At its inception, the B-24 was a modern design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing. An unusual four-panel set of all-metal, tambour-panel "roller-type" bomb bay doors, which operated very much like the movable enclosure of a rolltop desk, retracted into the fuselage. The design MTOW for a B-24D was initially set at 56,000lbs. Carrying the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the Air Force inventory, the multi-mission B-1 is the backbone of America's long-range bomber force. The Secret War, by Brian Johnson, Pen And Sword Military Classics, 1978. Turbo-supercharged radial engines (a uniquely American development) were to give the necessary high-altitude performance, and heavy defensive armament was to provide protection against attacking fighters. The first USAAF Liberators to carry out combat missions were 12 repossessed LB-30s deployed to Java with the 11th Bombardment Squadron (7th Bombardment Group) that flew their first combat mission in mid-January. (1978). 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. From August 1943 until the end of the war in Europe, specially modified B-24Ds were used in classified missions. The Liberator II (referred to as the LB-30A by the USAAF[19]) were divided between Coastal Command, Bomber Command, and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The B-24 was a faster plane having a greater range and payload capacity. 37 to Bremen, Germany. While RAF Bomber Command did not use B-24s as strategic bombers over mainland North West Europe, No. Pilots and crews slept on 1,300 cots at Willow Run waiting for their B-24s to roll off the assembly line. Thus naval patrol often omitted top, belly and nose turrets. The waist gun hatches were provided with doors. The bombsight was located below the turret. 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. Mission. On 12 June 1942, 13 B-24s of the Halverson Project (HALPRO) flying from Egypt attacked the Axis-controlled oil fields and refineries around Ploieti, Romania. "Misadventure at Mauritius.". The Liberator originated from a United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. Since the aircraft had been designed to be a bomber that dropped its loads while airborne, the C-87's nose landing gear was not designed for landing with a heavy load, and frequently it collapsed from the stress. On a ferry flight from Hildesheim to Bavaria on 6 April 1945 it was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. In addition, 73 Liberators of various models that had force-landed on European airfields were recovered and 30 of them were repaired and used by the 45th Bomber Aviation Division. [49] In mid-1944, the production of the B-24 was consolidated from several different companies (including some in Texas) to two large factories: the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego and the Ford Motor Company's factory in Willow Run, near Detroit, Michigan, which had been specially designed to produce B-24s. By mid 1943 this was being pushed to 60,000lbs and eventually on to 64,000lbs. It could manage an altitude of no more than 25,000ft (7600m), three or four thousand feet less than a B-17, but it flew 10-15mph (16-24 km/h) faster. He flew in B-24 41-23777 ("Maisey") on Mission No. The B17 was a sedate aircraft and placed fewer demands on the flight deck crew. 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). and 40,000 lbs., respectively. [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. Ferry Command's Atlantic Return Ferry Service flew civilian ferry pilots, who had delivered aircraft to the UK, back to North America. In April 1939, the USAAC initially ordered seven YB-24 under CAC contract # 12464. The attack became disorganized after a navigational error which alerted the defenders and protracted the bomb run from the initial point. Whereas the B-17 used 9-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines, the Consolidated design used twin-row, 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radials of 1,000hp (750kW). Consolidated incorporated innovative features such as a tricycle landing gear and Davis wing. Consolidated, Douglas and Ford all manufactured the B-24H, while North American made the slightly different B-24G. Liberators remained in service until 1948, when they were replaced by Avro Lincolns. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. As built, the XB-24 top speed was only 273mph instead of the specified 311mph. At Ford's Ypsilanti, Michigan based Willow Run Bomber plant alone, one B-24 was being produced every 59 minutes at its peak, a rate so large that production exceeded the military's ability to use the aircraft. They were equipped with signal lighting, provision for quantity discharge of pyrotechnics, and were painted with distinctive group-specific high-contrast patterns of stripes, checkers or polka dots to enable easy recognition by their flock of bombers. 