Airworthy Liberator in the UK
I doubt if Ferrari#27 is still lurking here, but another recent PPRuNe thread has reminded me of a very similar mystery of my own. I have distinct memories of seeing (on more than one occasion) a B-24 flying over Edinburgh circa 1984, maybe +/-2 years (if I could lay my hands on my old planespotting notebook, I could tell you the exact dates!). I'm absolutely positive it was a B-24 - I remember it was low enough to see the sunlight glinting off the nose glazing and that it was in the USAAF Olive Drab/Neutral Gray camouflage scheme. It sounds like it must have been the same one Ferrari#27 saw, but the question remains, whose Liberator was it? 
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Is there still a Liberator at Cosford?
I made my first (most belated) visit there last weekend - unfortunately it had to be fairly brief, however I thought I saw all but no B-24 !
I made my first (most belated) visit there last weekend - unfortunately it had to be fairly brief, however I thought I saw all but no B-24 !
Shirley Hanover Street was filmed at Bovingdon not Rissy.
Arclite: the Farnborough Shackleton T4 (called Zebedee because of the tendency for the tailwheel to bounce) was 'retired' to Strathallan in 1975.
Rich Rhodes practised many 'short' landings at Farnborough invariably ending up with smoking brake drums as they didn't want to repeat the fiasco of the Comet delivered there earlier.
Arclite: the Farnborough Shackleton T4 (called Zebedee because of the tendency for the tailwheel to bounce) was 'retired' to Strathallan in 1975.
Rich Rhodes practised many 'short' landings at Farnborough invariably ending up with smoking brake drums as they didn't want to repeat the fiasco of the Comet delivered there earlier.
Last edited by chevvron; 27th Jun 2014 at 22:57.
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If anyone is interested they are restoring a B24 to a non flying state here in Victoria, Australia,
the website is: Home | B-24 Liberator Restoration Australia
Apparently the B24, originally intended as a civilian aircraft, had a weakness in the way the wing was constructed and a piece of flak breaking more than three(?) of the span wise 'strengtheners' (can't think of the correct name now, longerons doesn't sound right!), would cause the wing to fold up!
the website is: Home | B-24 Liberator Restoration Australia
Apparently the B24, originally intended as a civilian aircraft, had a weakness in the way the wing was constructed and a piece of flak breaking more than three(?) of the span wise 'strengtheners' (can't think of the correct name now, longerons doesn't sound right!), would cause the wing to fold up!
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Interesting info here:
LiTOT: B-24 design analysis
It does state that the original design was as a bomber.
Mx
LiTOT: B-24 design analysis
It does state that the original design was as a bomber.
Mx
Apparently the B24, originally intended as a civilian aircraft, had a weakness in the way the wing was constructed and a piece of flak breaking more than three(?) of the span wise 'strengtheners' (can't think of the correct name now, longerons doesn't sound right!), would cause the wing to fold up!
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I've only just noticed this thread.
During the early 1970s my late father was a member of the Cambridge University Gliding Club and stored his Kestrel 19 at Duxford.
I distinctly remember a Liberator there in 1975 that was paired with the B17 Sally B.
It was an ex Indian machine and was refurbished in natural metal with black fins with a central vertical white stripe.
A photo' appears on page 67 of Action Stations Vol 1 by Michael J F Bowyer.
During the early 1970s my late father was a member of the Cambridge University Gliding Club and stored his Kestrel 19 at Duxford.
I distinctly remember a Liberator there in 1975 that was paired with the B17 Sally B.
It was an ex Indian machine and was refurbished in natural metal with black fins with a central vertical white stripe.
A photo' appears on page 67 of Action Stations Vol 1 by Michael J F Bowyer.
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I think that it's a bit of an 'old wives tale'......................
This thread had me digging out my B24 Liberator at War book by Roger Freeman as I remembered something about one losing a huge section of wing and still managing to return to base.
It was a RAF Coastal Command Lib V of 224 Sqn and had 13 feet of the left wing shot off by German ships near the Spanish coast on Christmas Day, 1943. It made it back to St Eval with full control wheel deflection!
I was part of the RAF Colerne Museum team when KN751/HE807 arrived in 1974. The crew said it was full of defects and was unfit for further flight so I guess it had been a miserable ferry trip. Aircraft Illustrated's Martin H*****n still owes me some pictures from when I showed him around the aircraft a few months later.
It was a RAF Coastal Command Lib V of 224 Sqn and had 13 feet of the left wing shot off by German ships near the Spanish coast on Christmas Day, 1943. It made it back to St Eval with full control wheel deflection!
I was part of the RAF Colerne Museum team when KN751/HE807 arrived in 1974. The crew said it was full of defects and was unfit for further flight so I guess it had been a miserable ferry trip. Aircraft Illustrated's Martin H*****n still owes me some pictures from when I showed him around the aircraft a few months later.
