Rockwell Collins retirees’ gift aboard last flying B-29

CEDAR RAPIDS - A unique gift is part of the story behind this week's visit to Cedar Rapids by the last flying World War II-era B-29 Superfortress.

A group of Rockwell Collins retirees donated a fully restored Collins ART-13 radio transmitter from the era to the Commemorative Air Force, the Texas-based non-profit that rescued and restored the B-29 named FiFi.

A similar model of the 1940s-era radio is on permanent display in Rockwell Collins' museum. The analog, tube-based radio is unlike anything most Americans have seen. Weighing 66 pounds, the AM radio was used for long-range communications with mission command, often sending messages in Morse code.

The possibility of such long-range wireless communication in the heyday of the ART-13 during the 1940s was as revolutionary as the Internet is today.

Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, now Rockwell Collins, produced about 26,000 of the 100-watt transmitters.

Retiree Julius Yoder, who worked on the project, repaired hundreds of the radios while serving in the Air Force during the Berlin Airlift. He said a key feature of the radio was an auto-tune device developed by Collins Radio founder Arthur Collins that saved signalmen quite a bit of time finding the right channels for mission communications.

The gift was dedicated two weeks ago, and this week, the non-profit Commemorative Air Force is flying the aircraft to The Eastern Iowa Airport to show it off with the radio equipment installed.

A massive bomber with 3,200 horsepower packed in its four engines, the B-29 was a staple aircraft for long-range missions carrying heavy bomb loads from its introduction in 1942 until the late 1950s.

More than 1,000 B-29s were used in the South Pacific, carrying 11-member crews. It was the type of aircraft used to drop the first atomic bomb, ushering in the end of World War II.

Retirees and other members of the Rockwell Collins Amateur Radio Club restored the ART-13 for a radio history exhibit at The Carl & Mary Koehler History Center in Cedar Rapids in 2005. It was brought out again in 2007 for a celebration of 60 years of Rockwell Collins radios on Boeing refueling tankers.

Retrofitted B-29s were some of the nation's first aerial refueling tankers.

After the exhibits, the Rockwell Collins retirees began trying to find a permanent home to showcase the radio, explained Lawrence Robinson, an engineer and curator of the company's museum.

The retirees had constructed a fully realistic mock-up of an aircraft's ART-13 operator's station for the History Center exhibit. They were looking for a setting to bring the radio to life, and a ham radio operator group that would be available to show how it had been used.

Finding a group that was in a position to accept the gift proved more difficult than expected. Eventually, the retirees contacted the Commemorative Air Force, which has its headquarters not far from Rockwell Collins' operations in Richardson, Texas. They had hopes that the Rockwell employees and retirees would help with installation and radio demonstrations.

“They jumped right in it,” Robinson said.

The Rockwell Collins group even had to replace the antenna in FiFi, which the Commemorative Air Force was keeping with a cluster of B-29s it was using for gunnery practice in California.

The ARC-13 donation was commemorated two weeks ago in a ceremony at the Addison, Texas, airport where the Commemorative Air Force's museum is located. It was an emotional moment, Robinson said, for the many in attendance who had family ties to World War II airmen who risked life and limb.

Participant Clyde Hussey, who was a 19-year-old radio operator, was on the last bomber to drop the last bomb on Japan. He was returning from the mission when he got word on the radio that the war was over.

“He wrote in his log book, ‘War over - going to sleep,'?” said Rockwell retiree and former museum curator Rod Blocksome. Exhausted, Hussey fell asleep until the engines cut off shortly after landing, barely having had enough fuel to make the long mission.

While the radio club members hope lots of Iowans turn out to see FiFi, an equally big hope is that they find a B-29 radio operator to come and talk about serving during the war.

“We would love to honor them,” Robinson said.

If you go

[naviga:ul]

[naviga:li]What: Tours of B-29 Superfortress “FiFi” owned by the Commemorative Air Force[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday and Friday.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Where: PS Air Hangar at The Eastern Iowa Airport, Cedar Rapids[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Cost: $10 per person or $20 per family; children under 12 free.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Extras: Rides on the B-29 Superfortress will be offered at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday and at 4 p.m. Thursday, with costs starting at $595.[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ul]

On the Net

More information and flight bookings are available at http://www.formstack.com/landing/caf-cedarrapids.

Museum

The Rockwell Collins museum is open for public tours between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wednesdays; call (319) 295-1698 for an appointment.