The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-06-23

lmderstatement of an Arkansas bo! working in the Wichita Boeing plant one of four main factories where the plane is now in quantity pro duction. Tt has," said the boy right smart of speed and it carries lots of bullets"
 Over 50,000 parts go into its as- sembly, if you count all the rivets as one part, and never mind the duplicates. Counting each separate bolt, nut, washer and cotter pin, thu number of parts might total mil. lion. Nobody knows.
 I COST A MYSTERY
 Nobody knows, either, how much one of these complex big bruisers will cost. Approximately 8 billion dollars are being spent for Super fortress production. The number on order is still secret. If 1000 were built, the cost would be $1 100000 each. If 2,000 are built, the last of the lines may cost as little as $500,- 900 apiece. which is cheap when you consider what they'll do.
 For all its complexity, it flies through the air with the greatest of ease-faster, higher, farther, longer carryig more gas, more load, more bomb-load, more machine guns, more cannon, more crew than any other plane ever built. The exact figures are still restricted military information, but in viewing a plane like this for the first time, you don { view it satisfactorily but purely from an emotional standpoint. And it is unbelievable.
 No other nation has any weapon like this, and it might be said that no other nation could have. It is the triumph of American mechanical l genius. It has more gadgetS than a lady's handbag.
 To do all the things this plane can do at the push of button or the toggle of a switch, there are 150 electric motors in it, of 49 dif- ferent sizes. There are main Super fortress and auxiliary generators to produce the needed power. The Sup- erfortresS is 50 per cent bigger than a Flying Fortress, yet an ingenious wing flap lets down to permit the B-29 to land and take of no faster than the B-17 and on comparative ly short runways.
 The four B-29, 18-cylinder Wright engines develop nearly twice the horsepower of the B-l7s-8,800 as against 4,800-yet the crews ride in comfort because their compartments are sound-proofed.
 When it was found that no one supercharger would permit the plane to operate at the attitudes where the SuperfortresS was intended to fly, two superchargers were built into each of the IS cylinder engines, to operate on the power of the eX- | hauSt.
 The four -bladed Hamilton Stand ard propellors, 16 l-2 feet from tip to tip, are the biggest ever built. Yet they appear to turn slowly, be- ing geared down so that the tips will travel no faster than the speed of sound, 700 miles an hour, vibration being excessive and the compress ability of air being limited beyond that point. ARMAMENT AND ARMOUR
 BOTH HEAVY
 Each of the gun turrets packs 50- caliber machine guns and 20-mm cannon, which can be operated by remote control. meaning that the | gunner doesn't have to be right at his gun, but may fire it from con- trol point, twisting a couple of dials and pressing a button to loose his destruction. Computing sights auto- matically do complicated calcula- tions to determine range, speed of movement and direction of move ment to give the gunner correct lead and aim, by merely keeping his sight on the target.
 Armor is built into the plane. The whole job has been to meet all the requirements that the Air services wanted. And yet, big and compli- cated as the Superfortress really is. it is perhaps as small a plane as could be built to do the things de- manded of iC. But it relegates the B-l7 Flying Fortress to the role of being only a Tight heavyweight"
 If from description it would ap- pear too big. too full of gadgets and therefore too vulnerable. the answer is that this plane, operating above and beyond the range of both anti aircraft fire and enemy interceptors is also too fast to be caught and shot down.
 If it's size might indicate that it was too clumsy for efficient opera tion. the answer is that it Is the cleanest big plane ever built. which is the airman's way of saying that it is streamlined and aerodynamically slicked down to offer a minimum of resistance. Riyets are flush. The try- cycle landing gear is completely re. tFactable, but when the wheels are down, the drag of the plane Is dou- bled. so clean are It's lines.
 Development Of the B-2e has been the Army Air Forces biggest secret. and 1t has been well kept. Its plaIl- ming began in iD36. Tn August ie40, Boeing was authorized to build the first three experiemntal models. The first was completed and test flown iFl September ielI, but in the previous May the Army had ordered quantity production begun.
 The B-2e Isn't a commercial ship It's wing goes right through the middle Of the body and the body il too small for cargo or transport There is a commercial version under way. but the peacetime future Of the superfoFtress will probably be limited to girdling the globe like . policeman with the world as hii beat. As a fighting ship. however