Taking flight Wichitan joins select group to fly B-29

‘Doc’

There is a select group of people who help history take flight each year.

They are the pilots and co-pilots who fly one of the world’s only two airworthy B-29 bombers, an airplane known as “Doc.”

A big group of volunteers keeps this plane flying – pilots, navigators, mechanics and others. Any one of them is worthy of a story about their efforts.

Scott Tatge is quick to say as much. He is one of the newer co-pilots who helps fly Doc. Tatge, who works full-time for FlightSafety International in Wichita, never expected to have an opportunity like this.

It started when Tatge was with some clients at FlightSafety, and they wanted to see Doc. The group went over to the hangar, located nearby in the vicinity of Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

“It was the strangest thing,” Tatge said. “We’re standing in the cockpit, and I asked the guy what it takes to fly this thing.”

The man pointed Tatge to the office of general manager Josh Wells. Tatge and Wells visited about Tatge’s flight experience. Wells asked for Tatge’s qualifications, and Wells said he would send the information to the chief pilot.

“Three months later, I started training,” Tatge said. That was nearly four years ago.

Tatge primarily helps with flights in the Wichita area. During the summer months, Doc is gone for long stretches on tours to air shows and other aviation events around the country.

Right now, Tatge has about 15 flight hours on Doc. He needs 50 hours to become a captain. He put in about five hours of flight training, and the other 10 hours have been on flights with passengers aboard.

The opportunity to fly a machine like this is rare. There are only two airworthy B-29s left in the world. The other is Fifi, which is based at the Victor N. Agather Hangar at Dallas Executive Airport.

“It’s not like any other airplane I’ve ever flown. Everything is different,” Tatge said. “You look out the cockpit, you see a lot of glass. It’s difficult to get the pitch, to get the sight picture right.

“It’s very heavy. You turn the yoke 180 degrees just to start the turn. It’s a lot of weight. It’s slow to respond to inputs. You do a 180-degree turn on your jet, you’ll upside-down before you know it.”

There is no autopilot on Doc. Everything is manual. Steering on the ground is difficult, because there is no direct way to turn. You do it through what is called differential braking – applying different pressure to the brakes on each side of the plane.

See TATGE, Page 18