. Where did you get your information? I have a book, "B-29 Flight Crew Handbook", printed in 1947, that was given to me by my uncle. It is a very detailed book and shows how most systems in the B-29 operate. No where in the book does it mention the side sighting blisters being able to open.

The book covers models A through D. The A model had five gun stations, the B had four, the C one and D none. The D was a converted B model and was used as a weather aircraft. The C was a converted B model and was used as an RB and for the atom bomb observation aircraft.

Other reports I have seen state the "Atomic Bombers" were a one of a kind aircraft. They went to one unit only. After they were produced, the remaining B models were standard.

Good question, first lets start out with the B-29 variants.
Most production B-29s were just termed the B-29. These were produced at Boeing Wichita, Boeing Seattle and Martin Omaha. The B-29A was produced only at the Navys Boeing Renton plant. This variant had a different wing structure. Most sites say that the B-29A had a 1 foot larger wingspan but this is not true.
The B-29B was produced soley by Bell in Atlanta.

The standard B-29 and the B-29A were equipped with 4 main turrets and the tail turret.

The upper front turret was originally equipped with 2 guns but was later equipped with the 4 guns that your referencing.
The upper aft and both lower turrets all had 2 .50 caliber brownings.

The tail turret was originally equipped with 2 .50 calibers and a single 20mm cannon. The 20mm cannon was later removed because of trajectory differences.

The total number of guns on a B-29 and B-29A was 12 .50s and one 20mm if so equipped.

The B-29B had all of the 4 main turrets removed. Only the tail gun (2 .50s) remained for defense. The side sighting blisters were faired over as well as all of the original turret placements. The fairings where the waist sighting blisters once were could be swung inward and a single .50 could be fired from this position. I dont know if this was done frequently, I have only read that the provision was there. Most B-29Bs were used for low level incindiary attacks and usually didnt go over 10000ft so pressurization wasnt a problem when using the waist .50s. In fact from my understanding it was standard procedure to depressurize when over enemy territory as a hit could lead to an explosive depressurization.

The total number of guns on a B-29B was 4 .50s. Two in the tail turret and the provision for one in each of the openable waist positions.

The Martin built atomic bombers like Enola Gay were built as a special order from Martin. They were unarmed, having no turrets except for the tail gun for defense. Their armor plating was removed. They also were equipped with Curtiss Electric reversible pitch propellers from the B-32 program... along with plenty other modifications for support of the atomic bomb and reliability. These were the finest B-29s that could be had!! The removal of the turrets and armor allowed them to have a top speed over 400mph as well as better fuel economy. They were also more maneuverable. Testing proved they could outturn P-47s and P-51s above 30000 feet. If being attacked the B-29 could simply turn sharply, when the attacking fighter tried to do the same it would usually stall out. By the time the fighter recovered the B-29 would be long gone.

Dave. I am confused (not really hard to do). I don't recall the B-29 having waist guns. I know they had(4) top forward,(2) top aft guns,(2) bottom forward, (2)bottom aft guns and (2) tail guns for a total of twelve .50 cal guns. That was the B-29A. The B-29B had the bottom aft gun removed and radar equipment was put in its place.

The B-29 usually carried a crew between 10 and 14. The bombardier was in the nose, followed by the pilot and co pilot sitting side by side. Directly behind the copilot facing aft was the flight engineer. Behind the flight engineer facing right was the radio operator. Directly behind the pilot facing forward was the navigator. The front pressurized compartment was connected to the rear pressurized compartment by a tunnel. In the rear compartment was the two waist gunners facing aft but sighting out of the waist blisters. The central fire control gunner was sitting between them in a barbers chair arrangement sighting out of the top blister. The radar operator was in a compartment direclty aft of the gunners and was facing left. Beside him was a chemical toilet and in most models there was a crew bunk. In a separate pressurized compartment at the extreme tail was the tail gunner.

In the B-29B and the Martin built atomic bombers the gunners positions and sights were deleted except for the tail gun. The seating provision for the two waist gunners was still there and the former blister cover could be swung inward allowing for a single .50 caliber to be used. Im not sure if the barbers chair was still present. The B-29B also had a radar aimed tail gun. The Martin atomic bombers had the bunks removed and had ECM provisions and other radar equipment manned there. One ECM suite called the RAVEN used the chemical toilet as a seat. In the front compartment of the atomic bombers there was also provisions for a weapons officer station for monitoring the atomic bomb. Im not certain but I believe this would be situated behind the navigator facing left. The atomic bombers also had most of their heavy armor plate removed.

The B-25 had a crew of 5 for the B version (this was used on the Doolittle Raid). In the extreme nose was the bombardier/nose gunner. Behind and above him was the Pilot and Copilot. Followed by the Navigator/Top turret gunner then the radio operator/belly turret gunner(when equipped, the Doolittle Raid had them removed). There are plenty other B-25 versions with way different crews so it would be a good idea to search it out.

In general, the B-24D had a crew of 9 or 10 depending if the ship carried a ball turret. Navigator & bombardier located in the nose, pilot, co-pilot, radio operator aft of the cockpit, top turret gunner, 2 waist gunners, 1 tail gunner, ball turret if necessary. H & J versions had the nose turret installed. Navigator subsequently moved aft of the cockpit, radio operator moved to a compartment located over the bomb bay. Otherwise same layout.