Article 3062 of rec.aviation.military:
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From: jfb@usgp1.ih.att.com (Joe Baugher)
Subject: Bomber Series--Consolidated B-24 Liberator (3 of ??)
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Summary: Liberator I, LB-30B
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Date: Fri, 7 Oct 1994 03:00:54 GMT
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The initial production version was the B-24A, 120 examples of which 
had been ordered in August of 1939.  With the fall of France, the 
order for the first 20 of these planes was diverted from the USAAC 
for delivery to the Royal Air Force under the designation LB-30B.

The twenty LB-30Bs were delivered to the RAF in mid-1941 as Liberator 
I and were serialed AM910/AM929.  They were powered by R-1830-33 
engines.  Like the YB-24s before them, the B-24As were delivered to 
the RAF at Montreal in Canada for transfer to England.  The LB-30Bs 
differed from the USAAF B-24As in having equipment that was 
specifically intended to meet British requirements.  For example, they 
were delivered with the standard RAF defensive armament of six 
flexible 0.30-inch Browning machine guns, two in the tail, one in the 
nose, one in each waist position, and one in the belly position.  

The RAF Liberator I was the first of the type to see combat.  The long 
range and heavy bombload made the Liberator I a natural choice for RAF 
Coastal Command for use in its battles against the U-boat menace.  
Upon arrival in England, they were extensively modified to make them 
suitable for the antisubmarine role.  They were equipped with early 
versions of ASV radars, which included a thicket of Yagi aerials 
protruding from the nose and the wings, four stickle-back mast 
antennae sticking upward from the ventral fuselage, and a set of 
towel-rail type antennae attached to the sides of the rear fuselage.  
The aircraft looked not unlike a flying porcupine.  For attacks on 
surfaced U-boats, Liberator Is were fitted with a pack for four 
forward-firing 20-mm Hispano cannon underneath the forward fuselage.  
These modifications were carried out by Heston Aircraft Ltd.  The 
normal operating crew was seven.  

The Liberator I first equipped No. 120 Squadron of RAF Coastal 
Command based at Nutt's Corner, Belfast in June of 1941.  With a 
normal operating range of 2400 miles, the Liberator I nearly doubled 
the effective range of Britain's maritime reconnaissance forces.  They 
were the first machines with the ability to close the Atlantic Gap, 
where U-boats had previously been able to operate with immunity from 
air attack.  

The Liberator Is served with No. 120 Squadron until December of 1943, 
when they were replaced by later Liberator marks.  Liberator Is are 
credited with at least 8 U-boat kills.  

Four Liberator Is were operated by the BOAC to carry priority 
passengers and to ferry crews across the Atlantic.  On January 24/25, 
1942, AM918 with civil registry G-AGDR flew nonstop from Hurn to 
Cairo.  However, on its return trip on February 15, it was shot down 
by mistake by a Spitfire.  Surviving examples were returned to the RAF 
in January of 1945.  AM920 was converted to civilian configuration for 
BOAC in 1946 under the registration G-AHYB.  

Liberator I AM927 survived the war and is now owned by the Confederate 
Air Force.  It is painted in the markings of B-24D *Diamond Lil*.  
AM927 had originally been delivered to the RAF in May of 1941.  It was 
damaged in a crash in the US and was later returned to Consolidated 
for repairs.  It was later used as a transport carrying USAAF insignia 
but still with its original RAF serial on the tail.  For a while after 
the war, this plane was flown by the Continental Can Company under the 
civilian registry N1503, until it was acquired by the CAF to be 
operated as a flying museum.  


Specification of the Consolidated Liberator I:

Four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-33 (S3C4-G) Twin Wasp fourteen-cylinder
air-cooled radials rated at 1200 hp for takeoff and 1000  hp at
14,500 feet.
Performance:  Maximum speed 292.5 mph at 15,000 feet.  Cruising speed
228 mph.  Landing speed 92 mph.  Service ceiling 30,500 feet.  
An altitude of 10,000 feet could be attained in 5.6 minutes.
Range was 2200 miles with a 4000 pound bombload.  Maximum range
was 4000 miles.
Weights: 30,000 pounds empty, 39,350 pounds gross, 53,600 pounds maximum.
Dimensions: Wingspan 110 feet 0 inches, length 63 feet 9 inches, height
18 feet 8 inches, wing area 1048 square feet.
Delivered with the standard RAF defensive armament of six flexible
0.30-inch Browning machine guns, two in the tail, one in the 
nose, one in each waist position, and one in the belly position.  
An additional four 20-mm cannon were installed in a belly pack.

Sources:

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

    British Military Aircraft Serials, 1912-1969, Bruce Robertson,
    Ian Allen, 1969.

    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 Predecsssors, 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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