B-29 Superfortress That Lies at the Bottom of Lake Mead Continues to Draw Attention
A Hollywood writer would love this plot…but it's true. The "largest, most advanced aircraft of its day," modified for a secret research mission, takes off for a flight over the desert. Painted on its nose are the words, "Cosmic Ray Research." The plane ends up at the bottom of one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, Lake Mead, where the wreck becomes a prized find for underwater archeologists.
The plane was a B-29 Superfortress, one of the last built near the end of World War II at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas. This particular aircraft underwent modifications in 1947 to transform it from a weapon of war to a flying laboratory for Project Apollo, a joint Army/Navy Cold War research program.
On July 21, 1948, the aircraft took off from its base in California and headed east over the desert. It was on a special military mission to conduct atmospheric research using a then top secret instrument called the “sun tracker” that was installed on the plane—hence the words "Cosmic Ray Research" painted on its nose. The mission required runs at altitudes ranging from 30,000 feet to "as low as possible."...
Read entire article at National Parks Traveler
The plane was a B-29 Superfortress, one of the last built near the end of World War II at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas. This particular aircraft underwent modifications in 1947 to transform it from a weapon of war to a flying laboratory for Project Apollo, a joint Army/Navy Cold War research program.
On July 21, 1948, the aircraft took off from its base in California and headed east over the desert. It was on a special military mission to conduct atmospheric research using a then top secret instrument called the “sun tracker” that was installed on the plane—hence the words "Cosmic Ray Research" painted on its nose. The mission required runs at altitudes ranging from 30,000 feet to "as low as possible."...