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| I was a T/Sgt and B-29 Crew Chief with the 345th Bomb Squadron, 98th Bombardment Wing at Yokata AFB, Japan from December 1951 through August 1952. The plane I crewed was a B-29 that had been overhauled and revised with some new equipment, such as Loran, that was state of the art at that time. It had been flying for some time before I arrived at Yokata and took the plane. I was transferred to Japan from the 72nd Strat Recon Squadron at Travis AFB, California. We had switched to B-36's shortly after the war started but my MOS as a B-29 ground Crew Chief became critical in Japan and away I went. I was happy as I had spent near three years on 29's and liked them much better than the mechanical nightmarish 36. My B-29 was in great shape and Paul Henrichs and I kept it that way, along with the help of other crew members and supporting technical crews. |
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It
is shown connected to its ground Power Unit. There is a tool storage
shed under under the right wing and two maintenance stands lying on
their side, one on the left and one on the right. There are a pair of
wood ramps, onto which the plane was towed for tire changes, lying this
side of the power unit. There is another small engine device, a pallet
with something on it and a wood stand in the foreground, all of which
I cannot identify. Parked at the tool shed is my Cushman scooter, I
believe the only one on the base
Closeup of 2106 nose art on Ready, Willin, Wanton
Aircraft
2106 being loaded with 500 pound bombs. Note the Japanese bomb loader
behind #4 engine prop blade. Most, if not all, bomb loading, refueling,
hardstand guard duty, mess duty, firefighting etc was performed by Japanese
while I was at Yokata during 1952.
Mid 1952 and 2106 had 105 missions and had shot down a MIG. This aircraft was a good one, never aborting a mission due to mechanical problems while I was crew chief December 1951 through August 1952. My assistant, Paul Henrichs, and I really stayed on top of this machine.
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