FAYETTEVILLE — Sidney Cox, 92, remembers seeing hundreds of B-29 bombers take off from an airfield he helped build in Guam during World War II.
To take flight those planes had to dive down a 500-foot cliff, he said.
“They would get up all the speed they could because they were heavily loaded, and they pulled just high enough to get 20 or 30 feet off, and to gain speed, they dove,” Cox said.
At A Glance
Today’s Lineup
The 14th annual Bikes, Blues & BBQ motorcycle rally ends today. Most vendors, music and events are at venues on Dickson Street, the Washington County Fairgrounds and the Baum Stadium parking lot. Rally headquarters is in front of the Walton Arts Center at West Avenue and Dickson Street. Bikes, Blues and Bombers at Drake Field continues Sunday. Today’s highlights are below. Complete schedules of events and music are available at nwaonline.com.
Parking Lot at Dickson and West
8 a.m.-midnight — Beer Garden Venue
8 a.m.-2 p.m. — Stokes Air Battle of the Bikes show
3:30 p.m.-midnight — Mainstage Music
9 a.m.-midnight — Train shuttle runs continuously to Baum and back to Dickson. Fare is $3 one way or $5 round trip.
Midnight — Miss BBB contest
Baum Stadium Parking Lot
8:30 a.m. — Firefighters Poker Run to Oklahoma
9 a.m.-5 p.m. — Demo Rides
10 a.m.-6 p.m. — HOG registration and pin stop
9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. — Beer Garden venue
11 a.m., 2 & 5 p.m. — FMX Stunt Team shows
Washington County Fairgrounds
Noon-1:30 p.m. — Bike games
2-4 p.m. — Lawn Mower Pulls
2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. — Karaoke Contest
3 p.m. — Barbecue Championship Awards
4 p.m. — Parade of Power to Dickson Street
9 a.m.-midnight — Beer Garden
7 p.m.-11:30 p.m. — Music
3 p.m.-1 a.m. — A shuttle will run from the fairgrounds to Dickson Street. It leaves the fairgrounds on the hour and Dickson Street on the half hour. Fare is $5 one way or $8 round trip.
Drake Field; Bikes, Blues and Bombers
9 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. — B-29 flies
Noon-6:30 p.m. — Cockpit tours
Northwest Arkansas Mall
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. — Car Show
Source: www.bikesbluesandbbq.org
“You wouldn’t see them any more. By the time they got back up high, they were out of sight, and 12 hours later, they started all coming in. They didn’t all come in together.”
Cox served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during the war at one of the two airfields on Guam in the west Pacific Ocean.
People in Fayetteville can see a B-29 take off today and Sunday and tour the cockpit at the Arkansas Air and Military Museum on South School Avenue by Drake Field.
Bikes, Blues and Bombers, a four-day aircraft show, joined the annual motorcycle rally as an added attraction this year.
Museum visitors can see Fifi, the only B-29 bomber still flying in the world, according to the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit organization that buys and restores combat aircraft. Those willing to pay between $595 and $1,595 can schedule a ride in the plane, also known as Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
The organization also brought in Diamond Lil, a B-24 bomber, an SB2C Hell Diver, a C-45 Expediter “Bucket of Bolts,” a T-6 Texan (Navy SNJ) and a Fairchild PT-19.
B-29s flew up to 4,000 miles and weighed as much as 140,000 pounds, including fuel and bombs, said Shad Morris, Fifi’s flight engineer.
“I can’t imagine operating it at 140,000 pounds and at 19 years old,” Morris said.
The organization acquired Fifi in California in 1972 when the Navy was using it and other planes as target practice, Morris said.
Morris said the plane’s four engines were rebuilt using components from different time periods, he said.
“If you’re going to build the ultimate race car, you might get an engine out of a ‘57 Chevy and a rear end out of a ‘62 Chevy pickup to make the ultimate deal,” he said.
Flight tours will go no further than 25 miles from the airfield, said Steve Zimmerman, one of Fifi’s pilots. The plane can exceed 200 miles per hour, Morris said.
“We go out and do some turns,” Zimmerman said. “We try to stay as low as we can some times, within reason, to see the ground and see how fast we’re going.”
The organization has 150 historic planes assigned to 70 units across the country. Veterans often visit the planes and bring family members, said Steve Zimmerman, one of Fifi’s pilots.
Cox, who retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, said he enjoyed seeing Fifi but had no interest in flying this weekend. He’s ridden plenty of planes in his life, he said. He came to get a DVD about the various planes for friends and family, he said.
Cox said he remembered about 220 B-29s would line up on two runways and take off every 30 seconds.
“Each one has four props, and it’s late in the afternoon, and they’re taking off to the west, and the sun is coming in, and all the props going. Fantastic. As far as you can see,” he said.