[PSUBS-MAILIST] B29 Superfort in Lake Mead

["Mark Steed" <plutomark@mail.astate.edu>]

Greetings all. I am having some computer problems this morning, so you make see this twice. If so, my apologies in advance. I picked up the current issue of AIR CLASSICS magazine (Vol.38-No.11) and there is a good story with a photograph about the B29 we discussed a little while back. I'll quote a few lines: "Boeing B29 Superfortress, USAAF s/n 45-21847, in Lake Mead near Las Vegas"...."had gone down on 21 July 1948 during an atmospheric sampling test"."This was back in the "bad old days" when atomic weapons were being detonated above ground a few miles from then bucolic Las Vegas". "The B29 smacked back down in the water and, after coming to a stop, the crew jettisoned various hatches and the five men scurried into two life rafts which they deployed". "The plane is over 300 feet down, making it a hazardous trip for divers, and the precise location is being kept secret to prevent amateur divers from attempting to get to the spot". "The National Park Service is considering including the submerged bomber for inclusion in the National Registry of Historic Places".  Best regards, Mark Steed