From Upper Atmosphere to Lake Bottom: The Story of the Lake Mead B-29

With DRI’s Jeff Wedding and Sue Edwards

Part of the Lost City Museum’s 2025 Lecture Series:

Submerged for more than 75 years after ditching into the waters of Nevada’s Hoover Dam reservoir, the tale of the Lake Mead B-29 grows more interesting with each passing decade. Although constructed in 1945 to join the war in the Pacific, this Superfortress never flew a single hostile mission. Instead, the aircraft spent its brief (1946-1948) working career as a Cold War flying laboratory in search of cosmic rays and other high-altitude phenomenon.

This presentation highlights the B-29’s scientific successes and recounts how the plane came to rest on the bottom of Lake Mead and the decades-long quest to find it. Jeff and Sue will introduce you to a few of the famous and “infamous” individuals associated with the aircraft and discuss the ongoing efforts to better understand and preserve it.

Event is free with admission to museum.
Adults – $6.00, free for members and children 17 and younger.