Tag Archives: Edmund Turney Allen

15 October 1937

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The Boeing XB-15 takes off on its first flight, Boeing Field, 15 October 1937. (U.S. Air Force)

15 October 1937: Test pilot Edmund Turney (“Eddie”) Allen, a consulting engineer to Boeing, and Major John D. Korkille, Air Corps, United  States Army, made the first flight of the prototype Boeing XB-15, 35-277, at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. Major Corkille reported that the airplane “handled easily and maneuvered readily.”

The flight deck of the Boeing XB-15. The radio operator’s station is on the left, and the navigator’s on the right. (The Boeing Company)

The Boeing Model 294, designated XB-15 by the Air Corps, was an experimental airplane designed to determine if a bomber with a 5,000 mile (8,047 kilometers) range was possible. It was designed at the same time as the Model 299 (XB-17), which had the advantage of lessons learned by the XB-15 design team. The XB-15 was larger and more complex than the XB-17 and took longer to complete. It first flew more than two years after the prototype B-17.

The Boeing Model 294 (XB-15) at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. The prototype bomber was rolled out for engine tests, 27 September 1937. (The Boeing Company)

Designers had planned to use an experimental 3,421.19-cubic-inch-displacement (56.063 liter) liquid-cooled, supercharged and turbosupercharged Allison V-3420 twenty-four cylinder, four-bank “double V” engine which produced a maximum of  2,885 horsepower at 3,000 r.p.m. The engine was not available in time, however, and four air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (Twin Wasp) engines were used instead. With one-third the horsepower, this substitution left the experimental bomber hopelessly underpowered as a combat aircraft.

Boeing XB-15 35-277. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-15 35-277. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-15 35-277. (U.S. Air Force)

The XB-15 was a very large four-engine mid-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. It was of aluminum monocoque construction with fabric-covered flight control surfaces. The XB-15 had a ten-man crew which worked in shifts on long duration flights.

Boeing XB-15 35-277

The prototype bomber was 87 feet, 7 inches (26.695 meters) long with a wingspan of 149 feet (45.415 meters) and overall height of 18 feet, 1 inch (5.512 meters). The airplane had an empty weight of 37,709 pounds (17,105 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 70,706 pounds (32,072 kilograms)—later increased to 92,000 pounds (41,730 kilograms).

As built, the XB-15 was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, 1,829.39-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1B3-G (R-1830-11) two-row 14-cylinder radial engines, rated at 850 horsepower at 2,450 r.p.m. at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 1,000 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. for take off. The engines turned three-bladed controllable-pitch propellers through a 3:2 gear reduction. The R-1830-11 was 4 feet, 8.66 inches (1.439 meters) long with a diameter of 4 feet, 0.00 inches (1.219 meters), and weighed 1,320 pounds (599 kilograms).

These gave the experimental airplane a maximum speed of 197 miles per hour (317 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) and a cruise speed of 152 miles per hour (245 kilometers per hour) at 6,000 feet (1,829 meters). The service ceiling was 18,900 feet (5,761 meters) and maximum range was 5,130 miles (8,256 kilometers).

The Boeing XB-15 experimental long-range heavy bomber flies in formation with a Boeing YP-29 pursuit. (U.S. Air Force)

The bomber could carry a maximum of 12,000 pounds (5,443 kilograms) of bombs in its internal bomb bay, and was armed with three .30-caliber and three .50-caliber machine guns for defense.

Only one XB-15 was built. During World War II it was converted to a transport and redesignated XC-105. In 1945 it was stripped and abandoned at Albrook Field, Territory of the Canal Zone, Panama.

