“It seems that a bomber, apparently the 29th of its kind, crashed in Lake Mead on July 21st, 1948. Just imagine - that's over 300 years ago!”— Pete
The crashed B-29 is a vehicle and location in the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[]
On July 21, 1948, a B-29 Superfortress bomber crashed into Lake Mead, close to Lake Mead Cave and Callville Bay.[1] Magazine articles written about the event, photographs taken of the wreckage, and a map of the area were compiled and cataloged at Nellis Air Force Base.[2]
In the early 2230s, a splinter group of residents from Vault 34 left their bunker to wander the wasteland, becoming a tribe called the Boomers. After claiming ownership of the abandoned Nellis AFB, they discovered the information about the bomber.[3][2] Dubbing it The Lady in the Water or simply The Lady, the Boomers became fascinated with the idea of raising the aircraft out of the water and returning it to operational condition, to the point of including it in a mural retelling of their tribe's history to indicate their future.[4][5] They stockpiled resources for the eventual repairs by disassembling another B-29 stored in a museum to gain the necessary spare parts,[6] and ever since then, have awaited the day when they could raise "The Lady" from the water and help "her" ascend to the skies once more.[7]
Layout[]
During their quest to recruit the Boomers for the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, the tribe's leader, Pearl asks the Courier to assist Loyal in executing the plan to raise the bomber. Loyal concludes that the bomber can be raised using ballasts attached to the wings to lift it up from the lakebed. Afterward, robots are sent out from Nellis to disassemble the wreckage to be transported back to Nellis. From then on, leading up to Hoover Dam, the bomber resides in the Nellis hangars gradually being restored to working condition.
Notes[]
- Ranger Lineholm at Ranger Station Alpha refers to the plane as a local myth.[8]
- After raising the B-29, Radio New Vegas will feature a bit about locals having seen a large "object or creature" surfacing on Lake Mead, and that it has been dubbed "The Lake Mead Monster."[9]
- The B-29 can be seen in the quests Eureka!, No Gods, No Masters, All or Nothing, Veni, Vidi, Vici and Volare!. For the former three, it will soar across the eastern half of Hoover Dam dropping bombs on Caesar's Legion; it will come from the west and bomb the NCR in the latter.
- After the plane has been reassembled in the Nellis hangar, a new piece of artwork can be seen on the fuselage near the cockpit.[10] It depicts Pearl in her younger days wearing a Vault 34 jumpsuit with a background shaped like a Vault door, and is drawn in typical 1950s pin-up style.
- Since Fallout: New Vegas takes place in 2281, and the recorded date of the bomber's crash was in 1948, that makes the aircraft around 333 years old.
Appearances[]
The crashed B-29 appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.
Behind the scenes[]
- The in-game crashed B-29 is based on the real-world event of a Boeing B-29 crashing into Lake Mead on July 21, 1948 - the same date in-game and in real life.
- The "Circle A" tail code corresponds to the 106th Rescue Wing, based at March Air Force Base from 1951-1952.
Gallery[]
Floating on the surface
Insignia
Reassembled at Nellis hangars
Restored B-29 dropping its bombs...
...on the Legion at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam
Restored B-29 at Nellis hangars
B-29, fully repaired
Render
B-29's artwork showing a young Pearl
Cockpit of the B-29 in the achievement image for Volare!
B-29 on the Snow globe - Nellis AFB
Circle A on the tail
Texture file
References[]
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