The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American four-engine heavy bomber used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and other allied air forces during World War II. Of the 19,256 B-24, PB4Y-1, LB-30 and other model variants in the Liberator family produced, fourteen complete airframes (including one airworthy example) survive today. Nine of the fourteen aircraft reside in the United States.
Post-World War II The B-24 was quickly declared obsolete by the USAAF and the remaining stateside aircraft were flown to desert storage in the US Southwest. In the Pacific theatre, many were simply parked, the oil drained from their engines and the aircraft left for reclamation by scrappers. The last flight of a B-24 in US military service was on 12 May 1959 when Strawberry Bitch left Bunker Hill Air Force Base (now Grissom Air Force Base), in Peru, Indiana following an Armed Forces Open House. It was bound for the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it is now displayed.
Lend-lease While at the end of the war both the British Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force were willing to continue operating the B-24, the terms of lend-lease agreements stipulated that these aircraft had to be either paid for or returned to the US, and vast graveyards of aircraft accumulated in India as well as Tarakan and Australia.
India When India gained independence in 1947, 39 abandoned Liberators were refurbished by Hindustan Aircraft for the Indian Air Force and served until their retirement in 1968. It is to this that six of the remaining fourteen B-24s owe their existence."India's reclaimed B-24 bombers." Bhargava (bharat- rakshak.com). Retrieved: 25 December 2015.
Surviving aircraft Surviving aircraft by manufacturer PlantNumber producedNumber survivingConsolidated San Diego (CO)6,506 6Consolidated Fort Worth (CF)2,745 4Ford Willow Run (FO)8,685 4North American Dallas (NT)966 0Douglas Tulsa (DT)964 019,25614
Surviving aircraft