Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. ", Winchester, Jim. [43] The regiment concerned appears to have been the 890th Bomber Aviation Regiment at Baranovichi until 1944, and then Kazan. All Rights Reserved. Within weeks, the First Provisional Bombardment Group formed from the remnants of the Halverson and China detachments. [40], Two squadrons of the South African Air Force (SAAF) also flew B-24s: 31 and 34 Squadrons under No 2 Wing SAAF based at Foggia, Italy. Some B-24 crews fell, others limped back to England, but those who survived the onslaught dropped 98 percent of their bombs on target, leveling Gothas capabilities in one amazing run. 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. Maximum payload is the difference between maximum zero-fuel Weight and operational empty weight . This wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range. In addition, the 36th BS flew night missions with the RAF Bomber Command 100 Group at RAF Sculthorpe. About 48 B-24Ms were provided by the U.S. to the Chinese Nationalist Air Force after WW2 and were used during the Chinese Civil War. 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. Early versions were fitted with a single .50 caliber (12.7mm) Browning machine gun in their tails, and a XC-87B version proposed two .50 caliber (12.7mm) fixed machine guns for the nose, operable by the pilot, though these were eventually removed. Subject: Acceptance Performance Tests Section: Flying Branch . The maximum takeoff weight was one of the highest of the period. Carpetbagger aircraft flew spies called "Joes" and commando groups prior to the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day and afterward, and retrieved over 5,000 officers and enlisted men who had escaped capture after being shot down. 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. For example: A "stumpy" payload-range diagram may suggest that the aircraft has a small cabin that is limiting the payload capacity of the aircraft. The tailplane featured two large oval vertical stabilizers mounted at the ends of a rectangular horizontal stabilizer. These narrow B-24 wings gave the plane speed and endurance but also vulnerability to damage. The Liberators range proved invaluable in scouting and destroying German U-boats, creating safe passage for Allied transports and destroyers across Europe. The aircraft were stripped of most armaments to allow for fuel for up to 26-hour return flights such as Jessore to Singapore.[23]. In Eighth Air force combat configuration, the aircraft carried 8000lb (3600kg) of bombs. Consolidated Aircraft tripled the size of its plant in San Diego and built a large new plant outside Fort Worth, Texas in order to receive the massive amounts of knock-down kits that the Ford Motor Company shipped via truck from its Ypsilanti Michigan Facility. During the bomb run, the sight was slaved to the automatic pilot to guide the aircraft to the precise release point. A payload range diagram (also known as the elbow chart) illustrates the trade-off between payload and range. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [22], Later in 1941, the first Liberators entered RAF service. Just a month earlier, B-24s had participated in the first attack on German soil, bombing a submarine yard in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, but what awaited the Liberators over Gotha would be the ultimate test of the bombers abilities. The B-24H was 10 inches (25cm) longer, had a powered gun turret in the upper nose to reduce vulnerability to head-on attack, and was fitted with an improved bomb sight (behind a simpler, three-panel glazed lower nose), autopilot, and fuel transfer system. The C-87 transport derivative served as a longer range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Range: 1,850 miles Service Ceiling: 35,000 ft. B 24 - L IBERATOR By mid-1943, the shorter-range B-17 was phased out. Learn how we are strengthening the economies, industries and communities of our global partner nations. The U.S. Navy received 977 PB4Y-1s (Liberators originally ordered by the USAAF) and 739 PB4Y-2 Privateers, derived from the B-24. [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]. The Lib's gracefully tapered 100-foot Davis airfoil wing (compared to the B-17's 103-foot-span barn door of a wing) made the difference. The B-17 and the B-24 inevitably invited comparison. B-17, also called Flying Fortress, U.S. heavy bomber used during World War II. In early 1942, with the need for a purpose-built transport with better high-altitude performance and longer range than the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the San Diego plant began sending B-24D models to Fort Worth for conversion into the C-87 transport. [9] The wing was also more susceptible to damage than the B-17's wing, making the aircraft less able to absorb battle damage. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The B-24D was the first mass-produced series. The book. The Privateer had non-turbosupercharged engines for weight savings and optimal performance at low to medium patrol altitudes, and was visually distinguishable from the B-24 and PB4Y-1 by its longer fuselage, single tall vertical stabilizer (rather than a twin tail), two dorsal turrets, and teardrop-shaped waist gun blisters (similar in appearance to those on Consolidated's own PBY Catalina). Liberators remained in service until 1948, when they were replaced by Avro Lincolns. ", Bhargava, Kapil, Group Captain (ret'd). The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. The success of the Mosquito as a pathfinder or tactical bomber is without challenge. 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. LB-30As were assigned to transatlantic flights by RAF Ferry Command, between Canada and Prestwick, Scotland. Flying mainly from bases in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, aircraft conducted bombing raids against Japanese positions, ships and strategic targets in New Guinea, Borneo and the Netherlands East Indies. