The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-10-27

B-2e goes back to July, 1889. Con- ception of 1t goes back that far, any way. It was at that time that Army Air Force strategists, procurement officers and engineering officers of the material center at Wright Field, Ohio, met to determine the char acteristics of the plane they had to have. Titled had not then begun his attack on Europe, but there were war clouds all over the European sky. The U. s. Army air corps com niand, to its credit, forsaw the ulti- mate need of a bomber which would be able to carry war from North America to Europe an dother conti- nents, drop bombs and return non- stop.
 AXIS ANNIHILATOR
 The characteristic determined were the range, the desired minimum and high speeds, the rate of climb, the armament, the bomb-load. Until the plane is fully unveiled, not all these characteristics may yet be given, but General Arnold's disclosures alone indicate that 1t will have Q radius of 5000 miles or 10,000-mile round trir, and that 1t will carry at least 10000 pounds of bombs.
 Calculation of the full character iSticS took some six months. Tn Jan uary, l940, the engineers wree ready to begin preparation of specified tions for manufacturers. Boeing Aircraft designers who had built the Clippers, Stratoliners and Fly ing Fortresses were called n to get the benefit of the best engineering advice and experienc available. At one stage, Boeing had 300 engineers working on this one project alone. Other builders were also called in to develop designs to meet the same specifications, thus insuring that If one modey were destroyed-as was the case with the original Flying Fortress-alternate models could be carried forward without the loss of a years work.
 Before actual construction of the first experimental planes was begun, however, the plane was built in model size, 1-36 of full scale mea- Surements. This model was put through wind tunnel tests in July, 1e40, to determine flaws in design and to correct them.
 MOCK-UP MADE
 After that came construction of stiu models, quarter and half-size models that weer subjected to still more wind tunnel tests and would actually fly. More bugs were dis- covered in these larger models and every one had to be corrected until they were as aerodynamically per- fert as they could be made. All this consumed months and 1t was not until early in le4l thatc onstruc- ton of the mock up, or full scale wooden model of the plane, was made to determine the design of every detail. Only then was con- struction of the first planes begun.
 It took from Q year to year and half, or well into the fall of l942, before these first articles" were in flight. Before and during construc- tior, every one of the thousands of parts going into the assembly had to be given individual research and testing for new design, improve meEts and modification if necessary before adoption.
 The accelerated service tests" as they are called, took another six months, flying the plane under every conceivable condition, subject ing 1t to punishment. Only then was the Air Force ready to let contracts for planes that would be built to fight. But the construction of Fly ing Fortresses could not be stopped and their factories converted to pro. duction of B-29's. That meant the construction of new factories, just to make this new plane. That in itself will be one of the more thrill ing stories in the battle of pro- duction, when 1t can be told.