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. Some RAAF aircrew were given operational experience in Liberators while attached to USAAF squadrons. In some groups an observer officer flew in the tail position to monitor the formation. Corrections? During the bomb run, the sight was slaved to the automatic pilot to guide the aircraft to the precise release point. ea. The navigator's position was relocated behind the pilot. Following the Japanese surrender, the RAAF's Liberators participated in flying former prisoners of war and other personnel back to Australia. American Liberators flew from Nova Scotia, Greenland, the Azores, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Trinidad, Ascension Island and from wherever else they could fly far out over the Atlantic. The extended nose earned it the name Pinocchio. The Lib had a larger bomb bay and a somewhat longer range. ", https://web.archive.org/web/20090304014706/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_27.html, "Indian Ocean New Guinea Kangaroo Service 19501946. The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. The aircraft were all modified for logistic use in Montreal. Helicopter widths include main rotor diameter. Approximately 18,500 B-24s were produced across a number of versions, including over 4,600 manufactured by Ford. The B-17 was designed by the Boeing Aircraft Company in response to a 1934 Army Air Corps specification that called for a four-engined bomber at a time when two engines were the norm. This wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. ", Winchester, Jim. Consolidated finished the prototype and had it ready for its first flight two days before the end of 1939. Changes included the removal of all armament, provision for passenger seating, a revised cabin oxygen and heating system. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24 and procured it in huge numbers for a wide variety of roles. 29th Apr 2007, 21:34. Liberators assigned to the RAF's Coastal Command in 1941, offensively to patrol against submarines in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, produced immediate results. Following incidents when flare guns were accidentally discharged inside the rear fuselage, some assembly (formation) ships had pyrotechnic guns fixed through the fuselage sides. The B-24N was intended as a major production variant featuring a single tail. One of these was captured at Venegono, Italy on 29 March 1944. When this mission was completed, it was recorded that 822,791 US gallons (3,114,264L) of 80 octane gasoline had been delivered to three different airfields in France and Belgium.[35]. However, whereas a combat-loaded B-24 could safely take off with room to spare from a 6,000ft (1,800m) runway, a loaded C-109 required every foot of such a runway to break ground, and crashes on takeoff were not uncommon. Project A led to the development of the Boeing B-29 and Consolidated's own B-32 and B-36. [22], Later in 1941, the first Liberators entered RAF service. A B-24 could reach 290 miles per hour and carry a 5,000-pound bomb load for 1,700 miles, giving it a longer range, greater speed and a bigger payload than its B-17 cousin. During Operation Carpetbagger in 1943, some Liberators were painted black and flown under the cover of night to supply French Resistance fighters with supplies and weapons, needed to support the upcoming D-Day invasion. The RAF found, as did the US, that global war increased the need for air transports and early-type bombers and seaplanes were converted or completed as cargo carriers and transports. A heavily loaded B-24 was difficult to fly at speeds of less than 160mph (260 km/h). II radar, which together with the Leigh light, gave them the ability to hunt U-boats by day and by night. We have invested in developing and demonstrating hypersonic technology for over 30 years. [citation needed]. Sharing production with the Douglas, Lockheed, and Vega companies, Boeing oversaw the manufacture of some 12,730 Flying Fortresses, nearly all of them committed to high-altitude bombing over Europe. Navy PB4Y-1s assigned to Atlantic ASW and all Coast Guard PB4Y-1s had the ventral turret replaced by a retractable radome. [41], Three B-24s were captured and then operated by the German secret operations unit KG 200, which also tested, evaluated and sometimes clandestinely operated captured enemy aircraft during World War II.[42]. A payload range diagram (also known as the elbow chart) illustrates the trade-off between payload and range. Alternate titles: Boeing B-17 bomber, Flying Fortress, Associate Professor of History, Ohio State University, Columbus. [36] Unlike the C-87, the C-109 was not built on the assembly line, but rather was converted from existing B-24 bomber production; to save weight, the glass nose, armament, turret fairings and bombardment equipment were removed. B-17G (In Addition to Above): 2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret. Cost: $276,000 Serial Number: 42-32076 PERFORMANCE Maximum speed: 300 mph. This gave the B-24 a 35-percent higher wing loading. B-24s leaked fuel. Australian aircrew seconded to the Royal Air Force flew Liberators in all theatres of the war, including with RAF Coastal Command, in the Middle East, and with South East Asia Command, while some flew in South African Air Force squadrons. The ordnance of 1,000lb weight, was deployed operationally by USAAF B-24s in both Europe and the CBI theaters. Both BOAC and the RAF used converted Liberator IIs as unarmed long-range cargo carriers. Maximum payload is the difference between maximum zero-fuel Weight and operational empty weight . The maximum takeoff weight was one of the highest of the period. 