- List of surviving B-24 Liberators
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Consolidated B-24 Survivors is a list of flying and static display B-24 Liberators and includes brief history, markings, owners, locations, and aircraft condition or status.
Contents
Background
By the time the last complete B-24M came off the Willow Run assembly line in July 1945, 18,482 Liberators had been built by the five B-24 manufacturers.
Post World War II
The B-24 was quickly declared obsolete by the USAAF and the remaining stateside aircraft were flown to desert storage in the US Southwest. In the Pacific theatre, many aircraft were simply parked, the oil drained from the engines and left for reclamation. By 1950, except for the one B-24D held for preservation, the vast fleet of Liberators were gone. The last flight of a B-24 by the USAF was on 12 May 1959 when Strawberry Bitch left Davis–Monthan Air Force Base for the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it is now displayed.
Lend lease
While at the end of the war both the Royal Air Force as well as the Royal Australian Air Force were willing[citation needed] to continue operating the B-24, the terms of the Lend-Lease agreements stipulated that these aircraft had to be either paid for or returned to the US and vast graveyards of aircraft accumulated in India as well as Tarakan,and Australia.
Other countries needs
When India gained independence in 1947, 37 Liberators were resurrected and gave service until their retirement in 1968. It is from the Indian Air Force that the majority of the remaining B-24s owe their existence.
In 1948 when Israel was looking for aircraft, the Royal Australian Air Force was approached with the offer to purchase 25 aircraft, but since these aircraft had not been stored with long-term preservation in mind, they were neither airworthy nor economically feasible to restore to flyable condition. In 1968 the Indian Air Force donate HE-771, stored at Poonah, to ex-RCAF pilot Lynn Garrison for inclusion in his aircraft collection. It was to be ferried back to the United States in company with the B-24 giver to Strategic Air Command. Garrison was busy with Roger Corman's film Richthofen & Brown, in 1970, so he turned it over to the RAF. Somehow it ended up in Kermit Weeks' museum in Florida.
With the availability of intact, existing airframes beginning to diminish, the warbird movement since the late 1990s has been seeking out previously considered unrecoverable airframes for restoration. The RAAF has three airframes in storage (serials unknown) which were recovered when they restored their museum aircraft. Both India and China are reported to have additional recoverable aircraft and the jungles of the Southwest Pacific still hold abandoned aircraft.[1]
Survivors
Airworthy
- United States
- B-24A (s/n 40-2366) Ol '927 is airworthy and owned by the Commemorative Air Force (B-24/B-29 Squadron) in Addison, Texas.[2]
- B-24J (s/n 44-44052) Witchcraft is airworthy and owned by the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts.[3]
- B-24J (s/n 44-44272) Joe is airworthy and owned by the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.[4] When originally retired by the Indian Air Force this aircraft was donated to Lynn Garrison's collection.
On display
- Canada
- B-24L (s/n 44-50154) is on display at the National Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe Park, Ontario.[5][6]
- India
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- B-24M (s/n 44-51228) Dugan is on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.[9]
- B-24L (s/n 44-50206) Liberator B.VI formerly KN751 of the RAF and HE807 of the IAF. On display at the RAF Museum in RAF Hendon.[10]
- United States
- B-24D (s/n 41-11825) Hail Columbia (nose only) is on display at the Fantasy of Flight Museum in Polk City, Florida.[11]
- B-24D (s/n 42-40557) Fightin' Sam (nose only). Liberator GR.V formerly BZ755 of the RCAF. On display at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia.[12]
- B-24D (s/n 42-40461) Grumpy (nose only) is on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia.[13]
- B-24D (s/n 42-72843) Strawberry Bitch is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.[14]
- B-24M (s/n 44-41916) Shady Lady is on display at the Castle Air Museum in Castle Air Force Base, California.[15]
- B-24J (s/n 44-44175) Bungay Buckaroo is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.[16]
- B-24J (s/n 44-48781) Louisiana Belle II is on display at the Eighth Air Force Museum in Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.[18]
Under restoration
- Australia
- B-24M (s/n 44-41956) is under restoration by the Liberator Memorial Fund in Melbourne, Victoria.[19]
- United States
- B-24D (s/n 41-23908) is under restoration at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah.[20]
Notes
- ^ John Hayles (8 February 2009). "World Wide Warbirds Contents Listing". Aeroflight (aeroflight.co.uk). http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mags/uk/warbirds_worldwide.htm.
