![]() Other Liberators are on display around the world. In the United States, only two aircraft are airworthy, and six complete airplanes are on static display, for a total of eight B-24 Liberator survivors, shown below listed by state. Of the massive numbers of Liberators that were built, only thirteen are known to exist around the world, either on display (10), under restoration (1), or airworthy (2). Read more about B-24 Liberator storage, scrapping and smelting into ingots after World War II In February 1943, the 93rd BG B-24 Hot Stuff became the first Eighth Air Force heavy bomber to complete 25 combat missions. Last summer, 11 men and one woman paid 3,900 each for the thrill of pretending to be the crew of a restored B-24. While some planes were sold and continued usage in civilian aviation, most ended their service, not in combat, but in the smelter at locations such as Kingman Army Air Field in Arizona. M ost were sent to military aircraft boneyards for temporary storage, sale, or scrapping and smelting into aluminum ingots. Army Air Corp found itself with thousands of surplus, and now obsolete, B-24 Liberators. A second Consolidated plant in Fort WorthĪfter the end of World War II in August of 1945, the U.S.Original Consolidated plant in San Diego.Aircrew were first committed to a tour of thirty operational flights, not exceeding 200 actual flying hours, which could last for any period from four months to a year. B-24 Liberator Surviving AircraftĪ total of 18,493 Liberators were built, more than any other airplane in World War II. Several factories produced the Liberator: Wreckage of a Wellington bomber shot down by flak over the Netherlands, lost in a raid on Bremen, 13-14 September 1942. The B-24 provided excellent service in a variety of roles due to its large payload and long range. Six of the crew were killed in the plane crash 4 survived. Remembering the stories he had told me when I was a child, I resolved to find out what I could. It showed my father, at the time just a young man of 24, gathered with the other members of his flight crew in front of a huge B-24 Liberator bomber. ![]() The B-24's spacious, slab-sided fuselage was built around a central bomb bay with two compartments that could accommodate up to 8,000 pounds of ordnance each. The grave includes the Isolated Burials (ISOB) of three crewmates of a B-24 (44-41016). Inside, among the numerous photographs and newspaper clippings, was a snapshot which caught my eye. ![]() Its first flight was on December 29, 1939, and it began service in 1941. Each crew position is featured in turn-the pilot and copilot, the navigator and nose gunner, the radio operator, the bombardier, the engineer/top turret gunner. Ken Ferland, whose name is attached to the photo, was a. The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was a 4-engine, twin-tail heavy bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego. A B-24 Liberator bomber crew poses at the Presque Isle Army Air Field before heading to Britain. ![]()
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