Wartime Pilot of Famed B-29 Visits with Tail Gunner Here

After six years, Steve Franko, wartime pilot of the famed B-29 "Boeing-Wichita 1000," is still "carrying the torch."

Actually, Franko who visited at Boeing's Wichita division Sunday is not the marrying kind for he falls in the eligible bachelor classification. The closest ever came to getting "hitched" was in World War II and that was to an airplane-Boeing-Wichita 1000 in which be flew 28 mission against the Japanese.

The 31-year-old flier took an immediate shine to the sleek-looking Superfortress and they spent many hours together in the Pacific skies.

The parting came in December 1945, when Franko returned to the states for discharge and the bomber, the 1000th B-29 to roll off the Boeing-Wichita assembly lines, remained behind.

But now-after six years of separation Franko is being recalled, to active duty in the air force reserves and is hunting for his "old girl."

The last report he received on her whereabouts came In May of 1949 when she turned up for modification in final assembly of Boeing-Wichita's Plant II.

Only the air force knows of her present address, but Franko is going to leave no stone unturned in his search. The two were introduced at Herington airbase in early in 1945 and were constant companions until Frauko's discharge.

The well known pilot, who next week will be wearing his 1st lieutenants bars again stopped in Wichita to see Joe Fair, 2130 South Water, a former crew member on Boeing Wichita 1000th. Fair who was Franko's tall gunner on all of his missions, is an electrical assembler at Boeing's Plant II.

The visit was a surprise to Fair who had not seen his old skipper for more than 2 years. Franko a senior in civil engineering at Youngstown (Ohio) college is enroute to Rudolph AFB, San Antonio, Texas where he will be assigned to duty with the B-29 combat crew training school.

In reliving their wartime adventures, the spirit of Boeing-Wichita 1000 was back in the Pacific, flying from Guam and Iwo Jima-dumping lethal loads of bombs over Tokyo and Nagoya-and staving off enemy fighters -a thousand miles from home base.

Boeing-Wichita 1000, known in the Pacific during the war as "The Antagonizer" is one of the most famous of the 1,644 B-29 Superfortresses produced at Boeing -Wichita plants. She was delivered to the air force in the presence of many high ranking military and Boeing officials and more than 20,000 Company employees on Feb. 14, 1945.

Plastered on the wings and fuselage of the plane during this historic delivery ceremony was $10,343.38 in currency and coins - voluntary contributions of Boeing employees toward the national infantile paralysis fund. Standing beside the B-29 during the ceremony and delivered at the same time was the 10346th and last, equivalent Boeing Kaydet primary trainer to be built here. The little Kaydet $218.65 plastered on its fuselage.

After Japan was defeated - and with 33 missions to her credit Boeing-Wichita 1000 was flown back to the United States and its identity was lost among the hundreds of B-29's placed in reserve at various storage depots around the country until it was flown back to Boeing for modification.