The B-24 variants made by each company differed slightly, so repair depots had to stock many different parts to support various models. Armed with no less than 13 0.50-calibre machine guns, including two in a new chin turret for defense against head-on attack, the B-17G fairly bristled with machine guns. The aircraft had the distressing habit of losing all cockpit electrical power on takeoff or at landings, its engine power and reliability with the less-powerful superchargers also often left much to be desired. B-17G (In Addition to Above): 2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret. Conceived in 1938 by Consolidated Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin legacy company, the original B-24 prototype was designed to fly faster and carry a larger payload than the US Army Air Corpss B-17 Flying Fortress. Liberators were also used as anti-submarine patrol aircraft by RAF Coastal Command. [19] When France fell in 1940, their aircraft were re-directed to the RAF. Several storage tanks were added, allowing a C-109 to carry 2,900gal (11,000L) of fuel weighing over 22,000 pounds (10,000kg). Both BOAC and the RAF used converted Liberator IIs as unarmed long-range cargo carriers. The first prototype bomber flew in mid-1935, and the B-17 entered small-scale production in 1937. As these aircraft normally returned to base once a formation had been established, a skeleton crew of two pilots, navigator, radio operator and one or two flare discharge operators were carried. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. It was used on penetration missions in RAF bomber streams at night in Luftwaffe markings. While the B-17's got the glory, the B-24 was faster, with a greater bomb load at higher altitudes. Because of their special skills, they were called upon to fly fuel to General George Patton's army during the summer and early autumn of 1944 when it outran its fuel supply. This daring assault by high-altitude bombers at treetop level was a costly success. The B-24 had a shoulder-mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing. In time the B-24 would boast a long, tapered wing atop its fuselage, which allowed impressive long-range cruising capabilities. More B-24's were built than any other American airplane. I: Plans & Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942, Consolidated B-24D page, USAF National Museum, WWII photos of the 7th AAF Heavy Bombardment Group Liberators, SP-468 Quest for Performance: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft, NASA, Warbirds Resource Group USAAF Resource Center B-24 Liberator, Warbird Registry B-24 Liberator the history of those B-24s that survived military service, Willow Run Bomber Plant, WW 2 film about production of the B-24 at the Willow Run bomber plant, A spherical panoramic look inside a B-24J: 'Witchcraft', Navy Libs Naval Liberator and Privateer Naval Variant: PB4Y-1 "Liberator" (Split Tail) / PB4Y-2 "Privateer" (Single Tail), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Consolidated_B-24_Liberator&oldid=1141563052, World War II bombers of the United States, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from May 2015, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from December 2011, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pages semi-protected from banned users, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016, Articles needing additional references from December 2016, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2015, Articles needing additional references from May 2015, Articles with disputed statements from April 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2009, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Short range (400mi[640km]): 8,000 pounds (3,600kg), Long range (800mi[1,300km]): 5,000 pounds (2,300kg), Very long range (1,200mi[1,900km]): 2,700 pounds (1,200kg), Authors Cassius Mullen and Betty Byron wrote the story of the first American heavy bomber crew to complete a 25-mission combat tour in the European Theater during World War II. This model introduced self-sealing fuel tanks, a 2ft 7in (79cm) plug in the forward fuselage to create more space for crew members and, more vitally, ever more equipment such as ASV Mark II radar (anticipated early in the Liberator's development when Reuben Fleet told the engineering team he had a gut feeling the nose was too short). pp. OPTIONAL: Maximum internal bombload of 7,983 kg (17,600 lb). The sudden and decisive turning of the Battle of the Atlantic in favor of the Allies in May 1943 was the result of many factors. ", Bhargava, Kapil, Group Captain (ret'd). The B17 was a sedate aircraft and placed fewer demands on the flight deck crew. The 44th destroyed both of its assigned targets, but lost 11 of its 37 bombers and their crews. US-based Liberators entered combat service in 1942 when on 6 June, four LB-30s from Hawaii staging through Midway Island attempted an attack on Wake Island, but were unable to find it. 120 Squadron RAF of Coastal Command with its handful of worn and modified early model Liberators supplied the only air cover for convoys in the Atlantic Gap, the Liberator being the only airplane with sufficient range. They also bombed German oil refineries and attacked critical targets in Italy, changing the tide of the Allies Mediterranean campaign. The cargo versions, C-87 and C-109 tanker, further increased its overseas presence, especially in Asia in support of the XX Bomber Command air offensive against Japan. While RAF Bomber Command did not use B-24s as strategic bombers over mainland North West Europe, No. The Americans persisted, however, at great cost in men and aircraft. The U.S. Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Liberator, and along with maritime patrol B-24s used by RAF Coastal Command this type of patrol plane had been quite successful. . machine guns with normal bomb load of 6,000 lbs. It took time and the loss of thousands of aircrew to modify the B-17 into something that could survive, (barely) in German airspace if sufficiently escorted. 'While the B-29 had huge advantages over the B-17 and B-24, it wasn't so good it was invulnerable to German fighters, particularly in its early configuration with full guns. [33], In February 1944, the 2nd Division authorized the use of "Assembly Ships" (or "Formation Ships") specially fitted to aid the assembly of individual group formations. Though produced in smaller numbers than its partner the B-24 Liberator, the B-17, with superior high-altitude performance and greater resistance to battle damage, was the mainstay of the strategic bombing campaign. The Liberators flew a shorter 3,077mi (4,952km) over-water route from Learmonth to an airfield northeast of Colombo, but they could make the flight in 17 hours with a 5,500 pounds (2,500kg) payload, whereas the Catalinas required 27 hours and had to carry so much auxiliary fuel that their payload was limited to only 1,000 pounds (450kg). Plans originally called for 2,000 C-109s to support 10 groups of B-29s (approximately 400) in China, but the capture of the Mariana Islands provided a far more easily resupplied location for raids on mainland Japan, and the plans were greatly scaled back. [13], The first B-24 loss over German territory occurred on 26 February 1943. B-17 data. The XC-87B also designated a resurrected crash victim B-24D (42-40355) fitted with low altitude power packages and a forward fuselage extension. Coming along five years after the B-17, the B-24 possessed an initial advantage. The Consolidated Aircraft Company PB4Y-2 Privateer was a U.S. Navy patrol bomber that was derived directly from the B-24 Liberator. That would make the total payload capability 134,000 lbs.! Continued development work by Consolidated produced a handful of transitional B-24Cs with turbocharged instead of supercharged engines. These Liberators operated from both sides of the Atlantic with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command and later, the US Navy conducting patrols along all three American coasts and the Canal Zone. The radio/radar operator sat behind the pilots, facing sideways and sometimes doubled as a waist gunner. And then, suddenly, the whole wing broke off. [29] The B-24 came to dominate the heavy bombardment role in the Pacific because compared to the B-17, the B-24 was faster, had longer range, and could carry a ton more bombs.[30]. The conversion had a hinged cargo door at the nose eliminating transparent nose and large cargo doors installed in the waist area. Considered one of the best examples of precision bombing of the war, the raid on Gotha devastated German aircraft production and established the B-24 as one of the Allies most trusted bombers. Consolidated, Douglas and Ford all manufactured the B-24H, while North American made the slightly different B-24G. A fully navalized design was seen as advantageous, and Consolidated Aircraft developed a purpose-built long-range patrol bomber in 1943, designated PB4Y-2. It's crewmen claimed 2,600 enemy aircraft shot down. It edged out the B-17 on most performance criteria (speed, range, bombload). It is limited structurally by maximum zero fuel weight ( M Z F W) of the aircraft. Compared to the B-17, it had a 6 feet (1.8 m) larger wingspan but a lower wing area. In comparison with its contemporaries, the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-17 had excellent flight characteristics and, unlike the B-24, was almost universally well regarded by those who flew it. The Mark II was the first Liberator to be equipped with powered turrets, one plane having them installed before leaving San Diego, the remainder having them installed in the field: four Browning Boulton Paul A-type Mk IV with 600 rounds of .303 in the dorsal position; and a Boulton Paul E-type Mk II with 2200 rounds in the tail (later increased to 2500 rounds), supplemented by pairs of guns at the waist position, a single gun in the nose and another in the belly, for a total of fourteen guns. The single fin did appear in production on the PB4Y Privateer derivative.[10][11][12]. [citation needed] A new government plant was built in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Reconstruction Finance Corporation funds and leased to Douglas Aircraft for assembly of B-24s from Ford parts;[46] Douglas ultimately built a total of 962 of the D, E, H, and J models there. "Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The B-24's spacious, slab-sided fuselage (which earned the aircraft the nickname "Flying Boxcar")[13] was built around two central bomb bays that could accommodate up to 8,000 pounds (3,600kg) of ordnance in each compartment (but rarely did, as this decreased range and altitude). Hendrix figured that Germans understood it was easier to hit, and that it carried more bombs. A total of 287 B-24D, B-24J, B-24L and B-24M aircraft were supplied to the RAAF, of which 33 were lost in action or accidents, with more than 200 Australians killed. Willow Run had the largest assembly line in the world (3,500,000sqft; 330,000m2). 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