Spirit and Doc, Reunited

Wilbur Wright once remarked that flight is possible without motors, but not possible without knowledge and skill. Such were the challenges that faced aviation pioneer Spirit AeroSystems when the company became involved in the restoration of Doc, a B-29 bomber that spent 60 years on the desert floor after 1951. Doc’s career started shortly after rolling off the then-Boeing assembly line in 1944 as a valued asset of the United States Army Air Corp.

Assigned to a squadron of radar calibration bombers named for Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs, Doc was decommissioned in 1951 and sent to China Lake Naval Warfare Weapons Center in California’s Mojave Desert. Often used as a bombing target, and being shot multiple times, Doc spent most of its life baking in the hot sun until being rescued in 1999 by a group of aviation enthusiasts led by Tony Mazzolini.

Mazzolini and his team had a straightforward plan – restore the B-29 to its original condition and get it back in the air. Doc needed a hangar, new parts and logistical support. Many of Doc’s instruments were old and worn out from years spent in the desert, and the warbird had become a sanctuary for desert wildlife. Compound that with Doc needing to be carefully removed and handled to preserve its history, it was a monumental task.

What Doc needed was knowledge, skill and dedication to restore the military legacy of the historic machine that changed the world.  So, Mazzolini called Jeff Turner, then vice president of Boeing Wichita. Turner told Mazzolini if he could get the airplane to Wichita, Boeing, which later became Spirit AeroSystems, could help. In 2000, B-29 Doc arrived in pieces on seven flatbed trailers for restoration. However, Mazzolini’s group of volunteers quickly found the task would not be without considerable struggle. Doc’s challenges were extensive, from the demands of its time in service and the wear and tear from the desert, to the loss of institutional aviation knowledge from the 1940s. In 2005, Boeing Wichita became Spirit AeroSystems. After retiring as President and CEO of Spirit, Jeff Turner founded Doc’s Friends, Inc., in 2013 to help push the restoration project across the finish line.

Spirit Solves Aviation’s Toughest Challenges

Doc was one of 1,644 B-29s built by the Boeing Company in Wichita – a factory now operated by Spirit AeroSystems. Spirit continued Boeing’s involvement in Doc’s restoration and has been a valuable asset for the restoration team since B-29 parts are no longer available. Spirit’s expertise was critical to restoring the airplane. During the restoration, when Doc required a part, Spirit’s team offered the design, build and fabrication support needed to make the restoration project successful. In fact, in two critical instances, Spirit was able to engineer solutions that, if left unresolved, would have grounded Doc permanently.

The first example of how Spirit was able to use their fabrication and manufacturing expertise to get Doc fully restored was when the restoration team noted that Doc’s right-wing spar was rusted and fully corroded. The fixed-wing spar is a main structural member of the wing that carries the total flight load while the aircraft is in the air, as well as the weight of the wings while the aircraft is on the ground. Spirit was able make one from scratch and tailored the part to fit the aircraft perfectly.

Another challenge that Spirit was able to overcome was an issue with the exhaust, specifically with the turbochargers. The turbochargers on Doc’s eight engines were the original systems and had sat in the desert for years. The heat and sand caused them to crack.

As soon as the problem was detected, the restoration team reached out to Spirit fabrication and tooling and found a solution. Spirit employees designed a plan, took precise measurements and performed the tests to make sure the new turbochargers where perfect replacements.

Each engine needed a new custom turbocharger. After extensive testing of the first one, it took only eight more days to manufacture new turbochargers for each engine. In total, Spirit got Doc back in the air just 10 days after the initial turbocharger problems were discovered.

Spirit was also quick to provide Doc with the community support that eventually grew to a base of over 400,000 volunteer hours, mostly from retired Spirit and Boeing employees, who had worked on B-29s in the past.

“Another challenge that Doc’s Friends was able to overcome during the restoration of the B-29 Superfortress was finding volunteer support with the institutional knowledge of an aircraft from that period. Doc’s Friends was able to recruit a number of volunteers in their 60s, 70s and 80s that harbored that kind of knowledge and understanding – a unique trait commonly found in an aviation center like Wichita, an historic cradle for the establishment of U.S. aviation.”

During the restoration efforts, the parts needed to get Doc back into flying shape could not be found in a local hardware store, or even at most aviation companies. It required the knowledge and skill to make those parts from scratch. Thankfully for the majestic old flier, Spirit’s fabrication team is renowned for their ability to build parts and tools to fix some of the toughest aviation challenges.

Soaring into the Future of Military Aviation with Spirit

Built during the peak of the war when Boeing churned out nearly five full B-29 Superfortresses per day, Doc is a reminder that Spirit’s commitment to our nation spans multiple decades and generations. This speaks to the history and heritage that continues at Spirit with its commitment to the defense industry. It’s a legacy that brings with it the unique capability for Spirit to engineer and manufacture today’s most complex aviation systems.

Spirit’s contribution to Doc doesn’t end with its world class manufacturing and fabrication capability. Under the leadership of current Spirit President and CEO Tom Gentile, the company has been instrumental in fundraising efforts to help Doc’s Friends build a permanent home for Doc in Wichita. Organizing open house events for members of the Wichita community to see and learn about Doc up close and selling commemorative Doc photos printed on authentic window cutouts from 737 fuselages are just a couple of ways Spirit continues to support the B-29 Superfortress known as Doc.

The fully restored Doc can now help teach aviation and U.S. history to a new generation of industry professionals and aviation enthusiasts alike. Doc embodies Spirit’s engineering innovation and aviation expertise and serves as a testimony to the company’s dedication to delivering new heights of aerospace performance to the defense industry.