Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

===Transport variants===

====C-87 Liberator Express====
{{Main|Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express}}
In early 1942, with the need for a purpose-built transport with better high-altitude performance and longer range than the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the San Diego plant began sending B-24D models to Fort Worth for conversion into the C-87 transport. The conversion had a hinged cargo door at the nose eliminating transparent nose and large cargo doors installed in the waist area. The C-87 had a large cargo floor, less powerful supercharged engines, no gun turrets, a floor in the bomb bay for freight, and some side windows. The navigator's position was relocated behind the pilot. Indigenous Fort Worth C-87 and AT-22 production began with the FY 1943 order for 80 serial-numbered airframes 43-30548 through 43–30627.

The C-87A was a dedicated VIP series built in small quantity. Early versions were fitted with a single .50 caliber (12.7&nbsp;mm) Browning machine gun in their tails, and a XC-87B version proposed two .50 caliber (12.7&nbsp;mm) fixed machine guns for the nose, operable by the pilot, though these were eventually removed. The XC-87B also designated a resurrected crash victim B-24D (42-40355) fitted with low altitude power packages and a forward fuselage extension. The extended nose earned it the name Pinocchio. Later modifications gave it a single tail and yet another type of engine packages bring it to near C-87C configuration. Other C-87 designations were the [[1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system|U.S. Navy designation]] '''RY''' and Lend Lease Liberator Cargo VII.

Although only 287 C-87 and eight U.S. Navy RY variants were produced, they were still important in the Army Air Forces' airlift operations early in the war when aircraft with high-altitude, long-range heavy hauling abilities were in short supply. The C-87 flew in many theaters of war, including much hazardous duty in flights from Labrador to Greenland and Iceland in the North Atlantic. In the [[China Burma India Theater of World War II|China Burma India Theater]] (CBI), the C-87 was used to airlift cargo and fuel over [[the Hump]] (the [[Himalayas]]) from [[India]] to [[China]]. Early in the campaign, the C-87 was the only readily available American transport that could fly over the Himalayas while heavily loaded, rather than relying on circuitous and highly dangerous routes through valleys and mountain passes, but the type was not very popular with crews: they complained of various hazards including the fuel system, engines and cockpit accessories, while the type was notorious for leaking fuel tanks and mid-air fires a constant danger.<ref name=":1" /> The C-87 also shared the Liberator's dangerous sensitivity to icing, particularly prevalent over Himalayan routes.<ref name=":0" /> With these difficulties in mind it is little wonder the ATC India China Division was the only unit in the Command to be combat decorated during WWII, having been awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.

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The C-87 was not always popular with the aircrews assigned to fly it. The aircraft had the distressing habit of losing all cockpit electrical power on takeoff or at landings, its engine power and reliability with the less-powerful superchargers also often left much to be desired. It proved to be quite vulnerable to icing conditions, and was prone to fall into a spin with even small amounts of ice accumulated onto its Davis wing. Since the aircraft had been designed to be a bomber that dropped its loads while airborne, the C-87's nose [[landing gear]] was not designed for landing with a heavy load, and frequently it collapsed from the stress. Fuel leaks inside the crew compartment from the hastily modified long-range fuel system were an all-too-common occurrence. Lastly, unlike a typical purpose-designed transport, the B-24 was not designed to tolerate large loading variations because most of its load was held on fixed bomb racks. Consequently, it was relatively easy for a poorly trained ground crew to load a C-87 with its [[center of gravity]] too far forward or aft, rendering the aircraft difficult to control due to inadequate or excessive longitudinal stability. In his autobiography, ''[[Fate is the Hunter]]'', the writer [[Ernest K. Gann]] reported that, while flying air cargo in India, he barely avoided crashing an improperly loaded C-87 into the [[Taj Mahal]]. As soon as more dependable [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster]] and [[Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando]] transports became available in large numbers, C-87s were rapidly phased out of combat zone service, with some later used as VIP transports or B-24 flight crew trainers.

====C-109 version====
[[File:C-109 Liberator Express tanker unloading.jpg|thumb|C-109 tanker unloading]]
The C-109 was a dedicated fuel transport version of the B-24 conceived as a support aircraft for Boeing B-29 Superfortress operations in central China.<ref name="c-109">https://web.archive.org/web/20090304014706/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_27.html Consolidated C-109</ref> Unlike the C-87, the C-109 was not built on the assembly line, but rather was converted from existing B-24 bomber production; to save weight, the glass nose, armament, turret fairings and bombardment equipment were removed. Several storage tanks were added, allowing a C-109 to carry 2,900&nbsp;gal (11,000&nbsp;L) of fuel weighing over {{convert|22000|lb|kg}}.

Plans originally called for 2,000 C-109s to support 10 groups of B-29s (approximately 400) in China, but the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|capture of the Mariana Islands]] provided a far more easily resupplied location for raids on mainland [[Japan]], and the plans were greatly scaled back. Only 218 C-109s were actually converted. After the transfer of the B-29s, the C-109s were reassigned to the [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|Air Transport Command]]. According to the history of the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, at least one squadron was assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command in Europe to transport gasoline to advancing ground and air forces on the Continent after the Normandy invasion.

However, whereas a combat-loaded B-24 could safely take off with room to spare from a {{convert|6000|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=on}} runway, a loaded C-109 required every foot of such a runway to break ground, and crashes on takeoff were not uncommon. The aircraft demonstrated unstable flight characteristics with all storage tanks filled, and proved very difficult to land fully loaded at airfields above {{convert|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}} MSL in elevation, such as those around [[Chengdu]]. After it was discovered that these problems could be alleviated by flying with the forward storage tank empty, this practice became fairly routine, enhancing aircrew safety at the cost of some fuel-carrying capacity.<ref>Baugher, Joe. [http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b24_27.html "Consolidated C-109".] ''USAAC/USAAF/USAF Bombers: The Consolidated B-24 Liberator'', 16 August 1999. Retrieved: 15 June 2010.</ref> Many C-109s were lost in flying the Hump airlift to China.

The ''Singing Cowboy'' [[Gene Autry]] served in the Air Transport Command (in the same squadron as [[Barry Goldwater]]), and described flying the C-109 over "The Hump" as "the thrill that lasts a lifetime".<ref>Autry, Gene with Herskowitz, Mickey. (1978). ''Back in the Saddle Again''. Doubleday & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|038503234X}} Page 85</ref>

B-24 bombers were also extensively used in the Pacific area after the end of World War II to transport cargo and supplies during the rebuilding of Japan, China, and the Philippines.