Group to make last AirVenture appearance before B-29 is ready for flight

Doc’s Friends, the Wichita-based nonprofit organization restoring the B-29 Superfortress “Doc”, will be exhibiting at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis., from July 28 to August 3. A group of business leaders from Wichita, Kan., founded Doc’s Friends in early 2013 with a vision to see the historic Boeing B-29 Superfortress restored to flying condition.

After spending 42 years deteriorating in the western Mojave Desert at the U.S. Naval Weapons Testing Center, Doc was rescued in 1998 by Tony Mazzolini and an intrepid group of volunteers. Amid bureaucratic roadblocks, a constant flow of misinformation and behind-the-scenes intrigue, Mazzolini’s passion and persistence are now paying off and will soon culminate in the form of a flying tribute to the Greatest Generation.

“Hundreds of volunteers, including even some of those who originally built B-29s at the Boeing Wichita plant during the war, have taken up the mission and are bringing Doc back from the brink of destruction. It was originally Tony’s vision, but now it’s shared and supported by individuals and organizations both in Wichita and across the globe,” said Jeff Turner, Doc’s Friends Chairman, and retired Spirit AeroSystems CEO.

Doc will be one of only two airworthy Superfortresses worldwide, and there are no known remaining B-29 airframes restorable to flying condition. Doc’s permanent home base will be Wichita, however the aircraft will serve as a traveling museum with a specific mission – to honor, educate, and connect.

Doc is scheduled to make its first flight in more than 60 years later this year. “We’re definitely very close,” said Turner. “But we need the entire community to rally behind Doc and help get him out of that hangar and into the air.”

Board members, volunteers and Doc’s rescuer, Tony Mazzolini, will be present at EAA AirVenture under the Doc’s Friends tent, which will be located in the Warbirds section on the show grounds at Whitman Field. To join Doc’s Friends or follow Doc’s progress, visit www.b-29Doc.com. Doc can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

Media Contact: Tom Bertels, 316-352-5102, tom.bertels@shscom.com