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| When in 1939 Consolidated Aircraft Corporation began design of a bomber aircraft intended to be superior to the Boeing B-17, the company could never have imagined that more than 18,000 of these aircraft would be built (as the B-24A to -M for the USAAF and Liberator I to IX for RAF Coastal Command and Bomber Command). The aim of the design team was to achieve better load/range performance than that of the B-17, the basis of the design being a wide-span narrow-chord cantilever wing, mounted high on a deep-section fuselage.
Construction was conventional all-metal, but there were several innovations in addition to the new wing. For the first time on a large aircraft a retractable tricycle-type landing gear was introduced. The bomb bay was deep enough for bombs to be stowed vertically and wide enough to comprise two bays separated by a catwalk providing communication between the flight deck and rear fuselage. Instead of conventional bomb doors, which can affect flight characteristics when open, the bomb bay was closed by roller-shutter-type doors.
The prototype XB-24 flew for the first time on 29 December 1939, by which time the USAAC had ordered seven YB-24 for service trials and others had been ordered by Great Britain and France. These had the same engines as the prototype, but introduced pneumatic de-icing boots for wing and tail unit leading edges. The first production B-24A were delivered in 1941 to the USAAF (and others to Britain 4s LB-30A transports for transatlantic ferry flights). During the period of their construction the original prototype was re-engined with turbocharged Pratt & Whitney R-1830-4I, at the same time having the oil coolers mounted on each side of the engine. This was responsible for the unusual elliptical cowlings which, together with the large twin oval endplate fins, made the Liberator easily identifiable.
Subsequent Liberators had increased armament and armour protection. The first major production version was the B-24D, powered by R-1830-43 engines, of which the majority of more than 2,700 built went to the USAAF as bombers. A number were subsequently taken over by the US Navy as PB4Y-1 anti-submarine aircraft. RAF Bomber Command and Coastal Command also received 382 as Liberator III/IIIA and V. The major production version of the Liberator was, however, the B-24J with R-1830-65 engines, making up more than one-third of the total production. These were supplied to the US, British, Canadian and other air forces.
Although the B-24 was deployed alongside the B-17 in Europe, and flew in Africa and the Middle East, its major contribution to America's wartime operations was in the Pacific, where it was first flown in action against the Japanese in January 1942. In Europe it is best remembered for bombing Rome on 19 July 1943 and for a low-level attack by 177 aircraft on the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania on 1 August 1943, a 4,345km round-trip mission from Benghazi in Libya, during which 57 of these eight-ten-crew aircraft were lost.
| CREW | 7-12 |
| ENGINE | 4 x P+W R-1830-43, 880kW |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 33.6 m | 110 ft 3 in |
| Length | 20.2 m | 66 ft 3 in |
| Height | 5.5 m | 18 ft 1 in |
| Wing area | 97.4 m2 | 1048.40 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 487 km/h | 303 mph |
| Ceiling | 9750 m | 32000 ft |
| Range w/max.fuel | 4580 km | 2846 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 10 x 12.7mm machine-guns, 5800kg of bombs |
| Bob, e-mail, 17.02.2011 23:10 The navy version of the B-24 had a different name than Liberator. Can anyone supply that name? Also the navy "liberator" had a conventional tail with high fin and rudder rather than the twin end plate as shown in the photo. thanx reply | | THOMAS J. FLAHERTY, e-mail, 14.02.2011 07:50 I would like to purchase a set of B-24 manuals in the briefcase issued by Consolidated. reply | | Smoke Pfeiffer, e-mail, 31.01.2011 19:53 My father was a B-24 pilot, first stationed in North Africa and then Italy. 55 Combat missions and finished WWII as a major; finished Korea as a Lt. Col., and retired in the mid 70's as a bird Col. He died in 1999. Less than a month before, I had given him a big book on the history of the B-24 for Father's Day. After he died, I had it shipped to the only remaining crewman on his ship, a waist gunner. I received a very nice letter in return.
