Battle of Kansas
The Battle of Kansas (also known as the "Battle of Wichita") was the nickname given to a project to build, modify, and deliver large quantities of the world's most advanced bomber to the front-lines, originally in Europe and also in the Pacific, although because of delays in production, it was used only in the Pacific. The battle began as the first B-29 Superfortresses rolled off the production lines of the massive new Boeing factory on the prairies near Wichita, Kansas. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a significant advance in aviation technology, which came with a multitude of problems to be resolved before it was suitable for combat operations. When the B-29 was ordered into production, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had not yet taken place and the first flight of the XB-29 prototype was still over a year away. On 6 September 1941 the US Army Air Forces placed its initial production contract for 250 B-29s, built mainly in Wichita, KS. Background In early 1941 the Boeing Wichita factory (which was intended to become one of the main assembly plants for "Project 345") was building PT-13D & N2S-5 "Kaydet" biplane trainers for the USAAF and the USN respectively, as