The volunteers that have been hard at work restoring Doc, a Superfortress that was one of eight B-29s named after characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, didn’t quite get the airplane flying by AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, as the group had hoped. But Doc’s Friends, the organization that is spearheading the restoration, says the airplane is just about ready for its first flight in several decades.
While it has been nearly a year since the organization first said the airplane was getting close to first flight, much progress has been made to make that complex mission a reality. The airplane has been partially fueled and checked for leaks, of which none were found. The fuel system is now being fine tuned in preparation for the first start of the engines. Turbocharger casings have been installed on all four engines and the avionics are ready to be installed.
