The B-29 and the US Auto Industry in World War Two

This page added 6-15-2016.

The B-29 project was the largest and most expensive project undertaken during World War Two.  It was even more expensive than the Manhattan Project.  The American Automobile Industry was instrumental in supplying airframe components and engines for the B-29.  Below are the automobile companies and their suppliers known to have participated in the building of the most complex aircraft to date.

The US Auto Industry's involvement in the B-29 was immense yet has been unheralded and forgotten.  The auto industry supplied everything from bearings for the remote control gun systems to the major fuselage and wing components, and engines. 

 Boeing's initial work on the concept of a long range bomber started with the February 5, 1940 receipt of specification "R-40B" from the U.S. Army Material Command at Wright Field in Dayton, OH.  The specification was written for a long range four engine bomber with a range of 5,333 miles with the speed and bomb load of a B-17.  Boeing had been expecting the proposal, and had been working on several conceptual bomber models starting in 1939.  The Model 341, which Boeing felt met the requirements, was submitted in March 1940.

In late March  the Army Air Corps realized that the requirements needed to be changed.  A supplementary specification went to Boeing which included more bomb capacity, leak proof fuel tanks, and more defensive armament.  Due to these requirements, the Model 341 evolved into the Model 345.  The Model 345 added seventeen more feet of wing span than the Model 341 and was eight feet longer.  Each Wright radial engines had 200 more horsepower at take-off than the engines designated for the Model 341.  The Model 345 would have a maximum bomb load of 16,000 pounds, a crew of twelve, four remote controlled turrets, a rear turret, and a maximum speed of 382 MPH at 25,000 feet.  This was then designated the XB-29.

As with all military designs, weight of the B-29 went up over time with the addition of new requirements by the military.  The final B-29 design had grown to an aircraft with a design gross weight of 105,000 pounds, while the XB-29's design gross weight was 100,000 pounds, the Model 345 was 97,700 pounds, and the Model 341 76,000 pounds.  The added requirements caused the weight to increase by 29,000 pounds over three years, while the airframe and engines remained constant since the Model 345.

 When it came time for production of the B-29 in 1943, the US Auto Industry was deeply involved as suppliers of airframe components, engines, and many of the internal components of the aircraft.  General Motor had seventeen of its divisions providing parts and structural components.  They were:  AC Sparkplug, Allison, Brown-Lipe-Chapin, Buick, Chevrolet, Delco Appliance, Delco Products, Delco Radio, Delco-Remy, Fisher Body, Frigidaire, Harrison Radiator, Hyatt Bearings, Moraine Products, New Departure, Packard Electric, and Rochester Products.  Chrysler's DeSoto, Dodge, and Plymouth divisions contributed heavily to the B-29 project.  Hudson was the third automaker to supply B-29 components.  Auto suppliers contributing to the construction of the B-29 were Briggs Manufacturing, Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, and Libby-Owens Ford.

The US Auto Industry and the B-29 "Enola Gay":  The first three Silverplate nuclear bombers were built at the Boeing Wichita, KS plant.  The "Enola Gay" and the of remaining 43 Silverplate nuclear bombers were all built at the Martin Omaha, NE B-29 plant.  All were modified for the nuclear mission at Martin Omaha. 

As the Martin information from World War Two shows, the US auto industry was the major supplier of airframe and structural components to Omaha. 

The B-29 "Enola Gay" is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia.  Author's photo.

 Author's photo.

The bombardier's front Plexiglas nose section was built by Libby-Owens-Ford, a prime supplier of glass to the US auto industry.  The front eighteen foot fuselage section was built by Chrysler's DeSoto Division on Warren Avenue in Detroit.  Author's photo.

The Fisher Body Plant # 1 in Cleveland, OH built the rear turret and gun assembly.  Goodyear built the rudder, the vertical stabilizer and the leading edge to the vertical stabilizer.  It also built the horizontal stabilizer and elevators on the "Enola Gay".  Goodyear had aviation plans in Akron, OH and Goodyear, AZ.   The three rear fuselage sections behind the wings, to include the tail gunner's location, were built the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit.  Author's photo.

Goodyear produced the two bomb bay fuselage sections.  Chrysler furnished the engine cowlings and the leading edge sections for the wing center section.  Fisher Body Cleveland #1 or Fisher Body Lansing built the engine nacelles and inside the nacelles the Fisher Body furnished the engine exhaust manifolds and the engine oil tanks.  Hudson provided the ailerons, outer wing sections, outer wing leading edges and wing tips.  Briggs supplied the flaps and bomb bay doors.  Inside the wings were four Firestone fuel tanks.  The engines are shown as Government Furnished Equipment.  Dodge in Chicago produced Wright R-3350 engines.  Author's photo.

The name "Enola Gay" is written on the Chrysler DeSoto Division built nose fuselage section.  The eighteen foot long section parting line can be seen about two feet behind the square window.  Chrysler workers installed 50,000 rivets, four miles of wiring and 8,000 different types of parts in the nose section.  Behind the nose section are two Goodyear built bomb bay fuselage sections.  On normal B-29s built there was provision for a Goodrich built auxiliary fuel tank in the rear bomb bay.  For the nose gear and main landing gears the doors were produced by Goodrich.  Author's photo.

