B-24 Liberator part 2

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American heavy bomber B-24 Liberator. B-24 was used in World War II by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean, and China-Burma-India Theaters.

Design and Structure

  • Type: Four-engined long-range bomber.
  • Wings:
    • Configuration: High-wing cantilever monoplane.
    • Design: Davis wing with high aspect ratio and constant taper from roots to tips.
    • Structure: Comprised of a center-section and two outer sections with detachable tips. Constructed with an all-metal two-spar structure, spars with angle-section booms and reinforced sheet webs, pressed or built-up former ribs, and spanwise stringers supporting flush-riveted smooth metal skin.
    • Ailerons and Flaps: Statically-balanced ailerons with metal frames and fabric covering, hydraulically-operated howler flaps between the ailerons and fuselage.
  • Fuselage:
    • Construction: Aluminium-alloy monocoque structure with five main bulkheads and intermediate secondary frames, longitudinal Z-section stringers, and smooth stressed Alclad skin.
  • Tail Unit:
    • Type: Cantilever monoplane with twin fins and rudders.
    • Materials: Light-alloy framework with metal-covered fixed surfaces. Rudders have metal leading-edges with fabric covering on the remainder, and the elevators are fabric-covered.
  • Landing Gear:
    • Type: Retractable tricycle type with main wheels retracting outwards into wing wells and the nose wheel retracting backwards into the fuselage. Features a hydraulic retracting mechanism and wheel-brakes.

Power Plant

  • Engines: Four Pratt & Whitney Twin-Wasp R-1830-65 fourteen-cylinder two-row radial air-cooled engines.
  • Superchargers: Single-stage engine-driven and exhaust-driven turbo-superchargers.
  • Propellers: Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic constant-speed full-feathering airscrews, 11 ft. 7 in. (3.54 m) in diameter.
  • Fuel and Oil:
    • Fuel Capacity: 2,344 U.S. gallons in twelve self-sealing fuel cells in the center-section and three auxiliary self-sealing fuel cells in each outer wing. Additional long-range ferrying tanks can be installed in the bomb-bay.
    • Oil Capacity: Each engine has a hopper-type self-sealing oil tank with 32.9 U.S. gallons.

Accommodation

  • Crew: Ten members.
    • Crew Positions: Includes a power-driven turret in the nose with a bombardier’s prone position below, a navigator’s compartment with an astro-dome, a pilot’s compartment with dual controls, and positions for a radio operator and additional gunners. The crew positions are all armored.

Armament and Equipment

  • Guns:
    • Total of ten 0.5 in. machine-guns:
      • One two-gun turret in the nose (Consolidated or Emerson electrically-operated).
      • One two-gun dorsal turret above the radio operator’s compartment.
      • One two-gun retractable “ball” turret aft of the bomb-bay.
      • Two waist guns on manually-operated mountings on each side of the fuselage.
      • One two-gun turret in the extreme tail (Consolidated or Motor Products electrically-operated).
    • Ammunition: Tail turret has feed tracks from magazines amidships.
  • Bomb Capacity:
    • Internal: Tandem bomb-bays beneath the wings with a maximum internal bomb load of 8,000 lbs. Bombs can range from 100 to 1,600 lbs, with special carriers for four 2,000 lb bombs. The bomb doors are of the “roll-top desk” type, hydraulically operated.
    • External: Two 4,000 lb bombs can be carried on external racks under each inner wing.
  • Additional Equipment: Includes two inflatable dinghies, a high-pressure oxygen system, full radio and intercommunication equipment, automatic pilot, cameras in the rear fuselage, and a heating system for the bombardier’s position and flight deck. The heating system also provides warm-air sprays for the pilot’s windscreen and bombardier’s sighting panel.

Specifications:

variant
XB-24 (prototype), Consolidated model 32
B-24A,  LB-30A and B Liberator Mk I
LB-30 Liberator Mk II
B-24D, B-24E, B-24G, Liberator Mk III
crew
7
7
7 – 10
10
wingspan (m)
33,53
33,53
33,53
33,53
lenght (m)
19,43
19,43
20,22
20,22
height (m)
5,69
5,69
5,69
5,69
wing area (m2)
97,36
97,36
97,36
97,36
empty weight (kg)
12474
13608
14790
gross weight (kg)
17400
18120
24950
max take-off weight (kg)
18598
21047
20979
27216
engines
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14 cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14 cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14 cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43, -43A Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14 cylinders, air cooled, turbosupercharged. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1200 hp at 7600 m (at 2700 rpm)
fuel (l)
10900 – 13630
9775 – 14090
10750 – 16660
max speed (km/h)
439 at 4600 m
470 at 4572 m
423
487 at 7620 m
cruising speed (km/h)
299 – 367
367
345
321
landing speed (km/h)
145
148
153
ceiling (m)
9296
9296
7315
4586
range (km)
3540 – 4800
3540
3700 – 4586
climb to
3048 m / 5,6 m
3048 m / 5,6 m
6700 m / 22 m
bombs (kg)
3629
1814
3992
armament
6 x 7,62 mm
6 x 12,7 mm, 2 x 7,62 mm
14 x 7,62 mm
8 – 11 x 12,7 mm
variant
B-24C
B-24H, Liberator Mk VI
B-24J, Liberator Mk VIII
B-24M
crew
10
9-10
9 – 10
9-10
wingspan (m)
33,53
33,53
33,53
33,53
lenght (m)
20,22
20,47
20,62
20,47
height (m)
5,49
5,49
5,49
5,49
wing area (m2)
97,36
97,36
97,36
97,36
empty weight (kg)
14650
16560
16100
16330
gross weight (kg)
18600
25400
25400
max take-off weight (kg)
24360
29480
29480
29257
engines
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14
cylinders, air cooled, turbosupercharged. 1200 hp for take-off (at
2700 rpm); 1200 hp at 7600 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14
cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp
at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14
cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp
at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 Twin Wasp, radial, twin row 14
cylinders, air cooled. 1200 hp for take-off (at 2700 rpm); 1000 hp
at 4000 m (at 2700 rpm)
fuel (l)
10750 – 14380
10750 – 16430
max speed (km/h)
504 at 7600 m
476 at 7000 m

467 at 7620 m

467 at 9150 m
483 at 9144 m
cruising speed (km/h)
375
346
343
346
landing speed (km/h)
150
153
153
153
ceiling (m)
10400
9150
8534
8534
range (km)
3379
3379
3379
3379
climb to
3048 m / 6,1 m
6096 m / 25 m
6096 m / 25 m
6096 m / 25 m
bombs (kg)
3992
3992
3992
armament
6 x 12,7 mm
10 x 12,7 mm
10 x 12,7 mm
10 x 12,7 mm