From Paper to Preservation: Safeguarding the Legacy of B-29 DOC

Bluetail, an AI-powered aviation records management and compliance software platform, has completed the digitization of nearly 80 years of maintenance and historical records for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as “DOC” — one of only two airworthy B-29s remaining in the world.

The project was completed through Bluetail’s annual community giving program, in which the company selects an aviation organization or individual making a meaningful contribution to the industry and donates its digital records services. This year’s selection, DOC’s Friends, Inc., is a Wichita-based non-profit dedicated to restoring and preserving DOC and keeping the aircraft’s World War II-era story accessible to future generations. Click here to read more about Bluetail’s DOC project.

“DOC is a living lesson in history for generations to enjoy and learn from,” said Roberto Guerrieri, CEO and co-founder of Bluetail. “I was inspired by the story of people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to get her airborne. The fact that my kids and grandkids have the opportunity to see her fly is truly an epic mission to support.”

Bluetail’s Digital Services team, led on-site by team member Thomas Larsen, traveled to Wichita to physically scan and process the aircraft’s full records collection. The documents spanned eight decades of history — including handwritten entries. Upon digitization, Bluetail’s AI platform ingested, organized, and indexed the records chronologically, producing a fully searchable digital logbook.

The Bluetail team spent a week in Wichita scanning records and documents into its system.

“Being able to have searchable digital records and documents is a game-changer for our maintenance team,” said B-29 DOC Executive Director and CEO Josh Wells. “Maintaining DOC is a meticulous process and our team needs access to technical data, parts lists and manuals that were written in the 1940s to support the skilled and precision work that it takes to keep our warbird airworthy. Deploying Bluetail’s technology and support to our maintenance team will further enhance our ability to keep DOC flying for generations to come.”

Serial number 44-69972 rolled off the Boeing assembly line in Wichita in 1944. Delivered to the United States Army Air Forces in March 1945, the aircraft was later converted to a radar calibration platform, redesignated a TB-29, and eventually assigned to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake as a ballistic missile target before being retired from service in 1956.

In 1987, Air Force veteran and Continental Airlines employee Tony Mazzolini began a multi-decade effort to recover the aircraft from the California desert. After securing the Navy’s release of the aircraft in exchange for a restored B-25 Mitchell donated to the National Naval Aviation Museum, DOC was transported back to Wichita in 1998. DOC’s Friends, Inc. took ownership in February 2013 and completed its restoration. On July 17, 2016, DOC flew for the first time in 60 years. In 2017, she appeared alongside the only other flying B-29, “FIFI,” at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

The completed digital archive gives DOC’s Friends, Inc. a searchable, organized record system that supports ongoing airworthiness oversight and long-term preservation planning for the maintenance and preservation team.

About Bluetail
Bluetail is the leading modern AI-driven aircraft records platform. We enable aircraft owners, operators, and flight departments to move away from paper-based records and digitize, organize, search, and share all aircraft records (back-to-birth) from anywhere on any device. Our customers experience peace of mind knowing that every aircraft logbook, document, and history is professionally scanned, indexed, and secured on our FAA-compliant, cloud-based SaaS platform, so they can focus on running and growing their business. Learn more at https://bluetail.aero.