B-29 Cait Paomat

[Nokose]

I was contacted by my friend Kirche about a possible B-29 engine found in Russia. It is believed it is from B-29 # 42-93829 that went down 20 Aug 1944 in Russia. The crew returned to the USA. The number on the engine is 420902. Can anyone verify that it belongs to that B-29 or another one that might have crashed in Russia.

[RSwank]

The MACR for 42-93829 lists the engines as: 42-83723, 42-84263, 42-84238, 42-84285



https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91035145

[Revi16]

You have a couple of challenges ahead of you.

This is the MACR for 42-93829 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91035145
Page 2 includes the Air Force serial numbers for the engines. (They do not match your example.)

The Engine Manufacturer had its own internal S/N as well. The number 420902 may or may not be the Engine Manufacturers S/N. Typically the S/N is stamped into the Data Plate which is attached to the engine. That same number may or may not have been stamped into the case of the engine as in your example. Here is an R-3350 data plate which has a Wright s/n (W-474729), but the Air Force s/n is blank. https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8768/2...7ecdfc07_b.jpg

Secondly, some MACR's include the Air Force engine s/n's, some include the Engine Manufacturers s/n's and some don't include any engine s/n's.

So the task at hand will be diffucult.

[Alex Smart]

Have checked MACR's 7178; 7523; 9664 and 9865, engine numbers do not match.
Details of 42-63436 and 44-70136 no macr's for these two.

[Alex Smart]

Hello,
Whilst looking through the 5th Bomber Group losses for my own amusement I found the following

MACR 6582
B-24J
42-41189
5th BG/394th BS.
Engine numbers
42-90205
CT - 308826
42-90121
42-43317

So not a B29 but perhaps you should be looking for a B-24

Alex

[Revi16]

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

Hello,
Whilst looking through the 5th Bomber Group losses for my own amusement I found the following

MACR 6582
B-24J
42-41189
5th BG/394th BS.
Engine numbers
42-90205
CT - 308826
42-90121
42-43317

So not a B29 but perhaps you should be looking for a B-24

Alex

The number (420902) provided by Nokose is not an Air Force s/n for the engine. It is most likely the Manufacturers s/n, which has nothing in common with the s/n assigned to it by the Air Force.
In your information above, CT - 308826 is the Manufacturers S/N. A quick guess could be CT - Continental built.

[kirche]

Hello,
Thank you very much for your information and opinions. The engine is located in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Krai.
In this part of Russia, I know only one loss of the B-29 #42-93829 - the crew jumped with a parachute and was later returned to the United States. Four more B-29s, after injuries, landed at airfields (three of them later made a flight to the Western part of Russia and became prototypes for the Tu-4, and another one was immediately given to the US representatives).
Also told me that there was another B-29 - a scout who was shot down by Soviet fighters during the Korean conflict on the territory of the Kuril Islands and for a long time its fragments were on the shore of one of the islands, but I have not been able to clarify this information.
I think that this engine is from the B-29 #42-93829, which fell in the Khabarovsk Krai. Hunters found its wreckage in 1988, and in the 1990s, most of the aircraft was transported to scrap. Apparently since then, the engine has been preserved by one of the local residents.

I did not consider other types of American aircraft, since only the engine from the B-29 aircraft had 18 cylinders as in the photo. Engines B-17, B-24, A-20, B-25 have only 14 cylinders.
Best regards,
Kirill

[Alex Smart]

Hi,
Here are the engine numbers for four B-29's.as given in the macr's.

Macr 7178 - 42-6256 " Ramp Tramp".
Engine type : R3350-23A.
A - 42-84650 ; B - 42-84554 ; C - 42-121242 ; D - 42-120792

Macr 7523 - 42-93829
Engine type : R3350-23AN
A- 42-83723 ; B - 42-84263 ; C- 42-84238 ; D - 42-84285

Macr 9664 - 42-6365 - " General H.H.Arnold Special"
Engine type: R3350-23A
A- 43-150191 ; B- 43-150438 ; C - W-461315 ; D - 42-120951

Macr 9865 - "Ding How" - 42-6358
Engine type: R-3350-23A
A- 43-150019 ; B - 43-150406 ; C - 43-149707 ; D - 43-150063

So your number must be a manufacturers part number.