Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Wings of Freedom: Consolidated B-24J Liberator

IMG_6878 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 10, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 10, 2007

With the introduction of the B-17 in 1938, the Army Air Corps wanted other aircraft builders to build the B-17 under license from Boeing. Consolidated Aircraft was one of those companies.

IMG_6764 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

After studying the B-17, Consolidated thought that that they could build a bomber with a higher speed, greater range, and greater payload.

IMG_6759 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

By the end of 1939, the prototype for the B-24 had been completed.

IMG_6743 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The USAAC was impressed with the prototype, and the new B-24 was produced concurrently with the B-17 for the duration of World War II. There were more B-24s produced than B-17s.

IMG_6857 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The debate over whether one bomber was better than the other has never been settled, as both the B-17 and the B-24 had their strengths and weaknesses, and various improvements were made to both during production.

IMG_6873 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

Specifications notwithstanding, in practice the two delivered similar performance.

IMG_6741 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The B-24 did feature a larger bomb bay than the B-17, as well as a retractable ball turret.

IMG_6694 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The B-24 was more expensive to produce than the B-17, and the B-24 lacked a hatch at the front of the plane, making it more difficult for the crew to bail out if the plane was shot down.

IMG_6697 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

There were many opinions about the two bombers; crews usually believed that whichever model they flew was the superior plane, but in general, American crews tended to prefer the B-17, while the British preferred the B-24. In the Pacific Theatre, B-24s greatly outnumbered B-17s.

IMG_6865 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The Collings Foundation's Liberator is a B-24J model, built in Fort Worth, Texas in August, 1944. It was transferred to the British Royal Air Force in October, 1944 and used in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, the plane was abandoned in India, and became one of 36 B-24s restored to service in 1948 by the Indian Air Force. It remained in service in India until 1968. Again it was abandoned until a British collector purchased it in 1981 and had it disassembled and shipped by plane to England. Dr. Robert Collings purchased it in 1984 and had it shipped to Stow, Massachusetts. Restoration began in 1985 and it once again returned to the sky on September 8, 1989.

IMG_6698 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

The B-24 is decorated for another Liberator called Witchcraft that served in the 8th Air Force, completing an amazing 130 missions over Europe. This is the third notable B-24 that this plane has been painted to honor. It was originally restored as All-American, a B-24 from the 15th Air Force that shot down a record 14 enemy fighters during a single mission over Germany. In 1998 it was repainted to honor The Dragon and his Tail, a B-24 that completed 85 missions in the Pacific Theatre. It was repainted to its current livery in 2004.

IMG_6744 B-24 Bomber Nose Art in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

IMG_6745 B-24 Bomber in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007
B-24J Liberator in Aurora, Oregon on June 9, 2007

B-24 Liberator Links
B-24 Liberator at Wikipedia
Brooke Anderson's photos of riding on Witchcraft in Seattle
WWW.B24.NET
B-24 Best Web
RAF Liberator Squadrons. This site features a detailed B-24J cutaway drawing.

Continue to B-24J Tail Gun

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