540 ft/min [Diff.-49,460 feet] Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) F-15 Eagle Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress RoC (ft) 50,000 540 540. [48] The aircraft was also built at North American plant B in the city of Grand Prairie, Texas having only starting production of the B-24G in 1943. Job, Macarthur. The conversion had a hinged cargo door at the nose eliminating transparent nose and large cargo doors installed in the waist area. Later D models were fitted with the retractable Sperry ball turret. The seventh aircraft was used by Consolidated and the USAAC to test armor installations as well as self-sealing fuel tanks. # 3 ( permalink) The low-altitude, nighttime operation was extremely dangerous and took its toll on these airmen. B-1B Lancer. Autry, Gene with Herskowitz, Mickey. Also, the necessity of range increased the importance of weight and aerodynamic efficiency. (Later versions were fitted with a powered twin-.50 caliber (12.7mm) M2 Browning machine gun nose turret.) The C-87 transport derivative served as a longer range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. The new design would be the first American heavy bomber in production to use tricycle landing gear the North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber's predecessor, the NA-40 introduced this feature in January 1939 with the Consolidated Model 32 having long, thin wings with the efficient "Davis" high aspect ratio design (also used on the projected Model 31 twin-engined commercial flying boat)[17] promising to provide maximum fuel efficiency. The RAF and later American patrols ranged from the east, based in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Iceland and beginning in mid-1943 from the Azores. A consequence of the British orders went beyond requests for specific modifications: as the RAF accepted some designs while rejecting others, American production was to some extent re-directed along specific lines that accorded with British doctrine, the B-24's capacious bomb bay and ability to carry 8,000lb ordnance a case in point.[9]. The maximum take-off weight was slightly raised to 64,250 pounds, the maximum altitude lifted from 21,200 to 24,000 feet but the maximum speed was reduced to 263mph, largely as a result of increased drag.[9]. Colonel Leon W. Johnson, the 44th's commander, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership, as was Col. John Riley "Killer" Kane, commander of the 98th Bomb Group. Later modifications gave it a single tail and yet another type of engine packages bring it to near C-87C configuration. Post and all but two of the 11 men aboard were killed. However, the B-17 could fly higher, was easier to fly, and could take somewhat more abuse (though both could be beat to heck and still limp home). It had been sent to the Central Pacific for a very long-range reconnaissance mission that was preempted by the Japanese attack. The pilot and co-pilot sat alongside each other in a well-glazed cockpit. Additionally, the tail span was widened by 2ft (0.61m) and the pitot-static probes were relocated from the wings to the fuselage. The VLR Liberators sacrificed some armor and often gun turrets to save weight, while carrying extra aviation gasoline in their bomb-bay tanks. Milano: Mondadori. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Thus the first six YB-24 were released for direct purchase under CAC contract # F-677 on 9 November 1940. A B-24 could reach 290 miles per hour and carry a 5,000-pound bomb load for 1,700 miles, giving it a longer range, greater speed, and a bigger payload than its B-17 cousin." [44] Production took place at 5 plants. Why would bomber command and the combined airforces have not used the Mosquito . It edged out the B-17 on most performance criteria (speed, range, bombload). 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. The B-24 bombers of the 308th Bombardment Group (Heavy) joined the battlefield in March 1944 as the heavy bombers of the Fourteenth Air Force to fight against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War (WW2 in China). The 859 BS was converted from day bombardment to these operations and then transferred to the 15th Air Force. In the event, the need to keep such tight defensive formations over Europe compromised the accuracy of the Norden bombsight, since individual bomb runs were not possible without breaking the formation. Liberators were the only heavy bomber flown by the RAAF in the Pacific. The name "Liberator" was originally given to it by the RAF, and subsequently adopted by the USAAF as the official name for the Model 24. One major failure of the prototype was that it failed to meet the top speed requirements specified in the contract. Being on long-distance patrols, they generally flew outside the range of enemy fighters. The belly turret was a periscopically sighted Bendix model. The single fin did appear in production on the PB4Y Privateer derivative.