Hap Arnold and the B-29

Angus Wallace traces Hap Arnold's career and his central role in developing the B-29 Superfortress — from the industrial and technological mobilisation required to build the most advanced bomber of the war, through to Arnold's bureaucratic battles to keep the strategic bombing programme under his control. The episode gets at something often overlooked: the B-29 was as much a programme-management achievement as an engineering one, and Arnold's relentless drive (at the cost of his own health) was the engine behind it. Well-paced for 44 minutes.