Consolidated B-24/PB4Y-1 Liberator - PB4Y-2 Privateer - C-87

B-24E-1-FO Liberator 42-7770, the first B-24 heavy bomber to come off the assembly line at Willow Run, 15 May 1942.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s, in the Land Bomber design category.

At its inception, the B-24 was a modern design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing. The wing gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. In comparison with its contemporaries, the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low-speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. 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. 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.

The B-24 was used extensively in World War II where it served in every branch of the American armed forces, as well as several Allied air forces and navies. It saw use in every theater of operations. Along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, including the bombing of Japan. Long-range anti-submarine Liberators played an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The C-87 transport derivative served as a longer range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain.

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. 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.  

 

Consolidated B-24 Liberator (44-40121) "I'll Be Around". November 1944.

The last of 18,482 B-24 Liberators rolls out of the Willow Run factory, June 28, 1945. Serial number 44-51928 was last B-24 built by Ford at Willow Run. Came off assembly line Jun 28, 1945. Flown directly to storage facility and then to RFC at Kingman, Arizona for scrapping and ultimate smelting.

Sergeant Otto A. Sobanjo, 755th Bomb Squadron, sits in the tail turret of B-24J Liberator “Lily Marlene” (42-50907) at RAF Horsham St Faith, Norfolk, United Kingdom, August 1944.

Father Beck performing communion service for members of the 389th Bomb Group before a mission.

 

Convair RY-3: American Transport

The RY-3 was the transport version of the PB4Y-2 Privateer. It was assigned the company designation of Model 101. The RY-3 differed from the PB4Y-2 in having no armament and in having a series of windows cut into the sides of the fuselage. A large loading door was cut into the side of the rear fuselage, and fairings were installed where the nose and tail turrets had been. A crew of four and 28 passengers could be carried. 16,641 pounds of cargo could be carried in the all-freight configuration. A hinged nose allowed up to 1600 pounds of cargo to be carried in the forward section.

The Navy ordered 112 RY-3s in March of 1944, but only 34 RY-3s were actually built. Only a few of these planes actually ended up serving with the Navy, primarily being operated by the Marine Corps. Most of the RY-3s were delivered instead to the Royal Air Force. 26 RY-3s were delivered to the RAF as Liberator C.IX starting in February of 1945. RAF serials were JT973, JT975/JT998, and JV936). They were assigned to Nos. 231 and 232 Squadrons of RAF Transport Command. The famous Commando, which was LB-30 AL504, was also converted to single-tailed RY-3 configuration in 1944.

At the end of the war, the remaining RY-3s on the original order were cancelled, including 63 more Liberator C.IXs intended for the RAF (JV937/JV999). Also cancelled was a version for the USAAF designated C-87C.

The RAF's experience with the Liberator C.IX was not a happy one. Three (including Commando) were lost in fatal crashes, and there were speculations that there was something basically wrong with the structural integrity of the aircraft. All surviving RAF Liberator C.IXs except one were struck off charge in April of 1946 and either returned to the US Navy or else were scrapped. The sole remaining Liberator C.IX (JT973, ex BuNo 90021) ended up flying ice-research missions with the Royal Canadian Air Force under the auspices of the National Research Council. It was given the name Rockcliffe Icewagon. It was kept flying by scavenging spare parts from the Liberator stores, and later from the U.S. Navy's PB4Y-2 inventory. Rockcliffe Icewagon flew her last mission in late 1948, when it was replaced by a Canadair North Star (Merlin-powered DC-4) and scrapped.

Engines: Four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94 fourteen-cylinder unsupercharged air cooled radial engines rated at 1350 hp.

Maximum speed: 248.5 mph at 12,000 feet

Cruising speed: 158 mph

Initial climb rate: 1180 feet per minute. An altitude of 10,000 feet could be reached in 16.3 minutes.

Service ceiling: 18,300 feet

Wingspan: 110 feet 0 inches

Length: 75 feet 5¼ inches

Height: 29 feet 0 inches

Wing area: 1048 square feet

Weights: 31,000 pounds empty, 60,000 pounds gross

Crew: four; 28 passengers could be carried

Cargo: 16,641 pounds could be carried in the all-freight configuration. A hinged nose allowed up to 1600 pounds of cargo to be carried in the forward section.

