WICHITA, Kan., October 5, 2023 – The WSU Tech Foundation and B-29 Doc Pull a Plane event scheduled for Saturday, October 7, has been postponed due to the delayed return of B-29 Doc to Wichita from its nearly month-long tour in Utah, California and Arizona.
The historic warbird was scheduled to return to Wichita on Oct. 2 from its 26 day tour that began in early September. While on the last scheduled stop of the tour, a maintenance condition requiring immediate attention by the B-29 maintenance team has kept the aircraft on the ground in Tucson, AZ.
“Following a routine flight operation last Saturday in Tucson, a condition found with the propeller on the no. 2 engine led to a decision by our director of maintenance Donnie Obreiter to remove and inspect the propeller,” said Josh Wells, B-29 Doc executive director. “Upon further inspection, it was determined that the propeller needed to be sent to Doc’s propeller services vendor for further inspection and repair. This removal and replacement of propeller assembly has required a great amount of time and logistics, which has ultimately further delayed Doc’s arrival back into Wichita for the Pull a Plane event scheduled for Saturday.”
While the B-29 Doc team is working toward returning the aircraft to service and back to Wichita on Friday, Oct. 6, that will not allow enough time for the event team to successfully setup and prepare for the world-class Pull a Plane event.
“We fully support the B-29 Doc team and their commitment to the safe operation of Wichita’s most historic aviation treasure,” said Dr. Sheree Utash, WSU Tech president. “While we are certainly disappointed we will not be able to host the Pull a Plane event this weekend, the decision to postpone was made because of the need to ensure the B-29 Doc maintenance team and flight crew can focus on the safe return of the aircraft to Wichita. We look forward to hosting the event in the spring of 2024 and the opportunity to celebrate our WSU Tech students, the WSU Tech mission and of course, the mission of B-29 Doc.”
Sponsors and team captains have been notified and are supportive of the decision to postpone, understanding the matter of aircraft maintenance being beyond the control of both B-29 Doc and WSU Tech.
All money committed and raised for the event that was scheduled for this weekend will be held and moved forward into 2024 for the event that will hosted March 9, 2024.
Meanwhile, the B-29 Doc Hangar, Education and Visitors Center will continue to host the B-25 Miss Mitchell while it is in Wichita to provide an up-close look and experience with another historic World War II aircraft. Miss Mitchell is operated by the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) and will be hosted by the B-29 Doc team at the hangar in Wichita beginning Thursday, Oct. 5, through Sunday, Oct. 8 for rides and ground tours. When B-29 Doc arrives back in Wichita, it will join B-25 Miss Mitchell in the hangar, however Doc’s schedule ride flights for Sunday, Oct. 8, have been canceled due to aircraft maintenance.
More information about B-25 Miss Mitchell ride flights can be found online at www.cafmn.org. Information about Pull and Plane and further opportunities to donate and participate in the event in 2024 can be found at www.pullaplane.com
