Editing Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express (section)

==Design and development==
The C-87 was hastily designed in early 1942 to fill the need for a heavy cargo and personnel transport with longer range and better high-altitude performance than the [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]], the most widely available [[United States Army Air Forces]] transport aircraft at the time. Production began in 1942.

The first C-87 prototype was 41–11608.  The design included various modifications, including the elimination of gun turrets and other armament along with the installation of a strengthened cargo floor, including a floor running through the bomb bay. The glazed nose of the bombardier compartment of the B-24 was replaced by a hinged metal cap to allow loading the nose compartment, which in the bomber version can only be reached through a crawlspace under the cockpit floor.  A cargo door was added to the port side of the fuselage, just forward of the tail, and a row of windows was fitted along the sides of the fuselage.

The C-87 could be fitted with removable seats and racks to carry personnel or litters in place of cargo.  In its final configuration, the C-87 could carry between 20 and 25 passengers or {{cvt|12000|lb|kg}} of cargo. Because of wartime production bottlenecks and shortages, many C-87 aircraft were fitted with turbosuperchargers producing lower boost pressure and thus unable to sustain power at the same altitudes as those fitted to B-24s destined for combat use, and ceiling and climb rate were accordingly reduced.

===C-87A VIP transport===
In 1942 and 1943, several C-87 aircraft were converted into VIP luxury passenger transports by adding insulation, padded seats, dividers, and other accommodations.  The modified aircraft, designated C-87A, could carry 16 passengers.  One C-87A, serial ''41-24159'', was converted in 1943 to a presidential VIP transport, the ''Guess Where II'', intended to carry President Franklin D. Roosevelt on international trips.  Had it been accepted, it would have been the first aircraft to be used in presidential service, i.e. the first [[Air Force One]].  However, the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]], after a review of the {{nowrap|C-87's}} controversial safety record, flatly refused to approve the ''Guess Where II'' for presidential carriage.<ref name= "Dorr"/> The ''Guess Where II'' was used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration and in March 1944, flew [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] on a goodwill tour of several Latin American countries.<ref name= "Dorr">Dorr 2002, p. 134.</ref>

===XC-87B===
A [[Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator#17 February 1943|damaged B-24D]], 42-40355, became what is referred to as the XC-87B with an extended fuselage and low-altitude engine packages. This transport, named ''Pinocchio'', was later converted to a single tailfin with [[Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer|PB4Y-2 Privateer]]-type engine packages. This should not be confused with the cancelled XC-87B, a proposed an armed transport version of the C-87.