Serials of Consolidated-Vultee RY-3 Privateer

90020/90050 Consolidated-Vultee RY-3 Privateer

90021/90047 to RAF as JT973/JT999

90048 to RAF as JV936

90049/90050 to RAF as JV937/JV938 but never delivered

90051/90056 Cancelled contract for RY-3 Privateer. Were to have gone to RAF as JV939/JV944

90057/90059 Consolidated-Vultee RY-3 Privateer. Were to have gone to RAF as JV945/JV947 but were never delivered

90060/90131 Cancelled contract for RY-3 Privateer.

90060/90111 were to have gone to RAF as JV948/JV999

90132/90384 Cancelled contract for R2Y-1

Disposition of Liberator IX Delivered Between January and July 1945

JT973 (BuNo 90021) 20/9/48 SOC

JT975 (BuNo 90023) 28/2/46 SOC

JT976 (BuNo 90024) 28/2/46 SOC

JT977 (BuNo 90025) -

JT978 (BuNo 90026) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT979 (BuNo 90027) Overshot landing at Whenaupai, New Zealand 4/7/45

JT980 (BuNo 90028) -

JT981 (BuNo 90029) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT982 (BuNo 90030) Crashed in the Atlantic 4/7/45

JT983 (BuNo 90031) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT984 (BuNo 90032) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT985 (BuNo 90033) Hit hill in bad weather, Dorset, 15/6/45

JT986 (BuNo 90034) 28/2/46 SOC

JT987 (BuNo 90035) 28/2/46 SOC

JT988 (BuNo 90036) 28/2/46 SOC

JT989 (BuNo 90037) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT990 (BuNo 90038) 26/2/46 SOC

JT991 (BuNo 90039) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT992 (BuNo 90040) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT993 (BuNo 90041) 28/2/46 SOC

JT994 (BuNo 90042) 28/2/46 SOC

JT995 (BuNo 90043) -

JT996 (BuNo 90044) -

JT997 (BuNo 90045) returned to US Navy 16/4/46

JT998 (BuNo 90046)

JT999 (BuNo 90047)

JV936 (BuNo 90048) Returned to US

JV937 to JV999 not delivered

Sources

Famous Bombers of the Second World War, William Green, Doubleday, 1959.

British Military Aircraft Serials, 1912-1969, Bruce Robertson, Ian Allen, 1969.

Liberator: America's Global Bomber, Alwyn T. Lloyd, Pictorial Histories Publishing Co, Inc, 1993.

B-24 Liberator in Action, Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications Inc, 1987.

General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecessors, John Wegg, Naval Institute Press, 1990.

Consolidated B-24D-M Liberator IN USAAF-RAF-RAAF-MLD-IAF-CzechAF and CNAF Service, Ernest R. McDowell, Arco, 1970.

United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press, 1990.

American Combat Planes, 3rd Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday, 1982.

Jane's American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century, Michael J.H. Taylor, Mallard Press.

Final iteration of the stretched Liberator and its offspring was the transport RY-3 used for a few years in the late 1940s by the Navy and Marine Corps. The RY-3 was the transport version of the PB4Y-2 Privateer. It was assigned the company designation of Model 101. The RY-3 differed from the PB4Y-2 in having no armament and in having a series of windows cut into the sides of the fuselage. A large loading door was cut into the side of the rear fuselage, and fairings were installed where the nose and tail turrets had been. A crew of four and 28 passengers could be carried. 16,641 pounds of cargo could be carried in the all-freight configuration. A hinged nose allowed up to 1600 pounds of cargo to be carried in the forward section.

Convair RY-3 (90044) US Marine Corps, MCAS Miramar, San Diego, California on May 24, 1946. Produced for the US Navy under BuNo. 90044, this aircraft was earmarked for the RAF as a Liberator C.Mk.IX, (JT996). However it was retained in the USA and is pictured while in service with USMC VMR-352. It was struck off charge on August 31, 1946. The Navy ordered 112 RY-3s in March of 1944, but only 34 RY-3s were actually built. Only a few of these planes actually ended up serving with the Navy, primarily being operated by the Marine Corps.

