B-29 Bomber Crew Tunnel Belly Crawl Through and factoid Video

WWII B-29 Bombers were designed to take advantage of their crew cabins being pressurized, heated and insulated. To travel from pressurized compartment to compartment, crew members needed to crawl on their knees and elbows through a 35 foot tunnel. This action took around 50 seconds. Crew members were also warned, that if the bomber suffered a rapid decompression Injury or death could occur, due to the 145 mph tube air velocity. The crew member would be ejected from the tunnel, like a human cannon ball. B-29s operating procedure required the bomber to start a depressurize process 30 minutes prior to reaching hostile territory and have the crew start on oxygen during this process. The B-36 bombers were designed with a similar tunnel.