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, including the bombing of Japan. The top horizontal line represents the maximum payload. In time the B-24 would boast a long, tapered wing atop its fuselage, which allowed impressive long-range cruising capabilities. [13] For some time, newspapers had been requesting permission for a reporter to go on one of the missions. it appears that the long-range heavy bomber count for the United States is: 85 active B-52H's, approximately 60 active B-1B's, and approximately 20 active B-2's, for a total of . 37 to Bremen, Germany. It edged out the B-17 on most performance criteria (speed, range, bombload). In late June 1943, the three B-24 Liberator groups of the 8th Air Force were sent to North Africa on temporary duty with the 9th Air Force:[13] the 44th Bomb Group joined the 93rd and the 389th Bomb Groups. On February 24, 1943, three squadrons of B-24 Liberatorsgoliath, four-engine, 56,000-pound bombersstreaked toward Germany to strike Hitlers vaunted Luftwaffe at its heart, targeting a key production facility in the town of Gotha, Germany. Eighty minutes into their flight, German fighters swooped in, taking their toll on the B-24 squadrons. The U.S. Army Air Corps awarded a contract for the prototype XB-24 in March 1939, with the requirement that one example should be ready before the end of the year. Arrangements for signal lighting varied from group to group, but generally consisted of white flashing lamps on both sides of the fuselage arranged to form the identification letter of the group. We have invested in developing and demonstrating hypersonic technology for over 30 years. Early in the campaign, the C-87 was the only readily available American transport that could fly over the Himalayas while heavily loaded, rather than relying on circuitous and highly dangerous routes through valleys and mountain passes, but the type was not very popular with crews: they complained of various hazards including the fuel system, engines and cockpit accessories, while the type was notorious for leaking fuel tanks and mid-air fires a constant danger. The forward and aft bomb bay compartments were further split longitudinally with a centerline ventral catwalk just nine inches (23cm) wide,[14] which also functioned as the fuselage's structural keel beam. This gave the B-24 a 35-percent higher wing loading. Byrne, John A., The Whiz Kids: The Founding Fathers of American Business and the Legacy They Left Us, Currency Doubleday, Page 50. Some RAAF aircrew were given operational experience in Liberators while attached to USAAF squadrons. The B-24D was the Liberator III in British service. All armament and armor were removed and in some cases the tail turret. Updates? 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. 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. As soon as more dependable Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando transports became available in large numbers, C-87s were rapidly phased out of combat zone service, with some later used as VIP transports or B-24 flight crew trainers. ", This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 18:00. After the Fall of France the French orders were in most cases transferred to the United Kingdom. Also: B-24 has greater bombload and can cruise faster. 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. Additionally, the Liberator equipped a number of independent squadrons in a variety of special combat roles. The specification was written such that the Model 32 would automatically be the winning design. 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. B-1B Lancer. Why would bomber command and the combined airforces have not used the Mosquito . Rendered obsolete by the larger and more powerful B-29 Superfortress, the B-17 served on after the war in small numbers as a search-and-rescue aircraft modified to drop life rafts by parachute. [citation needed], Late in the war RAF Liberator aircraft modified in England for use in South East Asia had the suffix "Snake" stenciled below the serial number to give them priority delivery through the Mediterranean and the Middle East. 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]. 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. Mission. Long-range naval patrol versions often carried a light defensive armament. Liberators were also used as anti-submarine patrol aircraft by RAF Coastal Command. Accuracy was to be achieved with the Norden bombsight, developed and fielded in great secrecy during the 1930s. Up to four crew members could be located in the waist, operating waist guns, a retractable lower ball turret gun, and a tail gun turret matching the nose turret. 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. 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. Compared to the B-17, it had a 6 feet (1.8 m) larger wingspan but a lower wing area. 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. Deep raids were called off in mid-October 1943 and were not resumed until February 1944, when long-range escort fighters such as the P-51 Mustang became available. Being on long-distance patrols, they generally flew outside the range of enemy fighters. 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). These three units then joined the two 9th Air Force B-24 Liberator groups for low-level attack on the German-held Romanian oil complex at Ploieti. Armament: Thirteen .50-cal. The added advantage was the American types could be assessed in the European war zone earlier. The waist gun hatches were provided with doors. However, in the ETO, the B-24 operated with the B-17 which constrained the aircraft's operating speed. The C-109 was a dedicated fuel transport version of the B-24 conceived as a support aircraft for Boeing B-29 Superfortress operations in central China. [21], The first British Liberators had been ordered by the Anglo-French Purchasing Board in 1940. These aircraft became known as Judas goats.