Convair RY-3 (90020) US Navy.

Convair RY-3 Privateer (BuNo 90021), the Navy version of the Liberator Express,. This airplane was transferred to the RAF as Liberator C.IX (JT973). Note the RY-3 has a single vertical stabilizer and rudder similar to very late B 24s [PB4Y-2 Privateers].

RY-3 BuNo 90020 at Patuxent River, 25 October 1944. At the end of the war, the remaining RY-3s on the original order were cancelled, including 63 more Liberator C.IXs intended for the RAF (JV937/JV999). Also cancelled was a version for the USAAF designated C-87C.

A nice detail photo showing the windows, undercarriage and the skin detail.

RY-3 BuNo 90020 at Patuxent River, 25 October 1944.

Convair RY-3 Privateer.

Liberator C.IX, JT978, at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. This aircraft served with No. 45 (Atlantic Transport) Group at Dorval, Montreal, Canada, before being handed over to the US Navy in 1946.

Liberator C Mk.IX, RAF. Most of the RY-3s were delivered instead to the Royal Air Force. 26 RY-3s were delivered to the RAF as Liberator C.IX starting in February of 1945. RAF serials were JT973, JT975/JT998, and JV936). They were assigned to Nos. 231 and 232 Squadrons of RAF Transport Command. The famous Commando, which was LB-30 AL504, was also converted to single-tailed RY-3 configuration in 1944.

Liberator C Mk.IX, RAF. The RAF's experience with the Liberator C.IX was not a happy one. Three (including “Commando”, Winston Churchill’s personal aircraft) were lost in fatal crashes, and there were speculations that there was something basically wrong with the structural integrity of the aircraft. All surviving RAF Liberator C.IXs except one were struck off charge in April of 1946 and either returned to the US Navy or else were scrapped.

Liberator C Mk.IX (JT993), RAF.

Liberator C Mk.IX (JT993), RAF.

Consolidated Model 32 RY-3 Privateer C. Mk. IX (1) (JT973). The sole remaining Liberator C.IX (JT973, ex BuNo 90021) ended up flying ice-research missions with the Royal Canadian Air Force under the auspices of the National Research Council. It was given the name Rockcliffe Icewagon. It was kept flying by scavenging spare parts from the Liberator stores, and later from the U.S. Navy's PB4Y-2 inventory. Rockcliffe Icewagon flew her last mission in late 1948, when it was replaced by a Canadair North Star (Merlin-powered DC-4) and scrapped.

 The RCAF operated a single RY-3 Privateer (RAF Liberator C.IX), (Serial No. JT973), ex-USN RY-3 (BuNo. 90021), aka the "Rockcliffe Ice Wagon".  It was on loan from the RAF from 1946-1948. JT973 was used for icing research by the RCAF Experimental & Proving Establishment in cooperation with the National Research Council, and was based at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario.  A lack of spare parts kept her grounded much of the time, and was scrapped in 1948 or 1949. She was replaced in her ice research duties by RCAF North Star (Serial No. 17513), which was modified with a dorsal wing section on the fuselage and observation blisters. 

Consolidated Model 32 RY-3 Privateer C. Mk. IX, RCAF (JT973), Rockcliffe Ice Wagon, 27 July 1946.

De-icing equipment on nose of Consolidated Privateer C.IX aircraft (JT973), 'Rockcliffe Ice Wagon', RCAF, Rockcliffe, Ontario, 27 July 1946. JT973 was ex USN RY3, their serial 90021, RAF Liberator C. Mk. IX. First "Rockcliffe Ice Wagon".

Consolidated Model 32 RY-3 Privateer C. Mk. IX, RCAF (JT973), Rockcliffe Ice Wagon, 27 July 1946.

Consolidated Model 32 RY-3 Privateer C. Mk. IX, RCAF (JT973), Rockcliffe Ice Wagon, 27 July 1946.

Consolidated Model 32 RY-3 Privateer C. Mk. IX, RCAF (JT973), Rockcliffe Ice Wagon.

Convair RY Privateer.

Consolidated PB4Y-1 (3-view); Convair RY-3 (side view); Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer.