Originally Posted by
tdracer
Yea, I stand corrected - apparently most B-29s (and all earlier build) had the two row R3350 engine, with the Pratt R4360 coming along later.
I visited an air museum last year that had a B-29 on display (sort of the crown jewel of their collection). It had the four row R4360 engines (one engine was sitting on a display stand next to the aircraft) - I mistakenly assumed that was the typical configuration.
At any rate, cooling the back row(s) on a big radial engine proved problematic, a problem big, water-cooled engines don't have.
Think you will find that your "B-29" was actually a B-50. No B-29 was ever fitted with the R-4360 engines, and I suspect the aircraft you viewed had the extremely tall fin/rudder assembly which was vital to all B-50s. Perhaps the person at the museum was not too well informed on American military aircraft of the 1950s, and just got it wrong with their caption. A B-50 is still rather B-29 (ish) after all!