The XB-15 set several Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world records:  On 30 July 1939, the XB-15 carried 14,135 kilograms (31,162 pounds) to an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) over Fairfield, Ohio.¹ The same flight set a second record by carrying 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) to an altitude of 8,228 feet (2,508 meters).² On 2 August 1939, the XB-15 set a World Record for Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 5000 Kilometers With 2000 Kilogram Payload, at an average speed of 267.67 kilometers per hour (166.32 miles per hour).³

Boeing XB-15 35-277. (LIFE Magazine)

¹ FAI Record File Number 8739

² FAI Record File Number 8740

³ FAI Record File Number 10865

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

21 September 1942

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A Boeing XB-29 takes off from Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. (SDASM)
Edmund T. ("Eddie") Allen
Edmund T. (“Eddie”) Allen

21 September 1942: At Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, the Boeing Model 345, the first of three XB-29 prototypes, Air Corps serial number 41-002, took off on its first flight.

Edmund T. “Eddie” Allen, Director of Aerodynamics and Flight Research, was in command, with Al Reed, Chief of Flight Test and Chief Test Pilot, as co-pilot. They climbed to 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) and began testing the XB-29’s stability and control, control power and response, and stall characteristics.

The flight was uneventful. Landing after 1 hour, 15 minutes, Allen is supposed to have said, “She flew!”

Eddie Allen lean’s out of a cockpit window following the first taxi test of the XB-29. (Boeing)

The XB-29 was 98 feet, 2 inches (29.921 meters) long with a wing span of 141 feet, 3 inches (43.053 meters), and 27 feet, 9 inches (8.458 meters) high to the top of its vertical fin. The prototype bomber had a gross weight of 105,000 pounds (47,627 kilograms).

Boeing XB-29-BO, 41-002, the first XB-29 built. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-29-BO, 41-002, the first of three prototypes. (U.S. Air Force)

The prototype bomber was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged and fuel-injected 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division Duplex-Cyclone 670C18H1 (R-3350-13) twin-row 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.85:1. The R-3350-13 was rated at 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m., and 2,200 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. for takeoff, burning 100-octane gasoline. These engines drove 17-foot-diameter (5.182 meters) three-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed propellers through a gear reduction of 0.35:1. The R-3350-13 was 76.26 inches (1.937 meters) long, 55.78 inches (1.417 meters) in diameter, and weighed 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms). Wright built 50 of these engines.

Boeing XB-29 41-002. (SDASM)

The XB-29 had a maximum speed of 368 miles per hour (592 kilometers per hour) and cruised at 255 miles per hour (410 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling was 32,100 feet (9,784 meters).

The airplane was designed to carry 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) of bombs. Though the prototypes were unarmed, the production B-29s were defended by 10 Browning AN-M2 .50-caliber machine guns in four remotely-operated power turrets, with 2 more .50-caliber machine guns and a single AN-M2 20mm autocannon in the tail.

Boeing XB-29 41-002. (SDASM)

The B-29 Superfortress was the most technologically advanced—and complex—aircraft of the War. It required the manufacturing capabilities of the entire nation to produce. Over 1,400,000 engineering man-hours had been required to design the prototypes.

The B-29 was manufactured by Boeing at Seattle and Renton, Washington, and at Wichita, Kansas; by the Glenn L. Martin Company at Omaha, Nebraska; and by Bell Aircraft Corporation, Marietta, Georgia. There were three XB-29 prototypes, 14 YB-29 pre-production test aircraft, 2,513 B-29, 1,119 B-29A, and 311 B-29B Superfortress aircraft. The bomber served during World War II and the Korean War and continued in active U.S. service until 1960.

The first prototype, 41-002, was scrapped in 1948.

Boeing B-29A-30-BN Superfortress 42-94106, circa 1945. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing B-29A-30-BN Superfortress 42-94106, circa 1945. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

26 March 1940

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Curtiss-Wright CW-20T, NX19436, s/n 101.

26 March 1940: At Lambert–St. Louis Municipal Airport, just to the west of the Mississippi River in the state of Missouri, test pilots Edmund Turney Allen and Dean Cullen Smith took the prototype Curtiss-Wright CW-20T, NX19436, for its first flight.

BIMOTORED GIANT READY FOR TESTS

Curtiss-Wright Substratosphere Plane Works Smoothly in Takeoff

By DEVON FRANCIS

Associated Press Aviation Editor.

