LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) – The iconic B-29, nicknamed “Doc”, has landed in Lawton as part of its “History Restored Tour” and will be there until the 17th.

7News Chief Photographer Justin Stevens spoke with Chief Pilot Mark Novak to learn more about the story of “Doc.”

“‘Doc’ was built in late 1944 in Wichita, uh, and was commissioned into the Air Force in March of ’45,” Novak said. “A little too late to actually make the fight. Doc was assigned to a Radar Calibration Squadron, a specialized squadron on the East Coast. That’s where the name Doc comes from, it was the Snow White Squadron.

Novak then explained how he and his group got their hands on “Doc.”

“So they had eight planes, there was Doc and the Seven Dwarfs,” Novak said. It flew until 1956, when the Air Force gave the Navy 250 B-29s which it used primarily as targets. They sent it to the California desert and it stayed there from 1956 until 2000. Our group then took control of the plane, broke it into seven large pieces, then trucked it away from California to Wichita.

“Our volunteers spent 16 years restoring it,” he continued. So, from 2000 to 2016, it was rebuilt. And in 2016, we made our first flights in 60 years. »

Novak then explains how the document used today compares to the 20th century original.

“It’s about 85 to 90 percent original. You know, there’s a little corrosion here and there, but the main structures are all from the original dock. Then two pilots facing forward, a flight engineer on the other side facing backwards. A navigator on one side, a radio operator on the other.

Novak then explained what people can experience on the B-29 tour.

“We have been traveling since the end of March. We go there from March until the first week of November. So this is actually our last stop of the year. We traveled through 15 states and 27 stops. Literally from the east coast to the west coast and everywhere in between.

“The guns were all remote-controlled, so he assigned the gun to whoever he thought had the best.” People come out of the woodwork and all they want us to do is just start the engines because they just want to hear it. And then we want to connect. Taking people for walks, even if you’re on the ground you hear it go by.

Novak further explains the goal of the B-29 tour, especially when talking about youth.

“We’re connecting with this new generation and teaching aviation history,” Novak said. “Ten years ago there were a lot of World War II veterans, but what we’re finding now is that it’s the kids, especially the grandkids, who want to know what grand- father did. What would grandfather do, where would he sit? What would he have done?

“And the fact is that we are able to show them and teach them,” he continued. “Um, if this plane was in a museum, a tenth of one percent of the number of people would come out and see a dirty old plane in a museum. But the fact is we can take the plane out just about anywhere in the country and really show off the plane and tell a story.

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