The Commemorative Air Force's B-29 Superfortress "Fifi" remains one of only two airworthy examples of the type in existence worldwide, the other being "Doc," which completed its restoration and return to flight in 2016. Fifi conducts an annual nationwide tour, stopping at regional airports and airshows where the public can purchase walk-through tours or, at considerably higher cost, actual flight experiences aboard the aircraft. The $20 ground tour price point has long been a deliberate accessibility decision by the CAF, intended to expose the broadest possible audience to the aircraft's history and engineering legacy without requiring the several-hundred-dollar commitment of a flight seat.
For professional pilots, Fifi represents a tangible connection to one of the most consequential leaps in aviation technology ever compressed into a single airframe. The B-29 introduced pressurized crew compartments, remote-controlled defensive gun turrets, and a centralized fire-control system at a time when most combat aircraft were still essentially open-cockpit derivatives. Its Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone engines were among the most powerful and problematic piston powerplants ever fielded operationally, demanding a level of systems management from crews that foreshadowed the complexity modern pilots manage through glass panels and automation. Walking the cabin gives any aviator a visceral sense of how dramatically crew workload, systems integration, and environmental control have evolved.
The broader warbird preservation ecosystem that keeps aircraft like Fifi flying is under persistent stress from parts scarcity, aging volunteer workforces, and the escalating cost of maintaining type certificates and airworthiness on one-of-a-kind platforms. The CAF and similar organizations such as the National Warplane Museum and the Collings Foundation operate on nonprofit funding models where tour revenue is operationally significant. The 2019 fatal crash of a Collings Foundation B-17 at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, which resulted in the grounding and eventual retirement of their "Nine-O-Nine," illustrated how quickly the warbird community can lose irreplaceable assets and how regulatory and insurance pressures can follow.
For operators and flight departments, the tours these organizations run also serve a subtle but real purpose in public aviation advocacy. Regional airport authorities frequently cite warbird events as among the highest-impact community engagement activities they host, drawing visitors who otherwise have no connection to general aviation infrastructure. At a time when GA airports face persistent pressure over noise, land use, and funding, events that fill ramps with engaged members of the public carry political and civic weight that goes beyond nostalgia. Encouraging crew members, passengers, and ground staff to attend such events when they come through a base city carries meaningful goodwill value for the broader industry.