World War II vets take flight in world’s only flying B-29 Superfortress

Two 96-year-old World War II veterans took flight Thursday morning in the only airworthy B-29 Superfortress.

They flew from Vintage Flying Museum at Meacham Airport — where the Superfortress “FIFI” is stored — to Shreveport, La., for the 2016 Defenders of Freedom Air Show at Barksdale Air Force Base.

Fiske Hanley and Frank Kruse, both of Fort Worth, were B-29 crew members during the war.

Hanley was B-29 flight engineer who was shot down over Japan in 1945. The Star-Telegram has written about his experience as a prisoner of war.

Kruse was a pilot for the Royal Air Force during Lend-Lease program befpre the United States entered World War II. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and flew B-25s, B-17s and a B-29. He also flew B-29s, B-47s and B-50s in Korea, and helped develop the B-52 program.

Monica S. Nagy

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 7:15 PM with the headline "World War II vets take flight in world’s only flying B-29 Superfortress."