HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Coffee at the Cosmo stayed a little closer to earth this month.

The guest speaker was Frank Berry, who is the Flight Director for “Doc,” one of just two flying B-29s in the world. The bomber was used late in World War II and has close ties to Wichita.

“Doc is a Wichita-built B-29, December of 1944, so it has a direct connection with Wichita,” Berry said. “Wichita was the primary production facility for Boeing in World War II. The plane was found rotting in the California desert before being brought back to Kansas where volunteers spent their time bringing the plane back to life. Having it come back home and having it restored in Wichita and the community chipping in and helping restore it and provide materials . . . it’s really just a nice Wichita gem.”

As the project was completed, the aircraft needed a home and the Cosmosphere played a role in that project. “It was really an honor when Doc’s Friends reached out to the Cosmosphere to produce the exhibitory and some of their initial education program,” Jim Remar, Cosmosphere president, said. “The history of the B-29 in Wichita, as well as the tie to the space program, really brought it full circle.”

B-29s were used to lift test aircraft off the ground before being launched from the underside of the plane, including Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1, which became the first plane to break the sound barrier.

Doc was one of 1,644 B-29s manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It took 15-plus years and hundreds of volunteers working on Doc to restore the plane and get it flying again. At the height of its production, the Wichita Boeing facility was turning out 4 ½ B-29s each day. The population of Wichita grew by 40%, 30% of the workforce was made up of women.