← Back to the front page

A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 13, 2019 33 min

19. The WWII Bomber That Cost More Than the Atomic Bomb

A B-29 Super Fortress, compared to a B-17 Flying Fortress. Quora

The Boeing B-29 Super Fortress is best known as the plane that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A leap ahead in aircraft and bomber development, it featured innovations such as a pressurized cabin and machine gun turrets that could be fired by remote control.

Not only was the B-29 the most technologically advanced and revolutionary bomber of WWII, it was also the most expensive military project of the conflict. Bar none. The price tag for the Super Fortress was actually higher than that of the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bomb.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.