Because modifications were made to the Silverplate B-29s, several of components supplied by the American auto industry were not included.  The bomb bay doors were modified to accept the large atomic weapons.  The bomb bay doors normally supplied to Omaha B-29s were not used or were modified.  It is unknown.  Also, the Silverplate aircraft used Curtiss reversible electric propellers, and not the normal Hamilton Standard propeller built by Frigidaire Division of GM .

Nose Section:  The photos below are of the interior of the nose section from B-29A 44-62139 at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, OH.  This A model nose section is representative of all nose sections built.  Most likely this one was built at the Boeing Renton, WA plant.  B-29s built in Marietta, GA by Bell and Boeing in Wichita, KS had Chrysler built nose fuselage sections.  The photos below show some of the 50,000 rivets, 8,000 parts and four miles of wiring.  All of the displays are behind Plexiglas.

 Author's photo.

The left or port side of the bombardier's station.  Author's photo.

The pilot's station.  Author's photo.

 The flight engineer's station.  Author's photo.

Factory Photos: 

This photo is an exploded view of an actual B-29, showing many of the main components.  The Chrysler DeSoto nose section is separated from the Goodyear built bomb bay fuselage sections.  The Hudson built rear fuselage sections with the Goodyear vertical and horizontal tail and control surfaces can be seen.  The main wing center section was built by Martin Omaha but the outer wing section components built by Hudson are visible.  The Fisher Body engine nacelles have Chrysler built engine cowlings attached.  Frigidaire props are off the Dodge built engines.

There was more to just stamping out the aluminum sheet metal pieces and then riveting them together with 50,000 rivets to make the fuselage.  DeSoto-Warren assembled all of the interior of the B-29 nose section, which included four of the eight miles of wiring in the B-29.  The workers shown above are installing some of the 8,000 parts that went into the construction of the Superfortress fuselage.  The B-29 was the first insulated and soundproofed bomber and the insulation can be seen in this photo   The fuselage sections were shipped via rail to Omaha using oversized boxcars, which were foot wider and one and a half foot taller than the normal boxcar of the period.

Working on B-29 engine cowlings at the DeSoto Warren Plant in Detroit.

This is the Fisher Body Cleveland plant #2 making horizontal stabilizers.  Fisher Body either made them along with Goodyear, or was a sub-contractor to Goodyear for these particular B-29 components. 

B-29 engine nacelles on the assembly line at Lansing Fisher Body.  Photo courtesy of UAW Local 602.

Hudson workers building B-29 rear fuselage sections. 

B-29 rear fuselage end caps under construction at the Hudson plant.

In the table below is the production schedule that the auto companies had to meet for the supply of components for the Martin Omaha, NB built B-29s.  Note that in several months there is no production or at least no accepted production.  It could have been that there was a parts shortage that did not allow the aircraft to be finished and accepted by the US Army Air Force.  I do think the work stoppages were intentional.

Aircraft in World War Two were built in Block Numbers, which had frozen designs and did not allow for any changes to the aircraft while coming down the production line.  This allowed mass production of aircraft without having to make the constant changes and improvements that were needed due to information that was coming back from testing and operational units.  When a new block was started it contained updates and improvements.  However, even then to facilitate production, not all of the upgrades would be included and afterwards the aircraft would go to one of nineteen modifications centers for the latest updates.  The modification centers were an important part of the process needed to keep the aircraft production lines operating in a timely manner.  In the case of Martin Omaha it had its own modification center.

Serial numbers reflect the year the aircraft were ordered as indicated by the first two numbers in the sequence.  The first B-29 built at Martin Omaha was the 65202nd aircraft ordered by the US Army Air Force in 1942.  The last one off the assembly line in August of 1944 was the 86273rd aircraft ordered in 1944.

Of the four plants making B-29s during WWII, Martin in Omaha, NE was chosen to build and then modify the operational B-29s for the nuclear bomber Silverplate program.  Martin was considered by the US Army Air Force to have the best quality of the four plants.  The first fifteen came directly off the assembly line and went to Wendover Army Air Field, UT, where they were converted to the Silverplate configuration and then used in training. 

The fifteen operational Silverplates that went to Tinian were also built at Martin and modified at the adjacent modification center.  Modifications included but were not limited to replacing the Hamilton Standard Propellers with Curtiss Wright Electric reversible props, eliminating all of the gun turrets, gun sights, and gun control computers with the exception of the tail turret, and modifying the bomb bays to accept the large atomic devices. 

The Martin Plant received the Army-Navy "E" for Excellent Award on December 13,1943 and then later 3 stars for on-time delivery.  The awards were given for the previous B-26 production at the plant. 

Below are two other B-29s built by Martin built with US Auto Industry fuselage and wing components.

1,866 Wright R-3300 engines
 This Martin built B-29 42-65281, seen here at the Travis AFB Heritage Center, came off the assembly line at Omaha, NE in December 1944..  Author's Photo.

 This Martin built B-29 44-27343, seen here at the Tinker AFB Heritage Display, came off the assembly line at Omaha, NE in May 1945.  Author's Photo.
 

Martin built B-29 44-86408 is also displayed at Hill AFB in Ogden, UT.  Five of the 531 Martin B-29s therefore survive.