FOR the first time in 60 years a World War II-era bomber took a brief flight in Wichita, Kansas, the U.S.

    The Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Doc” eased into the air Sunday morning while hundreds of restoration volunteers and public officials cheered from the ground.

    Volunteers spent 16 years restoring the Wichita-built aircraft and put in more than 350,000 hours, according to The Wichita Eagle.

    Some volunteers were people who worked on the original B-29 production line in Wichita or were B-29 crew members.

    The bomber lifted off from the McConnell Air Force Base around 9 a.m. Sunday and stayed in the air for about seven minutes before crews were forced to land.

    An engine information sensor turned on mid-flight and the flight crew had to cut the historic flight short, according the Eagle.

    Jim Murphy, restoration program manager for Doc’s Friends, the nonprofit group that owns the bomber told the Eagle that they were “real pleased with the flight” and consider it a “big success.”

    Murphy and T. J. Norman, a volunteer and flight crew member, said the sensor that turned on is likely not a setback to future flights.

    “We’re 99 percent sure it’s a very simple fix,” said Norman.

    He said the crew found that a couple of times “it was just a tiny piece of fuzz” that caused the sensor light to go off.

    Murphy said he expects Doc’s next flight to occur after the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which takes place in the last week of July.

    And though Doc’s flight was brief, that didn’t stop a crowd of several hundred people from cheering.

    Onlookers included public officials Mayor Jeff Longwell and U.S. Rep Mike Pompeo.

    Charlie Tilghman, Doc’s pilot in command, told the Eagle that the plane “flew like a good B-29.” “The airplane is going to be great,” he said in a later interview. “The engines are strong and smooth. Just the darn warning light.”(SD-Agencies)