[10][11][12]. Liberators were equipped with ASV Mk. Along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. b24 vs b17 range and payload b-24 bombing missions A quick tutorial on editing Form B17 2004-2021 Online It has become really simple nowadays to edit your PDF files online, and CocoDoc is the best free PDF editor you would like to use to make a series of changes to your file and save it. Both the B-17 and the B-24 came out of an early 1930s philosophy that long-range bombers could be used to defend the continental United States against a foreign enemy by finding and sinking an invasion fleet while it was still several hundred miles from American shores. This unit then was formalized as the 376th Bombardment Group, Heavy, and along with the 98th BG formed the nucleus of the IX Bomber Command of the Ninth Air Force, operating from Africa until absorbed into the Twelfth Air Force briefly, and then the Fifteenth Air Force, operating from Italy. After it was discovered that these problems could be alleviated by flying with the forward storage tank empty, this practice became fairly routine, enhancing aircrew safety at the cost of some fuel-carrying capacity. Online by mid-1943, the new plant produced hundreds of B-24 Liberator bombers. Only one B-24 was officially delivered to the USSR according to the Lend-Lease agreements, stranded in Yakutsk while flying a government mission to the Soviet Union in November 1942. With it's great range, it performed anti-sub work in the Atlantic and heavy bomber support in the Pacific. Consolidated B-24 Liberator Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Speed (kph) 467 462 RANGE 2,001 miles (3,220 km) [Diff.0 miles] RANGE 2,001 miles (3,220 km) [Diff.0 miles] Consolidated B-24 Liberator Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Range (km) 3,220 3,220 CEILING 28,002 ft (8,535 m) [Diff.-7,595 feet] CEILING 35,597 ft (10,850 m) [Diff.+7,595 feet] Engines: Four Wright "Cyclone" R-1820s of 1,200 hp. They also flew C-47s, Douglas A-26 Invaders, and British de Havilland Mosquitos. Two RAF bomber squadrons with Liberators were deployed to the Middle East in early 1942. The Liberators made a significant contribution to Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic against German U-boats. Among the specialized squadrons were the 20th RS (RCM), 36th BS (RCM), 406th NLS, 63rd BS (SB) SeaHawks, 373rdBS (LAB) and 868th BS (SB) Snoopers. It holds records as the world's most-produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history. [13] Of the 177 B-24s that were dispatched on this operation, 54 were lost.[13]. Fortunately, this problem was eased in the summer of 1944, when North American, Douglas and Consolidated Aircraft at Fort Worth stopped making B-24s, leaving only the Consolidated plant in San Diego and the Ford plant in Willow Run. [28] The B-24 was vital for missions of a radius less than 1,000mi (1,600km), in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters where U.S. Navy PB4Y-1s and USAAF SB-24s took a heavy toll of enemy submarines and surface combatants and shipping. Crews flew with the bomb bay doors slightly open to dissipate potentially explosive fumes. Within weeks, the First Provisional Bombardment Group formed from the remnants of the Halverson and China detachments. In the period between 7 November 1942 and 8 March 1943, the 44th Bomb Group lost 13 of its original 27 B-24s. Indigenous Fort Worth C-87 and AT-22 production began with the FY 1943 order for 80 serial-numbered airframes 43-30548 through 4330627. It can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time. The first aircrews chosen for this operation came from the anti-submarine bomb groups because of their special training in low altitude flying and pinpoint navigation skills. It carried a larger bomb load than the B-17, and. Your selected aircraft are compared in side-by-side arrangement below. B-17 data. The bomber was intended from the outset to attack strategic targets by precision daylight bombing, penetrating deep into enemy territory by flying above the effective range of antiaircraft artillery. Hendrix, Lindell ("Lin"), "Requiem for a Heavyweight", Wings, February 1978, A Sentry Magazine, page 20. RAF Liberators were also operated as bombers from India by SEAC and would have been a part of Tiger Force if the war had continued. The new Model 32 combined designer David R. Davis's wing, a high-efficiency airfoil design created by unorthodox means,[6] with the twin tail design from the Consolidated Model 31 flying boat, together on a new fuselage. Early Royal Air Force (RAF) Liberators were the first aircraft to routinely cross the Atlantic Ocean. The turret proved unsatisfactory and was soon replaced by a tunnel gun, which was itself omitted. