B-24 Liberator: WWII Bomber with Davis Wing and Record Production

The B-24 Liberator, built by Consolidated Aircraft, used a radical Davis wing for greater range and speed, reaching 290 MPH and a 28,000-foot ceiling. The US government awarded the contract on March 30, 1939. The B-24 could carry up to 8,800 pounds and featured tricycle landing gear. In 1941, Willow Run in Michigan was built to meet demand, with Ford Motor Company managing the factory under Edsel Ford. Employing 42,000 people, the plant produced 8,685 Liberators, assembling one every 63 minutes by 1944. A total of 18,400 B-24s were built in American factories, the most of any US warplane. The Liberator served in multiple roles: the RAF used LB-30 transports, the AT-22 trainer appeared in 1942, and the C-87 Liberator Express (287 built) operated in the Himalayas. C-109 fuel carriers, nicknamed "The Flying Bomb," carried 2,900 gallons of gas. The B-24 proved invaluable in the Battle of the Atlantic, closing the mid-Atlantic gap from bases in the Azores, England, and Ascension Island using depth charges and Leigh searchlights. By mid-1943, U-boat losses skyrocketed. In the Pacific, all bomber squadrons flew the Liberator by 1943, partially replaced by the B-29 in 1944. The Davis wing, built along a central spar, was a structural flaw: if broken, the entire wing collapsed, leading to higher loss rates than the B-17.