     ST. LOUIS, March 27.—The world’s first bi-motored transport plane designed and powered to eliminate the hazard attending the failure of one engine on takeoff was made ready for two months or more of flight-testing today before being offered to commercial airlines.

     The 19-ton, 36-passenger Curtiss-Wright substratosphere transport was engineered to permit one engine to go dead at any point on the take-off as a pilot climbs for altitude and still maintain safe flight.

     Each of its engines produces 1700 horsepower. The largest engines ever to be fitted to a transport plane heretofore have been of 1500 horsepower. Either one of the new transport’s engines will carry it to an altitude of 13,000 feet.

     Fastened to the 108-foot wing with rubber cushions to produce what Curtiss-Wright engineers described as “dynamic balance,” the engines transmit only about 50 per cent of the normal vibration to the cabin of the plane.

     C, s/n 101. W. France, vice president and general manager of the St. Louis airplane division of the company, yesterday witnessed the maiden take-off of the transport from the ground. Then he climbed to the control tower of the St. Louis municipal airport for an innovation in airplane testing.

     France called the test pilot, Eddie Allen of Seattle, on the tower radiophone.

     Dean Smith, co-pilot, answered.

     “Dean,” he said, “that looked grand. Congratulations.”

     “O. K.,” replied Smith, “I’ll tell Eddie.”

     A little later Allen brought the huge plane into a smooth landing. He remarked that the plane had flown 190 miles an hour on only 30 per cent of its power. Transports usually cruise at 50 to 55 per cent.

     The additional testing will be for an approved type certificate from the government.

—Buffalo Evening News, Vol. CXIX, No. 142, Wednesday, 27 March 1940, Page 18, Column 3

Curtiss-Wright CW-20T NX19436, s/n 101.

The Curtiss-Wright CW-20T, NX19436, (manufacturer’s serial number 101) was a prototype twin-engine commercial airliner designed by George Augustus Page, Jr. Originally built with a twin-tail configuration, flight testing resulted in a change to a single, large vertical fin and rudder. Designed to be pressurized, the fuselage had a Figure 8 cross section, with the cabin floor at the narrowest point for increased strength. In this prototype, the fuselage was faired over to provide a smooth, more cylindrical shape. Considerable wind tunnel testing had been performed by CalTech in Pasadena, California, resulting in a very sleek nose section.

Curtiss-Wright CW-20T NX19436, after modification to a single tail configuration, photographed at Midway Airport, Chicago, 19 May 1941. (Midway Airport)

On 20 June 1941, the United States Army Air Forces ¹ purchased the CW-20T and designated it as the Curtiss C-55, serial number 41-21041. It would become the prototype of the C-46 Commando military transport. The Army Air Forces returned the C-55 to Curtiss-Wright for modifications.

The CW-20T was 76 feet, 4 inches (23.266 meters) long with a wingspan of 108 feet, 0 inches (32.918 meters). It was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 2,603.7-cubic-inch-displacement (42.688 liters) Wright Aeronautical Corporation Cyclone 14 GR2600A5B-5 (R-2600-17A) two-row, 14-cylinder radial  engines, driving three-bladed Curtiss Electric C-533-D controllable-pitch propellers through a 16:9 gear reduction. This engine had a compression ration of 6.9:1 and required 100/130 aviation gasoline. It was rated at 1,500 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m., and 1,700 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m. It was 5 feet, 3.1 inches (1.603 meters) long, 4 feet, 6.26 inches (1.378 meters) in diameter and weighed 1,980 pounds (898 kilograms). Only four of these engines were built.

Curtiss-Wright CW-20T NX19346, at right, with a CW-21B prototype, NX19441.

NX14936 was sold to the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in September 1941 and registered in the United Kingdom as G-AGDI. The airline named it St. Louis. It was converted to a 24-passenger configuration with long-range fuel tanks. It frequently flew between Lisbon, Gibraltar and Malta. The airplane was scrapped 29 October 1943.

