The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber

Re:The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber by Blackthorn on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @09:21AM (#10663040)

I was quite surprised to learn recently how the B-29 was (A) about as expensive a project as the atomic bomb and (B) almost a complete failure (until the firebombing of Japan) due to no one knowing about the jet stream.

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Re:The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber by arethuza on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @09:47AM (#10663198)

I believe there was also the prospect that if the B-29 hadn't been available the atomic bombs would have to been dropped from the British Lancaster - which was the only other bomber capable of carrying them at the time.

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Re:The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber by mikeash on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @11:35AM (#10663919)

Doesn't (A) count the cost of producing all 3,970 airplanes, not just the R&D cost? Seems a bit misleading to compare that to an R&D program that produced one test device and two bombs.

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Re:The Cannons on the B-29 Bomber by walshemj on Wednesday December 02, 2015 @08:09PM (#10667064)

B29 was built to bomb Germany from the USA in case the UK had fallen.

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