Grant Helps B-29 Museum

In February, the B-29 Museum committee received a $52,800 Heritage Trust Fund Grant from the Kansas State Historical Society, said Phillip Schulz, chairman of B-29 Museum Inc. They were one of 13 organizations to receive the grant this year.

This is the first grant of any kind the committee has applied for and they feel very lucky to get the grant. This is a time when grants are not plentiful, Schulz said.

A structure has to be on the National Register of Historical Places to be eligible for the grant. The Parachute building was placed on the National Register in 2009. It was also placed on the state register at the same time.

Since the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, all rehabilitation on the parachute building has to meet National Parks standards, Schulz said.

“It has to look like it did in 1942,” Schulz said.

This grant has a one-year time limit for usage so the museum committee has to complete all work before March 2011. With the grant money, the committee expects to have the rehabilitation complete some time several months before the deadline.

“We would like to have the displays in the building by August or September of 2010,” Schulz said.

As a structure on the National Register of Historic Places, it gives the museum additional financial options.

“We wanted to go with the National Register,” Schulz said. “It opens up more avenues for grants.”

The museum committee will use the grant money for roofing, insulation, siding replacement and replacing existing windows with windows that look period.

The ceiling was in bad shape. It was sagging in places, had termites and was water stained so the ceiling was pulled down.

“It looked like Swiss cheese,” Schulz said.

The next part of the rehabilitation project is to get the roof fixed.

The grant is a 20 percent matching grant so the museum will have to cover 20 percent of the project money and the grant will cover the rest of the $52,800.

The parachute building is one of just a hand full of original structures that still exists on the airport. The building is 36 feet tall and was used to unpack parachutes, dry them out and repack them.

The parachutes were dried approximately every two months. Three ladies worked on the parachutes in the building. The parachutes were unpacked on long tables then hung up to dry in the 36 feet tall section of the building. After they were dry, the ladies would lay them out on the table again and repack the chutes.

The parachutes were made of silk so they had to be handled with special care.

Besides taking care of the parachutes, the ladies would also use their sewing machines to alter soldier’s uniforms if necessary.

A Lieutenant was in charge of the process and two of the ladies came from Pratt while the third was from Trousdale. A full time Woman’s Air Corps member was also on duty in the parachute building.

Once the museum is complete they will display a number of items related to the B-29s that were stationed at the Pratt Army Airfield during World War II.

The collection will include the complete historical records of the 29th Bomb Group, one of five groups that trained at Pratt. They also have several pieces of equipment from B-29s. The museum committee is also working with author Bob Mann who has documented the history of every B-29 ever built. Mann is working with the committee on the possibility of turning over his records to the museum, Schulz said.

Another author, Lou Thole, has done extensive research on all of the domestic airfields of World War II and is interested in working with the museum committee.

Pratt was the first B-29 training facility in the world. The B-29s were built in Wichita and flown to Pratt where over 50 modifications were made and both flight and ground crews trained on the B-29s.

Courtesy of Gale Rose