Flying characteristics

A Superfortress returns from a training mission, to its base at this Army Air Field Training Command B-29 Transition SchoolIn flight, the pilot called for engine and flap settings instead of moving the throttles and the flap levers himself. Another innovation was the number of calculations the crew had to perform before and during the mission. Prior to the B-29, flight manuals provided only approximate performance figures and pilots relied largely on instinct and experience. The B-29 manual had charts to compute takeoff and landing speeds based on weight, elevation and temperature. Finding the optimum power settings for cruise required consideration of cruise altitude, outside temperature, aircraft weight, and desired true airspeed. The power settings were recalculated every two hours or with every change in altitude. These types of computations are routine in modern civil and military aviation, but they were an innovation in 1944. The benefits of improved range and performance were irrefutable.

Unlike aircraft such as the B-24 Liberator, the B-29 lacked boosted controls. As a consequence they required considerable physical strength to operate.[10] As it was, most aircrews found the B-29 to be relatively mild-mannered.

Though it could be flown with only two engines once airborne, the bomber suffered from engine overheating issues throughout its service, and several B-29s crashed in Saipan due to single engine failures on takeoff at full gross weight.