Navy P2B Patrol Bomber
- Section source: Baugher
The Navy acquired four B-29-BWs, March 14, 1947, for long-range patrol missions and given the designation P2B-1S with Navy Bureau numbers, BuNo's 84028-84031.
P2B, BuNo 84029, went through modification to carry the Douglas D-558 Skyrocket high-speed rocket-powered research aircraft. Modifications of the bomb bay was done to carry the Skyrocket II under the belly and dropped for Mach speed testing. The first Skyrocket test flight occurred on September 8, 1950 with test pilot William B. Bridgeman, and George Jansen flying the B-29. Scott Crossfield broke Mach 2 on November 20, 1953; with the last Skyrocket flight in December 1956.
The P2B "mother-ship" was nicknamed "Fertile Myrtle" and was assigned the NACA number 137.
The P2B-2S was an anti-submarine patrol bomber.
Read more about this topic: Boeing B-29 Superfortress Variants
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