Consolidated B-24L

The B-24L was modified from the basic B-24J design to try and reduce the overall aircraft weight. The ball turret was replaced by a pair of .50-cal. machine guns on a floor ring mount and the tail turret was initially replaced by a smaller and lighter M-6 'Stinger' turret. Later in the production run, no tail armament was installed at the assembly plant. Once the aircraft arrived 'in theater' the armament was installed and varied between the standard A-6B tail turret, the M-6A 'Stinger' or a dual-mount manual .50-cal. machine gun set.

The production B-24L was more than 1,000 pounds lighter than the -J model, but the performance was only marginally better. Differences of opinion on how the aircraft should be armed caused some problems also, mainly in logistics. Repair depots had to keep a large variety of spare parts to support a number of Liberator variants. These problems were eased somewhat in the summer of 1944 when the production pool of five plants was reduced to two: Consolidated-San Diego and Ford-Willow Run.

TYPE
B-24L

Number Built/Converted
1,667

• Serial numbers: 44-41390 to 44-41806; 44-49002 to 44-50251
• Consolidated built 417 aircraft at its San Diego plant.
• Ford built 1,250 aircraft at its Willow Run plant.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 110 ft. 0 in.
Length: 67 ft. 2 in.
Height: 18 ft. 0 in.
Weight: 55,000 lbs. design gross weight
Armament: Ten .50-cal. and 12,800 lbs. of bombs
Engines: Four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 supercharged radials of 1,200 hp. each (take-off power)
Crew: Ten

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 290 mph.
Cruising speed: 215 mph.
Range: 3,700 miles (max. ferry range); 2,100 miles with 5,000 lbs. of bombs
Service Ceiling: 28,000 ft.