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Subject: Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_C-87_Liberator_Express
The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24
Liberator heavy bomber built during World War II for the United States Army Air
Forces. A total of 287 C-87s were built alongside the B-24 at the Consolidated
Aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas. Converted former C-87s were the basis for a
USAAF flight engineer trainer designated as the AT-22, a United States Navy VIP
transport designated as the RY, and a Royal Air Force VIP transport designated
as the Liberator C.IX.
The C-87 was hastily designed in early 1942 to fulfill the need for a heavy
cargo and personnel transport with longer range and better high-altitude
performance than the 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 based on a damaged B-24D, serial 42-40355, that
crashed at Tucson Municipal Airport #2 on 17 February 1942. Six Consolidated
Aircraft employees riding as passengers were killed and several others were
injured in the B-24D. The transport, "Pinocchio" as it was known, was later
converted to a single tailfin with Privateer-type engine packages..
The prototype was converted into a transport configuration by 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 glassed-in bombardier compartment of the B-24 was
replaced by a hinged metal cap to allow front cargo loading. 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 12,000 lbs of cargo. Because of war production
bottlenecks and shortages, many C-87 aircraft were fitted with
turbosuperchargers producing lower boost pressure and power than those fitted to
B-24s destined for combat use, and ceiling and climb rate were accordingly
adversely affected.
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 was capable of carrying 16 passengers, and
given the designation C-87A. One C-87A in particular, serial 41-24159, was
exclusively 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 Secret Service,
after a review of the C-87's controversial safety record in service, flatly
refused to approve the Guess Where II for presidential carriage. The Guess Where
II was then used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration. In
March 1944, the Guess Where II transported Eleanor Roosevelt on a goodwill tour
of several Latin American countries.
Role
Military transport aircraft
Manufacturer
Consolidated Aircraft
Introduction
1942
Status
Retired
Primary users
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
United States Navy
Number built
287
Developed from
B-24 Liberator
Most C-87s were operated by the U.S. Air Transport Command and flown by formerly
civilian crews from U.S. civil transport carriers. The planes were initially
used on transoceanic routes too long to be flown by the C-47. After the Japanese
invasion of Burma in 1942, the C-87 was used for flying war material from India
to American and Chinese forces over "The Hump", the treacherous air route that
crossed the Himalayas. When the route was established, the C-87 was the only
readily available American transport with high-altitude performance good enough
to fly this route while carrying a large cargo load.
The C-87 was plagued by numerous problems and suffered from a poor reputation
among its crews. Veteran airline pilot and author Ernest K. Gann, in his 1961
memoir Fate is the Hunter, wrote: "They were an evil bastard contraption,
nothing like the relatively efficient B-24 except in appearance." Complaints
centered around electrical and hydraulic system failures in extreme cold at high
altitudes, a disconcertingly frequent loss of all cockpit illumination during
takeoffs, and a flight deck heating system that produced either stifling heat or
did not function at all.
The aircraft could also become unstable in flight if its center of gravity
shifted due to improper cargo loading. This longitudinal instability arose from
the aircraft's hasty conversion from bomber to cargo transport. Unlike a normal
cargo transport, which was designed from the start with a contiguous cargo
compartment with a safety margin for fore-and-aft loading variations, the bomb
racks and bomb bays built into the B-24 design were fixed in position, greatly
limiting the aircraft's ability to tolerate improper loading. This problem was
exacerbated by wartime exigencies and the failure of USAAF Air Transport Command
to instruct loadmasters in the C-87's peculiarities. The design's roots as a
bomber are also considered culpable for frequently collapsing nosegear; its
strength was adequate for an aircraft that dropped its payload in flight before
landing on a well-maintained runway, but it proved marginal for an aircraft
making repeated hard landings on rugged unimproved airstrips while heavily
loaded.
Despite its shortcomings and unpopularity among its crews, the C-87 was valued
for the reliability of its Pratt & Whitney engines, superior speed that enabled
it to mitigate significantly the effect of head and cross winds, a service
ceiling that allowed it to surmount most weather fronts, and range that
permitted its crews to fly "pressure-front" patterns that chased favorable
winds. The C-87 was never fully displaced on the air routes by the Douglas C-54
Skymaster and Curtiss C-46 Commando, which offered similar performance combined
with greater reliability and more benign flight characteristics. Some surviving
C-87 aircraft were converted into VIP transports or flight crew trainers, and
several others were sold to the Royal Air Force.
Specifications
General characteristics
Crew: four (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radio operator)
Capacity: ~25 passengers or 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) of cargo for transatlantic
flights and 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) max for shorter flights
Length: 66 ft 4 in (20.22 m)
Wingspan: 110 ft 0 in (33.53 m)
Height: 17 ft 11 in (5.46 m)
Wing area: 1,048 sq ft (97.4 m2)
Empty weight: 30,645 lb (13,900 kg)
Gross weight: 56,000 lb (25,401 kg)
Fuel capacity: 2,910 US gal (11,000 l; 2,420 imp gal)
engines with General Electric turbo-superchargers, 1,200 hp (890 kW) each at
2700 rpm for take-off
Performance
Maximum speed: 300 mph (483 km/h; 261 kn) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
Range: 1,400 mi (1,217 nmi; 2,253 km) at 60% power, 215 mph (187 kn; 346 km/h)
at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Ferry range: 3,300 mi (2,868 nmi; 5,311 km) at 215 mph (187 kn; 346 km/h) at
10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Service ceiling: 28,000 ft (8,500 m) at 56,000 lb (25,000 kg) take-off weight
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 60 minutes
*
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