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The B-29 Superfortress[1] is a four-engine, propeller-driven, heavy bomber that was flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War.

Background[]

The B-29 Superfortress was retired from service during the 20th century, and surviving models became displays in air force museums, such as the one at Nellis Air Force Base. After the arrival of the Boomers at Nellis, the tribe found the museum B-29 and tried to restore it to working order, but soon realised that the plane was no longer able to be flown.[2]

A possible solution was found when one of the Boomers mechanics, Loyal, read an old magazine article about a B-29 that had crashed in Lake Mead.[2] The crash occurred on July 21, 1948, and now centuries later, the crashed plane has taken on a mythical status among the Boomers.[2] Known variously as the "Lady of the Water", "Lady in the Lake",[2] or more simply the "Lady",[3] retrieving the crashed aircraft from Lake Mead and using parts from the museum B-29 already at Nellis to create a flyable superfortress has been a long standing dream for the Boomers.[2]

With the arrival of the Courier at Nellis, the first outsider to reach the base in decades, the Boomers decided they presented the best opportunity to retrieve the Lady. After proving themself to the Boomers, the Courier may have been entrusted to float the Lady so that the Boomers could finally achieve their dream of flight.[4] In return, the Boomers gave the Courier their support at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, using the restored B-29, now renamed to the Pearl[5], to carpet bomb part of the road across the dam.

Characteristics[]

The Boeing B-29 was a flying craft that was primarily designed to carry and drop extensive amounts of bombs and later converted to drop the first and only atomic bombs during an armed conflict. In addition to the offensive bombs, it contained twelve .50 caliber M2 defensive guns: Two turrets on top with four machine guns, two turrets on the bottom with two four machine guns each, plus two more machine guns in the tail gun position. Earlier configurations included an additional 20mm cannon in the tail gun.

Appearances[]

The B-29 Superfortress appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes[]

  • The crashed B-29 in-game references a real world Boeing B-29 crashing into Lake Mead on July 21, 1948 - the same date in-game and in real life. The aircraft and site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2011.
  • The aircraft's defensive armament is excessive to any real-world B-29. Instead of one quad .50 cal turret and three double .50 cal turrets, all four turrets on the in-game models are equipped with four M2 BMGs, upping the armament from 10 to 18 guns total.
  • On August 6, 1945, a B-29 known as the Enola Gay was the first aircraft to ever drop a nuclear weapon. The B-29 continued service well into the Cold War, but was phased out by 1960 for newer bombers.
  • The "Circle A" tail code corresponds to the 106th Bombardment Wing, based at March Air Force Base from 1951-1952.[6]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Generic Boomer: "I can't believe we may see the superfortress built in my lifetime."
    (Generic Boomer dialogue)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Courier: "Lady in the water? What's that?"
    Loyal: "A long time ago - long before the war that killed just about everything that ever lived - a bomber crashed not far from here. A bomber was a flying contraption that could drop explosives down on anything it flew over. But anyway, moving on... This bomber crashed down in Lake Mead, pretty damn near intact. When we got to Nellis, see, I found this article in a magazine all about it. There was another B-29 around here, part of a museum. Couldn't fly, but had a lot of spare parts, see? Get where I'm going? Since I was a young man, I've dreamed of raising that Lady from the lake and bringing her back to life. What do you say?"
    (Loyal's dialogue)
  3. The Courier: "If it's so simple, why haven't you done it?"
    Loyal: "Maybe you don't understand. Hasn't been one of us, not a one, to set a foot outside Nellis in over fifty years. You come along, with your knowledge of the outside, and it seems the time's come to raise the Lady after all."
    (Loyal's dialogue)
  4. Events of Volare!
  5. File:nv_b29pearl.png, restored B-29 nose art texture.
  6. 106th Rescue Wing on Wikipedia
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