When I was a child, I never learned the normal kid's stories. I was one of 4 brothers. One night before his Air Force reserve meeting, he could not find any of our kids books so he read us to sleep from the B-24 maintenance manual and the Universal Code of Military Justice. Years later, he told me that the first time was an accident. However, since all 4 of us were alseep in a maximum of 7 minutes, the many times after that were all deliberate. reply | | Mike Holl, e-mail, 29.12.2010 21:08 My Dad (still alive, 94, at this writing) was B24 pilot w /485th BG, 830th Sq, out of Venossa Italy. Wasn't until I got interested in flying myself 25 yrs ago that he'd talk much about it & then I did some reading /research. He did 50 missions, & holy crap, from what I've read is incredibly lucky to be alive. He says the fighters didn't scare them so much, it was that terrible flak. The inhumanity of it all affected him. About the only time I've seen tears in his eyes was when I shipped-out to VietNam, & now I know why. reply | |
| | Calvin D Pigman, e-mail, 18.12.2010 23:58 Assigned to the 55Th. Reconnaisance Squadron, long range weather, (attached to the 20th. A.F.), I was the copilot of B-24m (#449517). While we were flying through a typhoon, taking weather readings, we encountered a storm center (i. e. embedded thunderstorm). Our plane was subjected to a violent updraft and then a violent downdraft. Afterwards we found that the horizontal stabilizer was no longer parallel to the wings and that several antennas were broken off. After one more test flight the plane was scrapped but IT BROUGHT US HOME! reply | | Bill Grubb, e-mail, 12.12.2010 21:11 My older brother George Grubb was a B-24 pilot an did not talk much about his bomb runs but had a bucket full of flak. I remember him telling my dad that he flew 33 missions and bombed Polesti oil fields and that was all I remembered. The AF Museum in Dayton, OH. has a B24 an I have enjoyed visiting it twice..I was a B-36 an B-52 Tech. reply | | Muraleedharan Nair. K, e-mail, 24.11.2010 18:46 Fantastic flying machine. From the war point of view, it had killed hundreds of innocent young men but brought back credentials. During my early training years I was familiarised on Wright Cyclones. I had an opportunity to be in a team to service a B24 for display purposes. I also keep a memento geven to me by my section head, at the time of his retirement back in 1966. It is a brocken mirror reflector used in the gun sight recovered from a war damaged B24. I also have read hundreds of pages of B24 history. Those were the days my friends. Difficult to forget history!!
Murali
Aircraft Engineer and Scientist (Retd) reply | | marvin lesser, e-mail, 23.10.2010 19:12 Following basic training in Shepherd Field,Tx in late 1944 was classified as mechanic gunner and assigned to Biloxi,Mississippi to learn about B-24s and as a high scorer was given the option to train as a B-32 flight engineer. This ended my relationship with the B-32 and in my next assignment to Liberal, Kansas I crewed as a PFC flight engineer on B-24s,training single engine pilots to fly multi engine aircraft. This was hairy stuff as we did multple take-offs and landings but the 50% flight pay was good adding $27 /month to my pocket and th hot choclate and donuts on the flight line was welcome. After a stint at Randolph field crew chiefing some AT-6s for guys getting in their 4 hours to collect their flight pay and with the war coming to an end I was on my way to CampStoneman,California via Truax Field, Wisc. After over 3 weeks on the USAT Etolin crossing the Pacific I set foot on Okinawa and then Kadena Field where I spent almost a year working on B-29s reply | | George A. White, Col USAF (Ret, e-mail, 12.10.2010 07:36 My dad built B-24's at the Consolidated plant near Ft. Worth, Texas during WWII. I have always been proud of his contribution to the war effort by helping build these great bomber aircraft that flew their missions and brought so many fliers back to base even after unbelievable battle damage. reply | | Fred Becchetti, e-mail, 27.09.2010 03:17 She wasn't a pretty plane like the B-17, but she took me and my crew over Nazi Europe and through the flak of Berlin, Munich, Paris, Gotha and a total of 35 targets and brought me back safely to the 8th Air Force's 445th Bomb Group in Tibenham, England, in the summer of 1944, so I don't care if she wasn't pretty. But maybe we were just lucky, because the 8th AF was losing 100 bombers per month at that time. Being in a bomber over Europe was the most dangerous place to be in WWII. I'm glad to be alive. FB reply | | Jim Leggett, e-mail, 29.07.2010 19:07 The late Captain D.M.(Don) Teal RAFC penned a two-page first person account of the crash of a Liberator on a mountain top in Arran, off the Scottish coast, on August 9 1941. Teal, asked to officiate at the Arran funeral, missed death when a second flght he was to be on crashed on takeoff at Prestwick killing all aboard August 13 1941. Forty-four crew in all were lost. The full story and pictures are scheduled to be published in the Arran newspaper next week. Thought readers of this site may find this of interest. Jim Leggett. email; photo_writer@yahoo.com reply | | Dick Malewiski, e-mail, 11.08.2010 00:06 My Dad was a B-24 pilot with the 448th Bomb Group out of Seething. He finished with 33 missions, including one coming back with a lot of the tail shot off, and another so low on fuel an engine cut out just on landing and one on taxi. Various other damage on most of the missions and it took both pilot and co-pilot to keep them in the air on the way home. He took movies from the cockpit on several bomb runs showing flak and attacks from ME-109's. I need to get those restored. Harold Kennedy has a website of the 448th. reply | | John Gormley, e-mail, 05.05.2010 22:34 My father, Tsgt John E. Gormley, was in the 90th Bomb Group "Jolly Rogers" and was KIA on 13OCT43 coming off the first daytime bombing run on Rabaul, flying out of Port Moresby. I was 4 months old and never got to know this hero who gave his life for our country at age 26.
Freedom isn't free! reply | | William Zane, e-mail, 30.04.2010 00:15 I was a 455th Group lead pilot flying off the wing of the group leader returning from a mission to Bucharest Romania when over Yugoslavia we were hit by intense & accurate Anti-aircraft fire, The Group leader went down in flames & my plane also suffered severe damage to #2, #3,Engines, losing both fuel & oil pressure on each of these engines. To maintain flying speed we had to alternate the use of these three engines along with #1 engine which was not hit. Also, our hydraulic system was damaged beyond repair. In any event we were able to maintain enough altitude to get across the Adriatic sea & were able to just get over the airfield fence after lowering the landing gear using emergency procedures & as we had no flaps, nor brakes, we had to deploy parachutes from the waist windows in order to stop just going off the far end of the field. All Four engines were damaged beyond repair. Number one engine was damaged from overheating & the other three engines were also damaged from malfunctioning low oil & fuel pressure but we by the grace of God, we were able to survive for more missions reply | |
| | Darryl Johnston, e-mail, 11.04.2010 15:27 My late uncle flew in Liberators with a squadron of the SAAF (South African Air Force) based in North Africa then Italy - if anybody can give me details of the squadron it would be appreciated. Oh, I remember him telling me they dropped supplies in Stalingad as well. reply | | Michele Horton, e-mail, 27.03.2010 17:58 My Grandfather, Vernon M. Samuelson, was part of the 449th Bomb group, crew 7-12. He flew a B-24 that he named "Cincy's Margie". I wanted to see if there were anyone out there that remembers him and possibly has any pictures with him in it and his plane "Cincy's Margie". He passed away back in 2006. He had typed his memoirs down and my Mom gave me a copy. My son Logan (Vernon's Great-Grandson) is very interested in World War II and I wish that he was still around to talk to him. If you have any info for me, please email me. Thanks so much! Sincerely, Michele Horton reply | | Gerry Cabot, e-mail, 23.03.2010 17:27 I was tail gunner and flew 27 missions on the B-24 with the 458th Bomb Group, 2nd Air Division, out of Horsham St. Faith near Norwich England. It was a great aircraft and always got us back to base even with battle damage. I had two skippers: Andy Anderson(New Jersey) and then Dave Minsker from Traverse City, Michigan. I am proud of my service. reply | | Tony Bishop, e-mail, 11.03.2010 03:14 My uncle, Bill Bishop, was a mechanic with the 90th Bomb Group, the "Jolly Rogers" out of one of the Port Moresby airfields. He begged his B-24 pilot for a stowaway ride on a mission, finally got his wish. It was a night raid over Rabaul, which the pilot had hoped would not be a particullarly hazardous one.
A searchlight picked the plane up and the pilots dived to escape. My uncle, in the radio compartment, was scared out of his mind. The plane built up to over 350MPH IAS, as the pilots tried to evade. Bill said that he could hear the stresses on the wing roots, hear sheet metal creaking, rivets popping.
Upon landing, inspection showed extreme warping and rippling to the wing leading edges, twisted metal at the wing roots. The plane never flew again, became a parts source.
My uncle was chewed out royally, and busted back from Sgt. to Private. "Sargeant, you were doing no good for anybody, and in the way. Your opportuniy to fight the war is in the field of engine service, and there you'll stay." (My uncle had no desire to go on a raid again, in any case.) reply | | anded, e-mail, 09.03.2010 00:51 thhkk reply | | Sam Vecchio, e-mail, 29.01.2010 22:25 A great book I have read about these aircraft is "Log of the Liberators" It has history of almost everyone produced. reply |
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