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) took delivery of its first B-24As in mid-1941. Learn how and when to remove this template message, British and French purchasing commissions, South West Pacific theatre of World War II, Watch video of B-24 production and testing, List of Consolidated B-24 Liberator operators, List of surviving Consolidated B-24 Liberators, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, National Museum of the United States Air Force, Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, "The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress vs. the Consolidated B-24 Liberator", "A Brief History of the 44th Bomb Group. And that was even if the US had bases nearby! By 1941, B-24s were being shipped to Great Britain, where they were given the name Liberator and adapted for a variety of purposes, including coastal patrol, protecting critical Atlantic cargo ship convoy crossings. 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. [21], The first British Liberators had been ordered by the Anglo-French Purchasing Board in 1940. A 4,000-pound (1,800-kg) bomb load was typical for long missions, though the B-17 could carry up to 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) internally for shorter distances at lower altitudes and even more on external racks beneath the wings. The B-24 had a shoulder-mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing. B-24s were also used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps for ASW, anti-ship patrol, and photographic reconnaissance in the Pacific Theater, and by the U.S. Coast Guard for patrol and SAR. machine guns with normal bomb load of 6,000 lbs. The B-24 was rapidly phased out of U.S. service, although the PB4Y-2 Privateer maritime patrol derivative carried on in service with the U.S. Navy in the Korean War. Consequently, it was relatively easy for a poorly trained ground crew to load a C-87 with its center of gravity too far forward or aft, rendering the aircraft difficult to control due to inadequate or excessive longitudinal stability. And large cargo doors installed in the Atlantic Ocean a modern design featuring a single tail not..., it performed anti-sub work in the tail position to monitor the formation the difference maximum. China detachments: //home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_27.html, `` Indian Ocean new Guinea Kangaroo Service 19501946 the page from. 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Request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17, the 44th bomb Group 13... 42-32076 PERFORMANCE maximum speed: 300 mph used converted Liberator IIs as unarmed cargo. Each other in a well-glazed cockpit heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret. the specified 311mph the B-29., and American Military aircraft in History turret replaced by Avro b24 vs b17 range and payload of engine packages it! Waist area its toll on these airmen set at 56,000lbs the flight deck crew ii radar, which together the... Raaf in the Pacific difficult to fly at speeds of less than 160mph ( 260 km/h ) by Johnson! B-17 under license the Central Pacific for a B-24D was initially set at 56,000lbs and often turrets... Multi-Engine aircraft, and British de Havilland Mosquitos ability to hunt U-boats by and! The turret proved unsatisfactory and was soon replaced by a retractable radome initially ordered YB-24... It had been ordered by the Japanese surrender, the USAAC to test armor installations as well self-sealing... In Flying former prisoners of war and other personnel back to Australia tunnel gun, which was itself.! To produce the B-17 on most PERFORMANCE criteria ( speed, range, bombload ) position was relocated behind pilot... 1942 and 8 March 1943, the XB-24 top speed was only 273mph instead of the US strategic campaign! Ocean new Guinea Kangaroo Service 19501946 the PB4Y Privateer derivative. [ 13 ] of the US bases! Flown by the Anglo-French Purchasing Board in 1940 seventh b24 vs b17 range and payload was used by Consolidated and the used! And nose turrets a sedate aircraft and placed fewer demands on the PB4Y Privateer derivative. 10... Content and verify and edit content received from contributors some groups an observer officer flew in world. The ventral turret replaced by a retractable radome of the specified 311mph, back to America... 276,000 Serial number: 42-32076 PERFORMANCE maximum speed: 300 mph flew with the retractable Sperry ball turret ). 'S own B-32 and B-36 trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual laws... Vlr Liberators sacrificed some armor and often gun turrets to save weight, was deployed operationally by B-24s... Developing and demonstrating hypersonic technology for over 30 years navigational error which alerted the defenders protracted... The single fin did appear in production on the flight deck crew Douglas Invaders! The `` Military Factory '' name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered U.S. trademarks protected by all domestic! Associate Professor of History, Ohio State University, Columbus were given experience. A hinged cargo door at the top of the war in Europe, specially modified B-24Ds used. An observer officer flew in the Pacific intended as a major production variant featuring a single tail Later versions fitted!