Article 5649 of rec.aviation.military:
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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: Bomber Series--Consolidated B-24 Liberator (16 of ??)
Message-ID: <CyzDJC.Js9@ssbunews.ih.att.com>
Summary: B-24H 
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Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 03:26:00 GMT
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Based on the success of field installations of nose turrets in B-24Ds, 
the USAAF sought to have nose turrets fitted as standard 
factory-installed equipment on production Liberators.  The Liberator 
Production Pool decided to assign the designation B-24H to the initial 
production version of the Liberator to be fitted with nose turrets on 
the production line.  Ford/Willow Run was to be the primary 
manufacturer of the B-24H, with Douglas/Tulsa and Consolidated/Fort 
Worth being supplied with components by Ford for final assembly.  

Emerson was instructed to modify their tail turret for use in the 
Liberator's nose.  Emerson engineers worked in collaboration with 
Consolidated engineers, and drawings of the Emerson turret were 
shipped to Ford/Willow Run, where a wooden mockup was hastily built to 
help in adapting the production line for the nose turret.  The Emerson 
A-15 electrically-operated turret that finally emerged had a 
distinctive smooth, cylindrical appearance, as opposed to the beveled 
look of the Consolidated A-6 hydraulically-operated turret that had 
been installed in the nose of the field-modified B-24Ds.  The Fort 
Worth-built B-24Hs were all fitted with these Emerson nose turrets.  
However, owing to shortages and delays in the deliveries of the 
Emerson A-15 turret, the Ford- and Douglas-built B-24Hs were all 
delivered with Consolidated A-6 nose turrets.  

56 major changes were needed in the basic B-24D airframe to make it 
compatible with a nose turret.  The bombardier station had to be 
completely redesigned, and the nose gear doors had to be changed from 
inward opening to downward opening.  The added weight in the nose 
caused a change in the location of the center of gravity, but this was 
not a problem since the Liberator had previously been somewhat tail 
heavy.  Consequently, the addition of the nose turret actually 
improved the handling of the Liberator.  

The B-24H also had an improved Consolidated A-6B tail turret which 
featured considerably larger transparent areas on each side which 
improved the tail gunner's visibility.  The Martin A-3C top turret was 
replaced by a new and revised Martin A-3D turret with an enlarged and 
higher plexiglas cover which improved the visibility.  

On the Fort Worth-built B-24Hs, the removable door at the waist gunner 
position that had been introduced on later B-24D production blocks was 
eliminated, and the gunner positions were enclosed behind permanent 
windows, with the guns being fired through K-6 swivel mounts cut into 
the lower corners of these windows.  This resulted in reduced weight 
and increased crew comfort, since the waist gunners no longer had to 
be subjected to a hurricane of frigid wind whenever they wanted to 
fire their guns.  However, the Ford- and Douglas-built B-24Hs retained 
the open-fuselage waist gun positions of the earlier Liberators, not 
introducing the K-6 mounts until the final batches between the -20 and 
-30 production blocks.  

The tunnel gun scanning windows on the lower sides of the rear 
fuselage were deleted on a number of B-24H aircraft.  

The R-1830-43 engine was initially used on B-24H production lots from 
all three companies.  The Douglas-built B-24Hs retained the -43 
engines throughout the entire production run, but the other two 
companies switched to the R-1830-65 engine with the B-24H-5 production 
block at both plants.  

At production block 20, Ford/Willow Run staggered the two waist gun 
positions on the B-24H, lessening the chances that the two gunners 
would interfere with each other during combat.  

The camouflage paint scheme was deleted halfway through the B-24H 
production run, and further Liberators were delivered in a natural 
metal finish.  

Because of the many structural changes required to accommodate the 
nose turret, the first B-24Hs were delivered slightly behind the 
USAAF's schedule, with the first machines rolling off the production 
lines at Ford in June of 1943.  B-24H sub-assembly were shipped by 
Ford to both Consolidated/Fort Worth and Douglas/Tulsa for final 
assembly.  Fully-assembled B-24Hs began to come off the assembly lines 
at Consolidated/Fort Worth and Douglas/Tulsa in August of 1943.  By 
March of 1944, Ford was rolling a new B-24H off the production line 
every 100 minutes.  B-24H sub-assembly were shipped to both 
Consolidated/Fort Worth and Douglas/Tulsa for final assembly.  
Production for the B-24H was 1780 at Ford/Willow Run, 738 at 
Consolidated/Fort Worth, and 582 at Douglas/Tulsa, for a total of 
3100.  

The last B-24H was built in May of 1944 at Consolidated/Fort Worth.  
After that date, all five plants in the Liberator Production Pool 
switched over to the manufacture of the B-24J version.  

B-24H serials:

41-28574/28639		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-1-DT Liberator
41-28640/28668		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-5-DT Liberator
41-28669/28752		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-10-DT Liberator
41-28753/28941		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-15-DT Liberator
41-28942/29006		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-20-DT Liberator
41-29116/29187		Consolidated B-24H-1-CF Liberator
41-29188/29258		Consolidated B-24H-5-CF Liberator
41-29259/29335		Consolidated B-24H-10-CF Liberator
41-29336/29606		Consolidated B-24H-15-CF Liberator
41-29607/29608		Consolidated B-24H-20-CF Liberator
42-7465/7717		Ford B-24H-1-FO Liberator
42-7718/7769		Ford B-24H-5-FO Liberator
42-50277/50354		Consolidated B-24H-20-CF Liberator
42-50355/50410		Consolidated B-24H-25-CF Liberator
42-50411/50451		Consolidated B-24H-30-CF Liberator
42-51077/51103		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-20-DT Liberator
42-51104/51181		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-25-DT Liberator
42-51182/51225		Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-30-DT Liberator
42-52077/52113		Ford B-24H-5-FO Liberator
42-52114/52302		Ford B-24H-10-FO Liberator
42-52303/52776		Ford B-24H-15-FO Liberator
42-64432/64440		Consolidated B-24H-1-CF Liberator
42-64441/64451		Consolidated B-24H-5-CF Liberator
42-64452/64501		Consolidated B-24H-10-CF Liberator
42-94729/94794		Ford B-24H-15-FO Liberator
42-94795/95022		Ford B-24H-20-FO Liberator
42-95023/95288		Ford B-24H-25-FO Liberator
42-95289/95503		Ford B-24H-30-FO Liberator

Sources:

    Famous Bombers of the Second World War, William Green, 
    Doubleday, 1959.

    Liberator: America's Global Bomber, Alwyn T. Lloyd,
    Pictorial Histories Publishing Co, Inc, 1993.

    B-24 Liberator in Action, Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications
    Inc, 1987.

    General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecesssors, John Wegg,
    Naval Institute Press, 1990.

    Consolidated B-24D-M Liberator IN USAAF-RAF-RAAF-MLD-IAF-CzechAF
    and CNAF Service, Ernest R. McDowell, Arco, 1970. 

    United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
    and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.

    American Combat Planes, 3rd Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner,
    Doubleday, 1982.

    Jane's American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century,  Michael
    J.H. Taylor, Mallard Press.


Joe Baugher			  **************************************
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