British Overseas Airways Corporation Curtiss-Wright CW-20T, G-AGDI, “St. Louis,” at Gibraltar, circa 1942. (Imperial War Museum)

After the necessary redesign, which included a large cargo door and strengthened floor, and the substitution of 2,000 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-2800-51 engines for the Wright Cyclone 14s of the C-55, the Army Air Forces ordered the airplane into production as the C-46A-CU Commando. An order was placed for 200 aircraft. The U.S. Navy placed 160 in service as the R5C-1. Curtiss-Wright built the C-46 at St. Louis and Buffalo, New York. The first, 41-5159, was delivered 13 July 1942. More than 3,000 C-46s were built in nearly 30 variants. Two C-46A-1-HI Commandos were built by Higgins Aircraft at Michoud, Louisiana.

Like the CW-20T, the C-46A/R5C-1 was also 76 feet, 4 inches (23.266 meters) long with a wingspan of 108 feet, 0 inches (32.918 meters) and overall height of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). The wing area was 1,360 square feet (126.35 square meters). It had an empty weight of 30,241 pounds (13,717 kilograms) and maximum take off weight of 52,000 pounds (23,586 kilograms). The maximum payload was 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms). The maximum package size was 7 feet, 6 inches × 5 feet × 6 feet, 8 inches (2.286 × 1.524 × 2.032 meters).

The C-46A was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter), Pratt & Whitney R-2800-51 two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.65:1. They drove three-bladed propellers through a 2:1 gear reduction. These engines had a Normal Power rating of 1,600 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 5,700 feet (1,737 meters), or 1,400 horsepower at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters). The Military Power rating was 2,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. at 1,500 feet (457 meters), or 1,600 horsepower at 13,500 feet (4,115 meters). Takeoff power was 2,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. The R-2600-51 was 6 feet, 3.72 inches (1.923  meters) long, 4 feet, 4.50 inches (1.335 meters) in diameter, and weighed 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms). All R-2600-51s were built by the Ford Motor Company.

The C-46A had a maximum speed of 233 knots (268 miles per hour/432 kilometers per hour) at 16,100 feet (4,907 meters). Its service ceiling was 20,600 feet (6,279 meters). With a fuel capacity of 3,000 gallons (11,356 liters), the maximum range was 1,960 nautical miles (2,256 statute miles/3,630 kilometers) at 121 knots (139 miles per hour/224 kilometers per hour).

During World War II, the C-46 famously flew “The Hump,” from bases in Burma, over the Himalaya Mountains, and into China.

The first Curtiss-Wright C-46A-CU Commando, 41-5159, circa 1942. (U.S. Air Force)

¹ The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) became the United Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941.

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

24 February 1934

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The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y in flight over Southern California, 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

24 February 1934:¹ Edmund Turney Allen,² a consulting engineer and test pilot, took the prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, serial number 1001, registered X233Y, for its first flight from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation plant in Burbank, California, to the adjacent United Airport (which soon became United Air Terminal, then Lockheed Air Terminal and is now the Hollywood-Burbank Airport, BUR).

Aerial photograph of United Airport, looking west northwest, early 1930s. The Lockheed factory is just out of frame at the lower left, bordering the railroad tracks. (Burbank Public Library)

The Los Angeles Times reported:

NEW-TYPE PLANE PERFECTED

Lockheed Factory Turns Out First of “Electras,” Latest Word in Swift Transport

     The latest forward step by Los Angeles in the field of swift-aircraft manufacture, a 215-mile-an-hour, ten-passenger, low-wing monoplane built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, made its first appearance and took to the air in its initial test flight yesterday.

     The all-metal airliner, one of the fastest multimotored transport planes in the world and designed for economical performance by airlines enjoying little or no air-mail subsidy, was flown by Edmund T. Allen on its maiden flight from the Lockheed plant to United Airport, Burbank.

     The ship, named the Electra, is the first of nine such planes ordered by two airlines, Northwest Airways having placed an order for three and Pan-American Airways awaiting delivery on six Electras. The model follows the single-engine Lockheed Vega, Orion and Sirius models flown by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, Wiley Post, Col. Roscoe Turner, Amelia Earhart and other noted flyers on record flights.

