Cool Things

Boeing Model Airplane

He didn't build just any model airplane, however. Riddle chose a B-29 Superfortress, a Kansas contribution to the war effort in World War II. The majority of these planes were built at the Boeing plant in Wichita, and training for the B-29s was carried out at four Kansas Army Air Fields. Learn more about the B-29 Superfortress.

Riddle's scale model, the "Tokyo Rose" (pictured here), is a very detailed version of the original which was the first B-29 to fly a mission over Japan. The symbolic value of this plane bombing Japan was in its name--"Tokyo Rose" was also the radio disc jockey who broadcast Japanese propaganda into Pacific war zones.

So what led Riddle to build this plane?

In February 1955 Airman First Class Riddle, an Oklahoma native, was stationed at Chitose Air Force Base in northern Japan. Riddle would later state:

"There wasn't much in the way of recreation, so most of the boys turned to hobbies. This model was mine. Some of the materials were hard to come by. The plastic covering for the cockpit and the nose are an example. I finally got the base librarian to save worn out book covers until I had enough to finish the job."

Thirteen months and a total of 2000 hours later, the model was finished. Outfitted with four small gasoline engines, Riddle's "Tokyo Rose" flew at least four times and won trophies in competitions. Its bomb bay doors opened and closed and could drop "bombs" in demonstrations.

Specifications of the "Tokyo Rose" model:

• Materials--Balsa wood and plywood
• Wing span--7 ft.
• Length--5 ft.
• Weight--12 lbs.
• Speed--62.5 MPH
• Gas tank capacity--12 oz.
• Duration of flight--6 1/2 minutes

Riddle died in 1958. His family later sold the "Tokyo Rose" model to the Boeing Aircraft Company, which in turn gave it to the Kansas Historical Society. The model is displayed in the main gallery of the Kansas Museum of History.

The B-29 in Kansas

The Boeing aircraft company introduced plans for its B-29 bomber before the United States entered World War II (1941-1945). The Superfortress had guns that could be fired by remote control, and pressurized crew areas. But its importance in wartime was its increased bomb load and ability to fly longer distances.

Boeing made the majority of B-29s at its Wichita plant, although they also were built by the Bell Aircraft and Glenn L. Martin companies. At the peak of production, a new B-29 was completed each four hours and forty-five minutes of the workday.

The B-29s were mostly used in the war's Pacific Theater, as their range was particularly suited to flying long distances over open water. Appropriately enough, the prairie lands of Kansas were an ideal training ground. The Army Air Force bases at Great Bend, Pratt, Salina, and Walker all trained B-29 crews.

At the end of the war, B-29s named "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar" dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. B-29s again saw service in the Korean War (1950-1953) before being retired in September, 1960.

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