The restored B-29 ‘Doc,’ which made its debut at Oshkosh this summer, will be back at the show in 2018, Doc’s Friends have announced. The partial tour schedule, released last week, also includes stops in Pennsylvania, Kansas and Missouri. Meanwhile, volunteers are about 60 percent through the planned winter maintenance program that began in early October, and no major issues have been reported. This year, in its public debut on the airshow circuit, the airplane logged more than 45 hours, with stops at five shows in five states, covering 4,750 NM.
The preliminary schedule for next year includes World War II Weekend, in Reading, Penn., June 1-3; EAA AirVenture, Oshkosh, Wisc., July 23-29; McConnell Air Force Base Open House, Wichita, Kans., Sept. 15-16; Tri-Annual Airfest, Great Bend, Kans., Sept. 28-30; and Spirit of St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 13-14. Doc’s Friends also are making progress with plans to build a hangar and education center for Doc at Wichita’s Eisenhower National Airport. They broke ground on the $6.5 million, 32,000-square-foot facility in September, and major construction is expected to begin next month. The nonprofit group is raising money for the project through commemorative brick sales and other donations.