     The Electra’s cruising speed is in excess of 190 miles per hour. It is equipped with controllable-pitch propellers to gain maximum efficiency from its two Wasp Junior engines supercharged to develop 420 horsepower each at 5000 feet.

     The craft is equipped with advanced improvements, including new retractable landing gear, wing flaps to insure low, safe landing speed, and a radical new-type tail assembly having two small vertical fins, or rudders,instead of one large one, making for greater maneuverability.

     The Electra will be on display at United Airport, and the public, according to United Airlines officials, is invited to inspect it.

—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LIII, 25 February 1934, Page 17, Columns 1 and 2

The prototype Lockheed Electra Model 10 prototype, X233Y, at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was designed as a 10-passenger commercial transport and was a contemporary of the Boeing Model 247. This was Lockheed’s first all-metal airplane. The Electra had two engines, a low wing and retractable landing gear. The airplane was designed by Lloyd Stearman and Hall L. Hibbard.

Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y. (aviadejavu)

A young engineer, Clarence L. (“Kelly”) Johnson, an assistant aerodynamicist at the University of Michigan, performed the wind tunnel tests on scale models of the proposed design and recommended changes to the configuration, such as the use of two vertical fins mounted at the outboard ends of the horizontal stabilizer. This became a design feature of Lockheed airplanes into the 1950s and included the Model 14 Super Electra/Hudson, Model 18 Lodestar/PV-1 Ventura, the P-38 Lightning fighter and the L-1649 Starliner, which was produced until 1958. Johnson would become the leader of Lockheed’s legendary  “Skunk Works.”

Clarence L. "KellY" Johnson conducted wind tunnel testing of the Model 10 at the University of Michigan.
Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson conducted wind tunnel testing of the Model 10 at the University of Michigan. Note the single vertical fin on this wind tunnel model. (Lockheed)

The prototype Electra was was used for certification testing. During a full-load test at Mines Field (now, LAX, Los Angeles International Airport) the Electra’s landing gear malfunctioned. Marshall (“Babe”) Headle, Lockheed’s chief pilot, flew the airplane back to Burbank and made a one-wheel landing. The prototype was slightly damaged but quickly repaired.

Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra X233Y at Union Airport, Burbank, California, before its first flight, 24 February 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Passenger cabin of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, looking forward. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y at Northwest Airways, St. Paul, Minnesota, May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y, Northwest Airways, St. Paul, Minnesota, 24 May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)
Lockheed Model 10 Electra NC233Y, St. Paul Minnesota, 24 May 1934. (James Borden Photography Collection)

After testing was competed the prototype Electra was delivered to Northwest Airways, Inc., at St. Paul, Minnesota, in May 1934. The experimental registration was changed to a standard registration, NC233Y, and it was assigned the Northwest fleet number 60.

Like the Boeing 247, the Electra was originally produced with a forward-slanting windshield to prevent instrument light reflection during night flights. This resulted in ground lighting reflections, though, and was changed to a standard, rearward slant with the fifth production airplane. NC233Y was modified by Northwestern’s maintenance staff.

Lockheed built 147 Model 10s in various configurations. The first production variant was the Model 10A. It was 38 feet, 7 inches (11.760 meters) long with a wingspan of 55 feet (16.764 meters), and height of 10 feet, 1 inch (3.073 meters). The wings had a total area of 458.3 square feet (42.6square meters). Their angle of incidence was 0°, and there were 5° 34′ dihedral.

The airplane had an empty weight of 5,455 pounds (2,474 kilograms) and a gross weight of 9,000 pounds (4,082 kilograms).

Three-view illustration of initial configuration of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra.

The Model 10A was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 986.749-cubic-inch-displacement (16.170 liters) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. SB  9-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6:1. They were rated at 400 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 450 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. for takeoff, using 87-octane gasoline. The SB engines were direct-drive and turned two-bladed Smith variable-pitch propellers. The Wasp Jr. SB was 3 feet, 6.59 inches (1.056 meters) long, 3 feet, 11.75 inches (1.162 meters) in diameter, and weighed 645 pounds (293 kilograms). The engines were covered by NACA cowlings.

