The RB-29’s successor in SAC’s Medium Reconnaissance Wings was the Boeing RB-47. Dedicated photorecce RB-47Es were operated by the 26th, 55th, 90th and 91st SRWs, while the RB-47H replaced the RB-50G in the SIGINT role with the 343rd SRS. Seen here is RB-47H serial 53-4291; note the SAC “Milky Way” sash on the nose.

A whole new dimension - literally. The transition from the RB-29 to the Convair RB-36 was a dramatic step forward in capability for SAC’s Heavy Reconnaissance Wings. This April 1951 photo depicts an RB-36 of the 26th SRS, 5th SRW, at Travis with a 5th SRW RB-29 in the background, both adorned with “Circle X” fin markings

Built by Boeing at Renton, B-29A-55 serial 44-61929 was converted to an F-13A and redesignated as an RB-29A in 1948. It is seen here with its name, El Diablo II, painted on the nose.

A Boeing RB-29 of the 31st Strategic Reconnaissance Sqn (SRS), 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW), has its Wright R-3350 engines run up at the end of the runway before a training mission from Travis AFB in California in May 1951. The photoreconnaissance variant of the B-29 was initially designated F-13, but was redesignated RB-29 in line with organisational changes for the newly-formed USAF in 1948.

The USAAF’s 3rd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Heavy, first took its F-13s into combat on November 1, 1944. The unit lost only three aircraft in more than nine months of combat flying. This example, 42-24621 Yokohama Yo-Yo, was photographed between missions on June 7, 1945, while based on Guam.

A day in the life of a SAC RB-29 unit: Airman Second Class Leon S. Budard, an aerial photographer with the 91st SRS, inspects a K-17 camera before an aerial photographic mission in June 1954. The RB-29 could fly with six cameras - three K-17s, two K-22s and one K-18 - depending on mission requirements.

An RB-29 of the 72nd SRS, 5th SRW, undergoes engine maintenance at Travis AFB, a seemingly endless task associated with the B-29 fleet. When the 5th SRW was transferred from the Second Air Force to the Fifteenth Air Force in April 1950, a new distinctive “Circle X” fin marking was assigned, as seen here on serial 44-61533.

The smiling crew from the last 91st SRS combat mission flown before the signing of the Korean armistice in July 1953. The war may have been over, but 91st SRS operations continued with little change, as the majority of its missions were already being flown against the Soviets.

Wichita-built RB-29 serial 45-21762 on the ramp at Travis AFB in March 1951. Although wearing the “Circle X” fin marking of the 5th SRW, the aircraft retains its weary Arctic markings with yellow insignia and numbers on the red empennage and wingtips, which dated from the squadron’s tenure at Ladd AFB in Alaska back in 1949.

Once the equipment was checked and installed and the briefing completed, the crew (in this case of the 31st SRS) climb aboard their RB-29 at the start of a mission. The standard crew size of an RB-29 was 12, while RB-29AE SIGINT aircraft could be crewed with up to 14 airmen, reducing the number of gunners and adding up to six electronic warfare officers.

A pair of RB-29s of the 1st SRS, 55th SRW, flying in formation during a training sortie over the USA in May 1949. The 1st SRS was reassigned to the 9th SRW the following month and began passing its RB-29s on to newly formed units in November that year, as the unit began its transition to the mighty Convair RB-36 Peacemaker.

Airmen of the 1st SRS, 9th SRW, pose beside an RB-29 with the tools of their trade in May 1949. The 1st had been activated seven months before with a mix of RB-17s and RB-29s during SAC’s initial build-up of forces. In April 1950 the 9th SRW became the 9th Bombardment Wing, the 1st SRS becoming the 1st Bombardment Sqn.

A 31st SRS RB-29 undergoes maintenance at Travis. The B-29’s Wright engines were a perennial problem throughout its career, and in November 1949 the B-29 force was grounded until aircraft were fitted with modified engines, resulting in a total shutdown of B-29 and RB-29 flight operations that lasted more than two months.

The 91st SRS crew of RB-29A serial 44-61948 undergo inspection before they board for another mission from Yokota Air Base in May 1951. The 73 “camera” mission markings on the nose reveal the high tempo of the unit’s activities; the 91st was averaging 50 missions per month at the time, with a total of 13 assigned RB-29s.