The C-87 Liberator Express was a
transport version of the B-24D bomber.
The first Liberator transport was
created by converting B-24D serial number 42-40355 which had been damaged
in a crash landing in the Arizona desert in early 1942. All of the bombing
equipment and defensive armament were deleted, and the nose glazing where
the bombardier sat was replaced by a sheet metal nose which hinged to the
right. A floor was installed through the bomb bay and into the waist compartment.
Rectangular windows were cut into the sides of the fuselage, and 25 seats
were added. There was a large 6x6 door incorporated into the port side
of the fuselage. The navigator's compartment was relocated to a position
just aft of the pilot's cockpit, and an astrodome was installed where the
top turret had been located. The tail turret was removed and replaced by
a metal fairing. The crew was normally four--pilot, copilot, navigator,
and radio operator.
The prototype was flown to Bolling
Field in Washington, DC for evaluation. The Army was sufficiently impressed
that they ordered the aircraft into production as the C-87 Liberator Express.
All of the C-87s were built at Consolidated/Fort Worth and were delivered
between September 2, 1942 and August 10, 1944. The first 73 C-87s were
conversions from existing B-24Ds, with the remainder being built from scratch
on the Fort Worth production line as transports. A total of 287 C-87s were
built by Consolidated/Fort Worth. The C-87s were not assigned production
block numbers, but there were six different versions of the C-87 that were
built which incorporated a number of specific changes.
Most C-87s were assigned to Air
Transport Command. When Burma fell to the Japanese in April of 1942, China's
only route to the Allied supply line, the Burma Road, was cut. The only
route to China from India was now by air, involving a treacherous flight
over the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. This route
came to be known as the *Hump*. On September 12, 1943, the Air Transport
Command established a new route to China via the Hump. This route began
at Patterson Field, Ohio and ended in China. This round trip route covered
28,000 miles and took twelve days to complete. ATC C-87s became an important
part of this operation. So dangerous was this route that the USAAF ended
up losing three crewmen for each thousand tons of cargo that reached China.
The Hump operation ended up costing the lives of over a thousand USAAF
crewmen.
During the war, so great was the
need for an air transportation system that the Army was forced to turn
to the commercial airlines to help operate the system. In addition to ATC,
four commercial airlines operated the Liberators under contract. These
were Consairways, American Airlines, United Air Lines, and T&WA.
Consairways was organized as a separate
subsidiary of Consolidated Aircraft. The original purpose of Consairways
was to return the crews ferrying aircraft to the Pacific back to the USA,
but it later ended up flying cargo of just about every imaginable type
back and forth between the USA and the Pacific theatre. It also flew USO
shows to entertain the troops in the Pacific. Consairways operated a mixture
of LB-30s, C-87s, and B-24s. Two C-87s known to have been operated by Consairways
were 41-24029 and 41-11706.
In January of 1943, American Airlines
was awarded a contract by ATC to operate C-87s over North Atlantic and
South Atlantic routes. These planes flew in military insignia and markings
and carried USAAF serials, but were operated by civilian crews. Later,
American Airlines personnel also flew numerous dangerous Hump missions.
C-87s flown by American Airlines: 41-11608, 41-11639, 41-11657, 41-11674,
41-11675, 41-11729, 41-11731, 41-11744, 41-11745, 41-11746, 41-11788, 41-23695,
41-23859, 41-23792, 41-23959, 41-24141, 41-24163, 42-107274, 43-30565.
One of the more notable exploits of AA-piloted C-87s was the 31,000-mile
trip made by FDR's "One World Ambassador", Wendell Wilkie, aboard C-87
41-11608 *Gulliver*. This involved a 51-day mission to Cairo, Palestine,
Baghdad, Teheran, Moscow, and China, and then a return to the United States
via a route across the Pacific. AA later traded in their C-87s for more
advanced C-54 Skymasters.
United Airlines was awarded a contract
by ATC to fly trans-Pacific routes and to fly intra-theater leave shuttles
ferrying armed forces personnel back and forth between the front and leave
ports in Australia and New Zealand. C-87s operated by United Airlines included
41-24005, 41-24027, 41-24028, 41-24160, 41-24252, 41-24253, 41-11608, 41-11640,
41-11642, 41-11642, 41-11655, 41-11656, 41-11789, and 41-11861.
During the war, Transcontinental
& Western Airlines (T&WA)--later to become Trans World Airlines
or TWA--operated Liberators for training and in support of USAAF Ferry
Command operations. In late 1942, T&WA's new Intercontinental Division
was assigned three C-87s to fly the South Atlantic route between the USA
and the Middle East.