The airplane had a cruise speed of 190 miles per hour (306 kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) and maximum speed of 215 miles per hour (346 kilometers per hour) at 8,000 feet (2,438 meters). The service ceiling was 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and the range at cruise speed was 750 miles (1,207 kilometers).

The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, NC233Y, after cockpit windshield modifications by Northwestern Airways, Inc. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
The prototype Lockheed Model 10 Electra, NC233Y, after cockpit windshield modifications by Northwest Airways, Inc. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive, Catalog #: 01_00091576)

Newsreel footage of the Lockheed Model 10 prototype’s first flight, by cinematographer Alfred Dillimtash Black for Fox Movietone News, is in the collection of the Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina, University Libraries, and can be viewed at: https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/MVTN/id/7073

The Electra was “the Lisbon plane” in the  classic 1942 motion picture, “Casablanca,” which starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains.

Probably the best-known Lockheed Electra is the Model 10E Special, NR16020, which was built for Amelia Earhart for her around-the-world flight attempt in 1937. She took delivery of the airplane on her 39th birthday, 24 July 1936.

Amelia Earhart with her Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, at Burbank, 1937.
Amelia Earhart with her Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, at Burbank, 1937.

The prototype Lockheed Model 10 later carried U.S. registrations NC2332, NC17380, and Canadian registration CF-BRG. It was placed in service with the Royal Canadian Air Force 2 August 1940 with the serial number 7652. One of 15 Lockheed Electras in RCAF service during World War II, it was destroyed by fire at RCAF Station Mountain View, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, 14 October 1941.

Statement of Accident (Royal Canadian Air Force/Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum)

¹ Most sources cite 23 February as the date of the first flight.

² Many sources (e.g., Wikipedia) state that Lockheed’s Chief Pilot, Marshall Headle, made the Electra’s first flight.

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

18 February 1943, 12:26 p.m., Pacific War Time

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The second prototype Boeing XB-29 Superfortress, 41-0003, takes off from Boeing Field, 12:09 p.m., 18 February 1943. (Boeing)
The second prototype Boeing XB-29 Superfortress, 41-0003, takes off from Boeing Field, 12:09 p.m., 18 February 1943. (Boeing)

18 February 1943: At 12:09 p.m., Boeing Aircraft Company Chief Test Pilot Edmund Turney (“Eddie”) Allen took off from Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, in the Number 2 prototype XB-29 Superfortress long-range heavy bomber, serial number 41-0003. Allen’s co-pilot was engineering test pilot Robert R. Dansfield. The rest of the XB-29 flight crew were Charles Edmund Blaine, flight test engineer; Fritz Mohn, senior inspector; Vincent W. North, aerodynamicist; Harry William Ralston, radio operator; Barclay J. Henshaw, flight test analyst; Thomas R. Lankford, engineer; Robert Willis Maxfield, flight test engineer; Raymond Louis Basel, flight test engineer; Edward I. Wersebe, flight test engineer.

Edmund T. ("Eddie") Allen. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)
Edmund Turney Allen. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archive)

41-0003 had first flown on 30 December 1942, piloted by Allen. During that flight, the prototype bomber suffered a major engine fire and Eddie Allen’s performance in returning the airplane to the airport later earned him the U.S. Army’s Air Medal, awarded on the specific orders of President Harry S. Truman.

Problems with the XB-29s’ Wright R-3350-13 engines had caused major delays in the B-29 testing program. The Number 2 aircraft had its engines replaced with those from the first XB-29, 41-0002. By 18 February, 41-0003 had made only eight flights, with a total flight time of 7 hours, 27 minutes.

The ninth test flight of 41-0003 was planned to test the climb performance to 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) and to collect engine cooling data.

At 12:17 p.m., 41-0003 was climbing through 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) when the #1 engine (the outboard engine on the left wing) caught fire. The engine was shut down and CO2 fire extinguishers were activated. Eddie Allen began a descent and turned back toward Boeing Field.

The wind was out of the south at 5 miles per hour (2.24 meters per second) so it was decided to land on Runway 13, the southeast/northwest runway. At 12:24, radio operator Harry Ralston reported that the XB-29 was 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) northeast of the field at 1,200 feet (366 meters).

The airplane was in the landing pattern turning from the downwind leg to the base leg when at 12:25 an explosion occurred. Ralston was heard to say, “Allen, better get this thing down in a hurry. The wing spar is burning badly.”

In order to save weight, various parts of the Wright R-3350 engine were made of magnesium, a flammable metal which burned at a very high temperature. With an engine on fire, the bomber’s wing structure was extremely vulnerable.

The prototype bomber was now shedding parts and left a trail behind it on the ground. The fire was now burning inside the fuselage. Three crew members bailed out but the altitude was too low and they were killed.

At 12:26 p.m., Boeing XB-29 41-0003 crashed into the Frye Meat Packing Plant, south of downtown Seattle, and exploded. Nearly 5,000 gallons (18,927 liters) of gasoline started a massive fire. The 8 men still aboard the prototype bomber were killed, as were 20 employees inside the building. A firefighter who responded was also killed.

The Frye packing plant on fire, 18 February 1943. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Three XB-29 prototypes were built. The XB-29 was 98 feet, 2 inches (29.896 meters) long with a wing span of 141 feet, 3 inches (43.053 meters), and 27 feet, 9 inches (8.458 meters) high to the top of its vertical fin. The prototype bomber had a gross weight of 105,000 pounds (47,627.2 kilograms).

Boeing XB-29-BO, 41-002, the first XB-29 built. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing XB-29-BO, 41-002, the first XB-29 built. (U.S. Air Force)

The XB-29 was powered by four 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) air-cooled, supercharged, Wright Aeronautical Division Cyclone 18 670C18H1 (R-3350-13) two-row 18-cylinder radial engines (also known as the Duplex-Cyclone) with a compression ratio of 6.85:1. The R-3350-13 had a Normal Power rating of 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m., and 2,200 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. for takeoff, using 100 octane aviation gasoline. The engines turned 17-foot-diameter (5.182 meters) three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed propellers through a 0.35:1 gear reduction. The R-3350-13 was 76.26 inches (1.937 meters) long, 55.78 inches (1.417 meters) in diameter, and weighed 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms).

The XB-29 had a maximum speed of 368 miles per hour (592 kilometers per hour) and cruised at 255 miles per hour (410 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling was 32,100 feet (9,784 meters). The airplane was designed to carry 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) of bombs.

The B-29 Superfortress was the most technologically advanced—and complex—aircraft of the War. It required the manufacturing capabilities of the entire nation to produce. Over 1,400,000 engineering man-hours had been required to design the prototypes. It would be manufactured by Boeing at Seattle and Renton, Washington and at Wichita, Kansas; by Glenn L. Martin Company at Omaha, Nebraska; and by Bell Aircraft Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia.

There were three XB-29 prototypes; 14 YB-29 pre-production test aircraft; 2,513 B-29; 1,119 B-29A; and 311 B-29B Superfortress aircraft. The bomber served during World War II and the Korean War and continued in active U.S. service until 1960.

The Eddie Allen.

The employees of the Boeing plant at Wichita, Kansas donated the money to build a B-29 to be named in honor of Eddie Allen. B-29-40-BW 42-24579 flew 24 combat missions. On its final mission over Tokyo, Japan, the Eddie Allen was so badly damaged that, though it was able to reach its base on the island of Tinian, it never flew again.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Eddie Allen." (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing Wichita-built B-29-40-BW Superfortress 42-24579, “Eddie Allen,” of the 45th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy), 40th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), XX Bomber Command, circa 1944. (U.S. Air Force)
Boeing's acknoledgemnt of the sacrifice of its flight test crew, 18 February 1943,
Boeing’s acknowledgement of the sacrifice of its flight test crew, 18 February 1943, from the annual report to the shareholders.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes