B24 Liberator
US long-range bombers WW2

Consolidated Vultee Model 32 B24 Liberator
Type: Heavy long-range strategic bombers.
History: With production totalling 18,482 units, the B24 Liberator was the most numerous U.S. combat type of World War 2. The B24 served in the thick of the fighting on every front and in a variety of roles, including bombing, maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare and transport. But the type's major contribution was as a bomber, especially in the Pacific. In three years of operations B24s dropped some 635,000 tons (about 635 million kg) of bombs and downed 4,189 enemy aircraft. Although crews preferred the B-17 Flying Fortress because it was less vulnerable, the Liberator proved to be an excellent and versatile combat aircraft. Apart from Consolidated, several other companies built Liberators. A total of 1,694 were delivered directly to the Royal Air Force for service with Coastal and Bomber Commands.

The preliminiary studies which gave rise to the B24 began early in 1939, when the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was asked by the U.S. Army Air Corps for a new heavy bomber. What was required was a more modern aircraft with better speed, range and altitude performance than the Boeing B-17, which was already in production.
Head designer Isaac M. Laddon settled on a high-wing monoplane with twin fing and rudders. The wing was certainly the most original and advanced feature of the Laddon design. Consolidated had recently begun to incorporate Davis laminar-flow contours into its designs, and did not hesitate to apply these advances to the new bomber. The Liberator's high-aspect-ratio wing conferred an impressive payload, climb and range performance.
A contract signed on March 30, 1939, called for a full-size model and a prototype; the latter first took to the air on December 29 of that year. The new bomber had a deep fuselage and a large bomb bay with sliding doors. The under­carriage was unusual for the time: a tricycle arrangement in which the main gear retracted into the wing. The type was originally powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 engines with two­stage mechanical superchargers, subsequently replaced by exhaust-driven turbo-superchargers.

The impressive Liberator assembly line.

Seven pre-production examples were built, followed in 1940 by a first order for 36 aircraft. Only nine of these were built, the rest being produced as B-24Cs. The B-24C had turbo-super­charged Pratt & Whitney R-1830s, which necessitated structural modifications to the engine nacelles. The armament was also increased. The first significant version, however, was the B-24D, for which large orders were received in 1940. Further orders brought total production of this variant up to 2,738 units. Such was the demand for the B-24 that the original production facilities had to be expanded.
Consolidated built B-24s at San Diego and then added a second assembly line at Fort Worth, Texas. Beginning with the B-24D, Douglas, Ford and North American also built Liberators.
Beginning in April 1942, the B-24D was the first Liberator to go into combat. Most of the Liberator's early combat career centred on the Middle Eastem and Pacific theatres. The next version was the B-24E, which bad different engines and propellers. Then came the B-24G. Beginning with the 26th B-24G, a substantial modification was introduced. A mechanically operated nose turret was installed, thus providing extra defence against frontal attack, to which the B-24 had been particularly vulnerable. This arrangement was standard in all subsequent versions.

B24 Liberators bombing Tours in France

A total of 3,100 B-24Hs were produced by Consolidated, Convair, Douglas and Ford. 1943 saw the appearance of the most numerous B-24 variant, the B-24J with new engine controls, a new bombsight and changes in the fuel and control systems. The final versions, the B-24L and B-24M, had improvements in armament. By May 31, 1945, totals of 1,667 Ls and 2,593 Ms had been built.
A mong the more important experimental variants and conversions of the B-24 were the photographic-reconnaissance F-7; the C-87 transport; the AT­22, a flying classroom for navigator training; and the C-1O9 transport/tanker. The Liberator XB-41, a B-24D modified in 1942 for service as a heavy bomber escort, never got beyond the prototype stage. It carried fourteen 12.7mm machine guns.

Users: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, France, India, Italy (CB), New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Soviet Union, Turkey, UK, U.S.A.

To help them form up into their vital formations the 8th AAF bombardement groups used gaudilly painted lead-ships, visible from a distance. Here the war-weary B-24 H lead-ship of the 458th BG orbits the Norfolk coast as the whole group climbs out of Horsham St Faith, Norwich (England), and formus up behind it.

3d model of B-24 J Liberator

Bombs rain down from B-24Hs of the 487th BG

8th USAAF B-24 Liberator 'Lucky Luke' is 'bombed up' for its 28th mission from Hardwick, England in April 1943.

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