Help ‘Doc’ fly again

Many who’ve done the hands-on restoration of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as “Doc” have the special skills that made Wichita the Air Capital of the World, including some retirees who worked on the bomber’s production line in the 1940s.

But the rest of us now are needed to pitch in as well, by contributing to the crowdfunding campaign that will get Doc flying again.

A week and a half after Doc’s engines had their successful test, the nonprofit group Doc’s Friends launched a 30-day campaign Wednesday to raise $137,500 on Kickstarter. The funding will pay for the testing, fuel, insurance and other costs of getting Doc through a taxi test and back in the air for what former Spirit AeroSystems CEO Jeff Turner called “a second first flight,” probably by the end of the year. Those who can help should go to the Kickstarter.com page or the Doc’s Friends website, www.b-29doc.com. Late Wednesday afternoon, more than $8,500 already had been pledged.

Organizers will still need to finance and build a hangar for Doc, probably at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. But “once it’s in the air it’ll pay for itself on the tour circuit,” said Turner, who chairs Doc’s Friends.

Doc will preserve and pass along the amazing story of how the B-29 helped win World War II. But how Doc was rescued from the desert and restored will always stand out, too – as a testament to the dedication of the proud area volunteers who spent 300,000 hours and 15 years turning the pieces of a historic warbird into an airworthy museum.

For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Help ‘Doc’ fly again."