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It seems that a bomber, apparently the 29th of its kind, crashed in Lake Mead on July 21st, 1948. Just imagine - that's over 300 years ago!Pete

The crashed B-29 is a vehicle and location in the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas.

Background[]

On July 21, 1948, a B-29 Superfortress bomber crashed into Lake Mead, close to Lake Mead Cave and Callville Bay.[1] Magazine articles written about the event, photographs taken of the wreckage, and a map of the area were compiled and cataloged at Nellis Air Force Base.[2]

In the early 2230s, a splinter group of residents from Vault 34 left their bunker to wander the wasteland, becoming a tribe called the Boomers. After claiming ownership of the abandoned Nellis AFB, they discovered the information about the bomber.[3][2] Dubbing it The Lady in the Water or simply The Lady, the Boomers became fascinated with the idea of raising the aircraft out of the water and returning it to operational condition, to the point of including it in a mural retelling of their tribe's history to indicate their future.[4][5] They stockpiled resources for the eventual repairs by disassembling another B-29 stored in a museum to gain the necessary spare parts,[6] and ever since then, have awaited the day when they could raise "The Lady" from the water and help "her" ascend to the skies once more.[7]

Layout[]

During their quest to recruit the Boomers for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the tribe's leader, Pearl asks the Courier to assist Loyal in executing the plan to raise the bomber. Loyal concludes that the bomber can be raised using ballasts attached to the wings to lift it up from the lakebed. Afterward, robots are sent out from Nellis to disassemble the wreckage to be transported back to Nellis. From then on, leading up to Hoover Dam, the bomber resides in the Nellis hangars gradually being restored to working condition.

Notes[]

  • Ranger Lineholm at Ranger Station Alpha refers to the plane as a local myth.[8]
  • After raising the B-29, Radio New Vegas will feature a bit about locals having seen a large "object or creature" surfacing on Lake Mead, and that it has been dubbed "The Lake Mead Monster."[9]
  • The B-29 can be seen in the quests Eureka!, No Gods, No Masters, All or Nothing, Veni, Vidi, Vici and Volare!. In All or Nothing, it can be seen sweeping through the sky and dropping bombs on Caesar's Legion or the NCR.
  • After the plane has been reassembled in the Nellis hangar, a new piece of artwork can be seen on the fuselage near the cockpit.[10] It depicts Pearl in her younger days wearing a Vault 34 jumpsuit with a background shaped like a Vault door, and is drawn in typical 1950s pin-up style.
  • Since Fallout: New Vegas takes place in 2281, and the recorded date of the bomber's crash was in 1948, that makes the aircraft around 333 years old.

Appearances[]

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

Behind the scenes[]

  • The crashed B-29 is a real world crash site, referencing a Boeing B-29 crashing into Lake Mead on July 21, 1948 - the same date in-game and in real life.
  • The "Circle A" tail code corresponds to the 106th Rescue Wing, based at March Air Force Base from 1951-1952.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 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)
  2. 2.0 2.1 The Courier: "How did you learn where to find an old bomber?"
    Pete: "Loyal found a file somewhere on the base, with magazine articles, photographs, a map, even. It seems that a bomber, apparently the 29th of its kind, crashed in Lake Mead on July 21st, 1948. Just imagine - that's over 300 years ago! The photographs showed that it was basically intact, and the map tells us exactly where to find it. Except we haven't left Nellis in decades."
    (Pete's dialogue)
  3. The Courier: "Tell me about the Boomers."
    Robert House: "They occupied Nellis Air Force Base a little over 50 years ago. One of my Securitrons got some video of their arrival - and then... exploded. Odds are they were Vault dwellers. That's everything I know about them, really."
    (Robert House's dialogue)
  4. Pete: "Ages ago, long before I was born, we lived underground. Everyone had guns but the overseer wouldn't let us explode anything, not even a hand grenade. We left and wandered the wastes. There were savages with knives. We blew them up with frag mines and grenades, burned them with flamethrowers. It was neat, but there was a downside. For every 43.6 savages we killed, we lost one of our own. We needed a new home. We needed Nellis. Nellis, glittering like shrapnel in the desert sun. Nellis, bursting with missiles, warheads, and bombs. Nellis had waited. Just for us. Here, we have prospered and multiplied. Here, our mighty guns destroy any savages who might try to harm us before they can even reach our gates! Well, until... but... not saying you want to harm us or you're a savage, but... anyways. Nellis has revealed many secrets. It has taught us how to fly the bombers once based here. And it has taught us where to find one! And that is our story so far, for this last image is our future. To restore the bomber, to fly the open skies in armored safety, raining high-explosive ordnance upon ignorant savages - this is our destiny! I'm pleased that you listened to the entire story! Perhaps there are details you'd like to know more about? Let me know."
    (Pete's dialogue)
  5. The Courier: "Keep dreaming. That plane's never going to fly."
    Pete: "As I said, repairing and flying the bomber is our destiny. It's that simple."
    (Pete's dialogue)
  6. 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)
  7. Generic Boomer: "I can't believe we may see the superfortress built in my lifetime."
    (Generic Boomer dialogue)
  8. The Courier: "Any interesting places around here?"
    Rebecca Lineholm: "Have you ever heard the story of the bomber that crashed into the lake before the War? Supposedly it's mostly intact, even after all that time."
    (Rebbaca Lineholm's dialogue)
  9. Mr. New Vegas: "Witnesses report a huge object or creature surfacing in Lake Mead. So far, photos of the so-called Lake Mead Monster are grainy and underexposed."
    (Mr. New Vegas' dialogue)
  10. B-29 nose art
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