Page 28 - Volume 21 Number 11

Flying the Fortress
by Doug Rozendaal
Editor’s Note: One of the highlights of EAA AirVenture 2017 was witnessing two B-29s flying together for the first time since they were in military service more than 50 years ago. Longtime Twin & Turbine readers may remember writer Doug Rozendaal, who through his prolific flying career, contributed a number of articles to this magazine. As Chief of Staff of the Commemorative Air Force and a longtime warbird pilot and enthusiast, he is a regular on the air show circuit, flying any number of warbirds. Earlier this year, he began flying the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, so we brought him back to find out what it is like to fly one of the biggest warbirds in the fleet.
PHOTO CREDIT: ADAM GLOWASKI
My first job in aviation was over 30 years ago flying right seat in a DC-3 hauling overnight express packages. The co-pilot’s primary responsibility was humping
7,000 pounds of overnight letters and packages up the 12-degree incline created when the airplane was sitting on its tailwheel. That ignited a passion for old airplanes and that led me to warbirds. There, I came to appreciate the stories these airplanes can tell and the excitement they can create for young people, of all ages. (Yes, airplanes can make people feel young again.)
I have been richly blessed to fly many of the significant airplanes of WWII. Museums and private collectors need someone to fly an airplane and that provides an opportunity to fly a new type. For the last several years the leader of the Commemorative Air Force B-29/B-24 Squadron had been pushing me to come to their spring ground school and
26 • TWIN & TURBINE
November 2017