B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a heavy bomber, it served with distinction not only in that role, but also as a maritime patrol bomber (known as the PB4Y in U.S. Navy service) and as a heavy transport (where it was designated C-87 or C-109).

Development

Like the equally successful North American P-51 Mustang, the Liberator was designed in a great hurry. In 1939 January, the United States Army Air Corps invited Consolidated to submit a design study for a bomber with greater range, higher speed, and greater altitude performance than the B-17 Flying Fortress, then the backbone of the Army Air Corps.

Related Topics:
North American - P-51 Mustang - 1939 - United States Army Air Corps - B-17 Flying Fortress

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The contract for a prototype was awarded in March, requiring that it be ready before the end of the year. The design was simple in concept but advanced for its time. At 70,547 lb (32,000 kg) maximum takeoff weight it was one of the largest aircraft of the time. It was the first American bomber to use tricycle landing gear instead of a tailwheel, and it featured very long, thin wings and a twin tail layout. Such a design had a high aspect ratio, for maximum fuel efficiency.

Related Topics:
Tricycle landing gear - Twin tail - Aspect ratio - Fuel efficiency

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Compared to the B-17, the B-24 was shorter, had 25% less wing area, but a 6 foot (1.8 m) greater wingspan, and substantially greater carrying capacity. Where the B-17 used 9-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines, the B-24 used twin-row 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radials. Both of these engines were 8 US gal (30 L) air-cooled radial engines of 1000 hp (746 kW).

Related Topics:
B-17 - Wingspan - Wright R-1820 - Pratt & Whitney R-1830 - Radial engine

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Consolidated finished the prototype, by then known as the XB-24, and had it ready for its first flight with just two days to spare before the end of 1939. Seven more YB-24 development aircraft flew in 1940 and Consolidated began preparing production tooling. Early orders - placed even before the XB-24 had flown, included 36 for the United States Army Air Corps, 120 for the French Armée de l'Air, and 164 for the RAF. Most of the first production Liberators went to Britain, including all those originally ordered by the Armée de l'Air after France collapsed in 1940.

Related Topics:
1940 - United States Army Air Corps - Armée de l'Air - RAF - Britain - France

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