Crew Members of Famous 1,000th Superfort
Get Together Here for First Time Since War

Joe Fair, TG, meets Frank Novak (r), RG, during a tour of Boeing Plant II; Steve Franko, AC in center

The spirit of "Boeing-Wichita 1000" was back in the Pacific last week, flying from Guam and Iwo Jima - dumping lethal loads of bombs over Tokyo and Nagoya; staving off enemy fighters 1,000 miles from home base.

All 33 missions of the veteran Superfort were re-lived, briefly, by three of the men who flew in the bomber during its Pacific tour - the pilot, Steve Franko of Struthers, Ohio; the tail gunner, Joe Fair of Broken Bow, Neb.; and the right gunner, Frank Novak formerly of Middleville, N. Y., now a Boeing-Wichita employee.

The three Air Force veterans held a reunion - their first - here in Wichita, Franko coming from Ohio, Fair driving down from Nebraska. Staying at the home of Novak, they recalled their long months together in the Pacific and brought each other up to date on events since they went their separate ways at the war's end four years ago.

Pilot Now Studies Engineering

Franko returned to college to study engineering, and is now in his junior year at Ohio State university. Fair returned home to Broken Bow, where he is now an electrician. Novak after a year at home, decided to move out to the middle west. In the same week his plane, "Boeing-Wichita 1000," returned to Plant II for modernization, Novak started to work here as a sheet metal assembler helper.

The reunion of the three was brought about when Franko discovered Novak was in Wichita. Having several days remaining before his term started at Ohio State, Franko decided to come to Wichita to visit with Novak and to look over the Boeing plants from whence came his airplane.

Meet Inside Plant II

First writing the Public Relations department to make certain Novak was actually working here, Franko made the trip to Wichita. Soon after his arrival, he was taken on a tour of Plant II. There, he met Novak - a second shifter assigned to B-47 body work - for the first time since the war ended.

The following day, the two notified Fair of their reunion, and Fair decided to take a few days off and come to Wichita from Nebraska to join them.

Between the three of them, they were able to place the other "Boeing-Wichita 1000" crew members in six other states; and before the end of their get-together they decided to plan a real reunion of the entire crew for next summer. And where do they plan to hold it? Right here in Wichita, the home of their B-29, "Boeing-Wichita 1000."