Boeing B-29 Superfortress (N69972)

Awesome picture - wish I were there!

Why were most of them not painted except for the nose art.

Roland, in a word: weight, primarily.

What a great airsho that must have been. Keep the great pics coming!

Roland - by late in the war our bases in England were not nearly as vulnerable to attack, so camo no longer needed as much from that standpoint, and the bomber formations had such a massive visual signature from the exhaust contrails that camo did not really matter much in the air either. I suppose if you were a straggler flying alone you would want camo, but for the most part late in the war it was just not as necessary.

Most paint for those size aircraft weigh between 2-4000#. It saves fuel and maintenance.