Doc, the beautifully restored B-29 based in Wichita, made a lot of new friends last month with a full week of appearances and flights at EAA AirVenture — so Doc’s Friends, the nonprofit group that supports the project, is making the most of that, with the launch this week of a new Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the airplane’s permanent hangar, which will also serve as an exhibition and education space. The team has about 30 days to raise $100,000. Like most such efforts, the Kickstarter page tells the story behind the airplane and lays out all the reasons the team feels it is worthy of so much effort and investment. Doc’s mission: to travel as a flying tribute to the men and women who designed, built, maintained andflew the B-29 to protect America’s freedom during World War II.
The 32,000-square foot facility will be located in Wichita, Kansas. Construction is expected to begin in September and will be completed in September 2018. Rewards to Kickstarter donors include an 8 by10 photo of the airplane for those who give $25, on up to a brick or tile engraved with your name at the site, for those who can give $5,000 or $10,000. The Kickstarter program is only part of the fundraising effort. Doc’s Friends already has raised more than $4.5 million to finance the project and plans to raise $2 million more.AVweb staffers Paul Bertorelli and Russ Niles shot video of the bomber at Oshkosh. You can see their work here (at show central) and here (in the air).
