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Posted on 09/03/2005 9:24:33 PM PDT by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 A Color, mostly, look at a B-24 Design of the B-24 was started in 1939 when the U.S.Army Air Corps started a request for a new bomber with performance better than the B-17. Consolidated Aircraft was awarded a contract on March 30, 1939 for the Consolidated Model 32. On December 29, 1939 the B-24 prototype took flight.  The B-24 was designed around the high lift Davis wing, an airfoil that was 20% more efficent than the contemporary airfoils that were in use at the time. Also notable on the B-24 was the first use of the tri-cycle landing gear on a heavy bomber and the unique roll-up bomb bay doors. The oval shaped engine cowlings were necessitated by the placement of the turbosuperchargers.  Of the first 7 YB-40s 6 were sent to Great Britian under the designation LB-30A. The British found that they were not suitable for combat operations due to the lack of self sealing fuel tanks and turbosuperchargers. The 6 aircraft ended up be used as transports in the Trans-Atlantic Return ferry Service.  Like the earlier B-17 the B-24 was subjected to a number of modifications. Two of which stand out are the C-87 cargo version and the C-109 flying tanker version. Winston Churchill had a specially outfitted C-87 as his personal aircraft.  18,188 B-24s were produced by the end of WW-II and the B-24 soldiered on till 1953 with the United States Air Force. The B-24 was produced not only by Consolidated Aircraft but by Ford at the Willow Run plant, were 6,600 were built. Other producers of the B-24 were North American Aviation at the Dallas plant and Douglas had a plant in Tulsa Oklahoma as well.  Currently out of the over 18,000 B-24s produced there are only three flyable B-24s in existence. There are two B-24Js and an LB-30 that are still flyable. As an interesting side note the Indian Air Force flew the B-24 untill 1968 and this is the source of the two remaing flyable "J" models.  What follows will be a short walk around and a few interior views of a B-24.
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WOW! Someone stuck a B-17 Nose on a B-24!
I wonder how this "adaptation" handled in the air? The later model B-24s with the Emerson Tail turret that had been grafted onto the nose were known for wallowing about. Also I read somewhere that the nose turrets caused a small decrease in performance.
In looking at a few websites I did not see anything to confirm the above views but I will admit to not looking very hard.
Back to work I must go, got a few small projects to get wrapped up this weekend.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good evening EGC.
Good evening Gail.
Good evening feather.
Oh boy, what a choice. I'd have to get off the island.
And you'll start working on them soon right. :-)
Those are good ideas. Ya'll keep 'em coming.
Good evening PE.
Howdy ma'am.
BTW, the coconut radio might get you off the island. A burnt $100 bill won't help much.
That's true, the money would do no good.
I know this thread is very old but if someone is very familiar with the structure of the B-24 airframe can they please send a message to me? I am building a cross sectional display model of this plane and could use some help understanding certain parts of the inside details.
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