- ^ "Liberator/40-2366" FAA Registry. Retrieved: 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Liberator/44-44052" FAA Registry. Retrieved: 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Liberator/44-44272" FAA Registry. Retrieved: 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Liberator/44-50154" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ Liberator III/G.R.V for RAF
- ^ "Liberator/44-44213" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/41-24311" John Weeks Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-51228" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-50206" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/41-11825" John Weeks Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/42-40557 Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/42-40461" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/42-72843" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-41916" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-44175" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-44213" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-48781" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/44-41956" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
- ^ "Liberator/41-23908" Warbirds Resource Group Retrieved: 24 August 2010.
References
- "Australia's B-24 Restoration". b24australia.org.au. http://b24australia.org.au/home.html.
- "Canadian B-24". www.aviation.technomuses.ca. http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/collections/artifacts/aircraft/ConsolidatedLiberatorGRVIII/.
- "Castle Air Museum's B-24 Shady Lady". www.castleairmuseum.org. http://www.castleairmuseum.org/consolidated_b24m.html.
- "Collings Foundation's B-24 Witchcraft". www.collingsfoundation.org. http://www.collingsfoundation.org/tour_b-24j.htm.
- "Commemorative Air Force's B-24 Ol'927". cafb29b24.org. http://www.cafb29b24.org/our-planes/history-of-our-ol-927.html.
- "Eighth Air Force Museum's B-24 Lousianna Belle II". www.8afmuseum.com. http://www.8afmuseum.com/archive/index.htm.
- "Fantasy of Flight's B-24 Joe". www.fantasyofflight.com. http://www.fantasyofflight.com/aircraftpages/b24.htm.
- "Fantasy of Flight's B-24 nose display Hail Columbia". www.johnweeks.com. http://www.johnweeks.com/b24/b24fofnose.html.
- "Hill Air Force Base Museum's B-24 Restoration". www.hill.af.mil. http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5653.
- "Indian B-24". www.bharat-rakshak.com. http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Museum/Palam/Giants.html.
- "John Weeks B-24 Survivors". www.johnweeks.com. http://www.johnweeks.com/b24/index.html.
- "Mighty Eighth Air Force's B-24 nose display Fighting Sam". www.mightyeighth.org. http://www.mightyeighth.org/exhibits.htm#combat.
- "National Museum of the United States Air Force's B-24 Strawberry Bitch". www.nationalmuseum.af.mil. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=494.
- "Pima Air and Space Museum's B-24 Bungry Buckaroo". www.pimaair.org. http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=57.
- "UK (Duxford) B-24". aam.iwm.org.uk. http://aam.iwm.org.uk.
- "UK (London) B-24". www.rafmuseum.org.uk. http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/consolidated-b24l-20-fO-liberator.cfm.
- "Virginia Air and Space Center's B-24 nose display Grumpy". www.vasc.org. http://www.vasc.org/exhibits/aircraft/liberator.html.
- "Warbird Registry B-24 Survivors". www.warbirdregistry.org - A Warbirds Resource Group Site. http://www.warbirdregistry.org/b24registry/b24registry.html.
External links
- AAHM nose art information
- Aeroweb's B-24 Location List
- Joe Baugher B-24 Page
- Modern Replica Nose art
- Nose Art Collection
- Pacific Wreck Database (large listing of crash sites)
Lists relating to aviation General Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airlines (defunct) · Airports · Civil authorities · Museums · Registration prefixes · Rotorcraft (manufacturers) · TimelineMilitary Accidents/incidents Records Categories:- United States bomber aircraft 1930–1939
- Lists of surviving military aircraft
- Individual aircraft of World War II
- World War II bombers of the United States
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