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| Mini B-24 Liberator |
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Length: 8"
Wingspan: 13"
Includes desk stand.
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, built by Consolidated Aircraft. It was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft of World War II and still holds the record as the most produced U.S. military aircraft. It was used by many Allied air forces and every U.S. branch of service during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the northern European, Pacific and Mediterranean theaters.
Often compared to the better known B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 was a more modern design with a higher top speed and greater range and a higher bomb load. Nevertheless, popular opinion among aircrews and general staff tended to favor the B-17's rugged qualities above all other considerations. The B-24 was notorious among American air crews for its tendency to catch fire. The placement of the B-24's fuel tanks throughout the upper fuselage and its lightweight construction, designed to increase range and optimize assembly line production, made the aircraft vulnerable to battle damage. The B-24 was more difficult to fly as well, with heavy control forces and poor formation flying characteristics. The B-24 nevertheless provided excellent service in a variety of roles thanks to its large payload and long range.
The Liberator originated from a United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. This was part of "Project A", a program to expand American industrial capacity for production of the key components of air power. After company executives including President Reuben Fleet visited the Boeing factory in Seattle, Consolidated decided instead to submit a more modern design of its own. In January 1939, the USAAC, under Specification C-212, formally invited Consolidated to submit a design study for a bomber with greater range, higher speed, and greater ceiling than the B-17.
The contract for a prototype was awarded in March 1939, with the requirement that a prototype be ready before the end of the year. The design was simple in concept but advanced for its time. Compared to the B-17, the proposed Model 32 was shorter and had 25% less wing area, but a 6 ft (1.8 m) greater wingspan and a substantially greater carrying capacity. Whereas the B-17 used 9-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines, the Consolidated design used twin-row, 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radials of 1,000 hp (746 kW). The 70,547 lb (32,000 kg) maximum takeoff weight was one of the highest of the period. Consolidated also incorporated innovative features: the new design would be the first American bomber to use tricycle landing gear and it had long, thin wings with the efficient "Davis" high aspect ratio design (also used on the projected Model 31 flying boat) promising to provide maximum fuel efficiency. The aircraft also had a distinctive twin tail.
Wind tunnel testing and experimental programs using an existing Consolidated Model 31, a twin-engined commercial flying boat, provided extensive data on the flight characteristics of the Davis airfoil.
Consolidated finished the prototype, by then known as the XB-24, and had it ready for its first flight two days before the end of 1939. Seven more YB-24 development aircraft flew in 1940 and Consolidated began preparing production tooling. Early ordersÑplaced before the XB-24 had flownÑincluded 36 for the USAAC, 120 for the French ArmŽe de l'Air and 164 for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Most of the first production B-24s went to Britain, including all those originally ordered by the ArmŽe de l'Air after France collapsed in 1940. The name, "Liberator" was initially assigned by the RAF and subsequently was adopted by the USAAC as the official name for the type.
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