Mike Breiding's Epic Road Trips: The Works of Others

 

This is another offering in "The Works of Others" series. With this series I take the works of others which are not in a web compatible format and convert and reformat them so they can be viewed as a web page. I call this "webulizing".
You can view all of these here: The Works of Others - Master Index.

 

I first came across this information from an article at Tucson.com entitled: "Old bomber doors provide shade at Saguaro National Park" by Reporter Henry Brean.
Betsy and I have led a number of hikes starting from the Javelina Picnic Area so I found the article quite interesting and it will also give me more information to share on future hikes.
In the Tucson.com article Brean mentions Ronald Beckwith writing a historical brief for the Park Service about the Javelina Picnic Area Ramadas. I emailed Brean, and he sent me the PDF of Beckwith's historical brief.
Fascinating...
If this type of thing interests you I suggest you read the Tucson.com article as it has additional background information and photos about the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers and the Javelina Picnic Area.

Below is the "webulized" version of the PDF historical brief written by Ronald Beckwith NPS.
NOTE: Throughout the brief all instances of the word Javelina were spelled as "Javalina". I corrected this.

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Javelina Picnic Area Ramadas
From Flying Bombing Missions over Japan to Providing Shade to the Weary Visitor
Ronald Beckwith - Archeologist: Saguaro National Park

Introduction
Javelina Picnic Area in the Rincon Mountain District of Saguaro National Park contains a most unusual set of ramadas. Each of the five ramadas was constructed using recycled B-29 "Superfortress" bomb bay doors (Figure 1). B-29s were WWII era (Figures 2 and 3) long range bombers. Unfortunately the circumstances surrounding the innovative and unique choice of using bomb bay doors for ramada roofs is not known. The history of the bomb bay doors is also unknown – did these bomb bay doors come from B-29s that participated in bombing runs during WWII? And if so were they in the Pacific Theater and did the planes drop bombs on Japan?

Javelina Picnic Area
There are 6 ramadas in the Javelina Picnic Area, each with a bomb bay door roof. In total 25 bomb bay doors were used. B-29's had 2 sets of two bomb bay doors, so there are 7 aircraft represented. Each of the bomb bay doors is 13'8" long by 36.5" wide (see Figure 3). The ramadas were constructed in October 1954 and the bomb bay doors were acquired from the Davis Monthan Air Force Base "Boneyard" or AMARC (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center) (see Figure 4)

B-29 "Superfortess"
The B-29 Superfortress was manufactured by the Boeing Company. In its day the B-29 was the most technologically advanced bomber in the world. Each Boeing B-29 had an 11 man crew, who flew in a somewhat comfortable pressurized crew cabin. The plane had a range of 5,830 miles with a cruising speed of 220 mph and a ceiling of 31,850 ft. Each plane could carry a 20,000 lb. bomb load. The airplane came into service in early 1943 and its first area of combat was India. The plane’s baptism of fire came on June 5, 1944 when B-29s attacked Makasan, near Bangkok, Thailand. [1] The first B-29 attack on the Japanese home islands was on June 15-16. [2]

Figure 1. A ramada at the Javelina Picnic Area. The ramada’s roof is constructed from three B-29 bomb bay doors.

Figure 2. Photograph of a B-29 “Superfortress” in flight

Figure 3. A B-29 in flight with both sets of bomb bay doors open in preparation of dropping its bombs (Photograph courtesy of the Associated Press/Wichita Eagle).

Figure 4. Rows of cocooned B-29 Superfortress bombers in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, circa 1950. [4]

On August 6, 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

Before production ended in 1946, a total of 3970 B-29s were built. After the war, B-29s were adapted for several functions, including in-flight refueling, antisubmarine patrol, and weather reconnaissance and rescue duty. The B29 saw military service again in Korea between 1950 and 1953. The last B-29 squadron was retired from service in September 1960. [3]

Pima Air and Space Museum
The Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, has two B-29s on exhibit. "The Sentimental Journey" (Serial Number 44-70016) was with the 330th Bomb Group and flew 31 missions over Japan During WWII. The second B29, actually a Boeing KB-50J, Serial Number 49-0372, is a version of B-29 that was modified as an aerial refueling tanker

[1]
B-29 Superfortress Units of World War 2, by Robert F. Dorr, Osprey Combat Aircraft No. 33, 2004 Osprey Publishing Limited. P. 19.
[2]
IBID P. 20.
[3]
Superfortress: Historical Snapshot
[4]
Davis-Monthan Air Force Boneyard in Tucson: Layout, Operations, Tours, and Maps

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You can download the original NPS document here.

 

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