[34]. Compared to the B-17, the proposed Model 32 had a shorter fuselage and 25% less wing area, but had a 6ft (1.8m) greater wingspan and a substantially larger carrying capacity, as well as a distinctive twin tail. 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. The B-24H saw the replacement of the glazed 'green house' nose with a nose turret, which reduced the B-24s vulnerability to head-on attacks. The ball turret was required to be retractable for ground clearance when preparing to land as well as for greater aerodynamic efficiency. The route was named Kangaroo Service and marked the first time that Qantas's now-famous Kangaroo logo was used; passengers received a certificate proclaiming them as members of The Order of the Longest Hop. It carried a larger bomb load than the B-17, and. This was a major component of the USSTAF and took a major role in strategic bombing. It was used on penetration missions in RAF bomber streams at night in Luftwaffe markings. The tail gunner's powered twin-gun turret was located at the end of the tail, behind the tailplane. But it could take enemy flak, and its grateful crews returned safely to the ground after absorbing punishment that would send a B-24 into a nosedive. Chain smoker "Tex" Thornton, then in command of the US Army Air Corps' Statistical Control, flew across the Atlantic in a B-24, and was not permitted to smoke. Post and all but two of the 11 men aboard were killed. 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 introduction of Very Long Range (VLR) Liberators vastly increased the reach of the UK's maritime reconnaissance force, closing the Mid Atlantic Gap where a lack of air cover had allowed U-boats to operate without risk of aerial attack. The B-17 was also an easier aircraft to fly in formation. Crashed B-24s were the source of the landing gear units for the strictly experimental Junkers Ju 287 V1 first prototype jet bomber airframe in 1945. [3][4] At approximately 18,500 units including 8,685 manufactured by Ford Motor Company it holds records as the world's most produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history. A heavily loaded B-24 was difficult to fly at speeds of less than 160mph (260 km/h). The payloads for the B-52H and B-2 are usually given as about 70,000 lbs. At its peak in 1944, the Willow Run plant produced one B-24 per hour and 650 B-24s per month. B-17G (In Addition to Above): 2 x 0.50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns in powered Bendix chin turret. ", "B-24D-53-CO "Shady Lady" Serial Number 42-40369", US Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. 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. The basic element of a typical formation was a squadron box of 9 or 12 aircraft; three squadron boxes staggered vertically and horizontally formed a group, and three groups in trail formed a combat wing. As built, the XB-24 top speed was only 273mph instead of the specified 311mph. [47] Bell Aircraft built the B-24 under license at a factory near Marietta, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta. Uomini sul fondo: storia del sommergibilismo italiano dalle origini a oggi. In the hands of a skilled bombardier, the Norden was a remarkably accurate sight. This daring assault by high-altitude bombers at treetop level was a costly success. Several storage tanks were added, allowing a C-109 to carry 2,900gal (11,000L) of fuel weighing over 22,000 pounds (10,000kg). Seven flying squadrons, an operational training unit, and two special duties flights were equipped with the aircraft by the end of World War II in August 1945. Other C-87 designations were the U.S. Navy designation RY and Lend Lease Liberator Cargo VII. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. 29th Apr 2007, 21:34. In his autobiography, Fate is the Hunter, the writer Ernest K. Gann reported that, while flying air cargo in India, he barely avoided crashing an improperly loaded C-87 into the Taj Mahal. The attack became disorganized after a navigational error which alerted the defenders and protracted the bomb run from the initial point. WAR DEPARTMENT AIR CORPS, MATERIEL DIVISION November 22, 1941. 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. Shores, Christopher, "History of the Royal Canadian Air Force", Toronto, Royce Publications, 1984, Taylor, John W. R. "Consolidated B-24/PB4 Y Liberator. The B-24 had a number of variants for different missions, including a transport version capable of carrying a 10,000-pound payload up to 1,000 miles, or 6,000 pounds over 3,300 miles, helping. 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. Cruising speed: 170 mph. It holds records as the world's most-produced bomber, heavy bomber, multi-engine aircraft, and American military aircraft in history. First flown on 29 December 1939, the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation's B-24 Liberator came along more than four years after the famous and popular Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and showed somewhat improved range and payload capabilities over the Fortress.Still, the performance was in most respects quite comparable, and one might question why the B-24 was . The first Liberators in British service were ex-USAAF YB-24s converted to Liberator GR Is (USAAF designation: LB-30A). This wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range. By the end of World War II, the technological breakthroughs of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and other modern types had surpassed the bombers that served from the start of the war. As early as 1938, the US Army Air Corps realized that if it went to war with another world power, the B-17 was be too small for long range bombing missions. The B-24 advanced the use of electronic warfare and equipped Search Bomber (SB), Low Altitude (LAB) and Radar Counter Measure (RCM) squadrons in addition to high-altitude bombing. Also, the necessity of range increased the importance of weight and aerodynamic efficiency. More B-24's were built than any other American airplane. The B-24 was a faster plane having a greater range and payload capacity.