The C-87A was a VIP transport version
of the basic C-87. The C-87 had been essentially a "no-frills" transport,
with little attention being paid to passenger comfort. The C-87A was designed
for more passenger comfort, and had only 16 seats. It could be fitted with
Pullman-type upholstered seats that could be converted into five berths.
Because of the different seating accommodation, the window arrangement
was different. The first three C-87As were named Gulliver I, Gulliver II,
and Gulliver III. A total of six were built, three for the USAAF and three
for the US Navy. C-87A 41-24159 later became the first "Air Force One"
for President Franklin Roosevelt, and was renamed *Guess Where II*.
Three C-87A VIP transports were
turned over to the Navy under the designation RY-1. Navy BuNos were 67797/67799.
Five C-87s were transferred to the US Navy under the designation RY-2.
BuNos were 39013/39017.
Five C-87s were converted into AT-22
trainers, which were employed for training flight engineers. Their serial
numbers were 42-107266, 43-30549, 43-30561, 42-30574, and 43-30584. Six
stations were provided in the fuselage for the instruction of flight engineers
in the operation of powerplants. They were intended to train engineers
that were going to be flying aboard B-24 and B-32 bombers In 1944, these
five planes were redesignated TB-24D.
24 USAAF C-87s were transferred
to the RAF under Lend-Lease for use by Transport Command as Liberator C.VII.
Their RAF serials were EW611/EW634. Known USAAF serial numbers are 44-39219
and 44-39248/39261, which accounts for only 15 of the 24 C.VIIs. They were
used by Nos. 232, 246, and 511 Squadrons starting with mid to late 1944
up until the end of the war. EW611, ex-USAAAF 44-39219, became G-AKAG.
The RAF did not keep its Liberator C.VIIs very long, disposing of the last
examples in 1946.
The C-87s were not very popular
with their crews, who complained about all sorts of hazards, particularly
with the fuel system, with the engines, and with the cockpit accessories.
The C-87 was notorious for problems with leaking fuel tanks, and midair
fires were an ever-present danger. The C-87 also had some dangerous icing
properties, which made it a very risky plane to fly over the Hump. There
were few tears shed when the Army's C-87s were withdrawn from service and
replaced by more reliable Douglas C-54 Skymasters.
Serials of C-87 and C-87A Liberator
Express:
Four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43
fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engines with General Electric turbosuperchargers
rated at 1200 hp at 2700 rpm for takeoff. Performance: Maximum speed 300
mph at 25,000 feet. An altitude of 20,000 feet could be reached in 60 minutes.
Service ceiling 28,000 feet at 56,000 pound takeoff weight. Normal range
at 60 percent power was 1400 miles at 215 mph at 10,000 feet. Maximum range
was 3300 miles at 188 mph at 10,000 feet. Weights: 30,645 pounds empty,
56,000 pounds normal loaded. Dimensions: Wingspan 110 feet 0 inches, length
66 feet 4 inches, height 17 feet 11 inches, wing area 1048 square feet.
Fuel: 2910 US gallons. Accommodation: Crew was normally four (pilot, copilot,
navigator, radio operator). Up to 25 passengers could be carried. For ranges
of 1000 miles or less, average cargo capacity was 10,000 pounds. On trans-oceanic
routes, cargo capacity was 6000 pounds.
Sources:
41-11608 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
later reserialed 41-39600
41-11639/11642 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11655/11657 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11674/11676 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11704 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11706/11709 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11728/11733 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11742/11747 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11788/11789 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11800 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11837/11838 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-11907/11908 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23669/23670 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23694/23696 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23791/23793 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23850/23852 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23859/23862 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23863 Consolidated C-87A-CF Liberator Express
41-23903/23905 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-23959 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24004/24006 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24027/24029 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24139/24141 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24158 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24159 Consolidated C-87A-CF Liberator Express
41-24160/24163 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24172/24173 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
41-24174 Consolidated C-87A-CF Liberator Express
41-39600 Consolidated XC-87 Liberator Express
42-107249/107275 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
107266 converted to AT-22
43-30548/30568 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
43-30569/30571 Consolidated C-87A-CF Liberator Express
all to US Navy as RY-1 67797/67799
43-30572/30627 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
30574 and 30584 converted to AT-22
44-39198/39298 Consolidated C-87-CF Liberator Express
39198/39202 to US Navy as RY-2 39013/39017
39219, 39248/39261 to RAF as Liberator C.VII
44-52978/52987 Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express
Specification of Consolidated C-87
Liberator Express: