| Consolidated Aircraft won the original contract from | | | | Twin Wasp engines. |
| the US Army Air Corps in 1939 to build a bomber | | | | One of the features that distinguished the B-24 from |
| that could exceed the performance of the B-17. Their | | | | the B-17 were its tricycle landing gear, the first |
| prototype, the XB-24 first flew in December 1939. | | | | installed in a heavy operational aircraft. Other |
| Slightly smaller than the Flying Fortress, it had four | | | | features were the mid-mounted, high-lift Davis wing |
| 1,200-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 Twin Wasp | | | | that achieved 20 percent less drag than conventional |
| turbocharged radial piston engines which enabled it to | | | | airfoils of the time, twin tail fins, oval-shaped engine |
| fly farther with a bigger bomb load than the B-17. | | | | cowlings necessitated by the mounting of |
| Of seven service-test YB-24s, six were sent to the | | | | turbosuperchargers, unique roll-up bomb bay doors |
| Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1940 under the export | | | | that reduced drag considerably when open and a fully |
| designation LB-30A. Because they lacked | | | | retractable ventral machine gun turret. The B-24 was |
| turbosuperchargers and self-sealing fuel tanks, the | | | | also the first to employ Hamilton hydromatic |
| RAF found them unsuitable for combat duty over | | | | quick-feathering three-blade propellers. |
| Europe. Instead, they were stripped of their | | | | With an empty weight of 36,500 lbs (an empty B-29 |
| armament and put into service as transports on the | | | | was almost double that weight), the B-24H/J could |
| Trans-Atlantic Return Ferry Service, which had been | | | | takeoff with 71,200 lbs (full fuel load and 12,800 lbs |
| established to send air crews to Montreal to take | | | | of bombs). Its length was 67 ft, wing span 110 ft |
| delivery of American aircraft consigned to the British | | | | and height stood at 18 ft. At 25,000 ft its cruising |
| war effort. | | | | speed was 215 mph, top speed was 290 mph. It had |
| Flying for the Army Air Corps as the B-24 and the | | | | 10 12.7 mm (50 calibre) machine guns in nose, upper |
| U.S. Navy as the PB4Y-1, the plane also saw service | | | | ventral ball turrets and tail turret and lateral positions. |
| in the Royal Air Force where it was known simply as | | | | While designed as a heavy bomber, the B-24 |
| the Liberator. There was also a transport version | | | | experienced more than 100 modifications and |
| known as the C-87, one of which was Winston | | | | conversions for such assignments as photography, |
| Churchill's personal aircraft, carrying him to historic | | | | mine laying and cargo hauling (including a C-109 fuel |
| meetings at Moscow and Casablanca, among other | | | | tanker version that flew "the Hump" to refuel B-29s |
| locations. Before the last one was retired from Air | | | | operating out of forward bases in China). More than |
| Force service in 1953, the plane was produced in | | | | 18,000 B-24s were built during WWII, more than any |
| variations ranging through type M. The various model | | | | other American aircraft. Given its abilities and |
| numbers were often the result of minor changes, like | | | | "convert-abilities", the numbers make perfect sense. |
| the relocation of internal equipment, but one major | | | | However, a post war attempt to combine portions |
| revision, the conversion of the standard Navy B-24 | | | | of the B-24 and PB4Y-2 with a new fuselage to |
| (PB4Y-1) to the PB4Y-2 Privateer, involved a | | | | create the Convair Model 39 airliner was not a |
| significant rework that exchanged the familiar twin tail | | | | commercial success, with only one prototype being |
| for a single tall tail fin and rudder combination. It also | | | | built. |
| had a stretched forward fuselage that placed the | | | | Of the many thousands of B-24s and derivatives |
| pilot's compartment well in front of the | | | | built, only three remain airworthy (Two B-24Js and |
| un-turbocharged Pratt & Whitney R1830-94 | | | | one LB-30), all in the United States. |