Update 2025-4-29

As you can probably tell with the recent move of Hangar Thirteen, Project Warbird has been busy lately.  Still, we have an amazing new acquisition that we wanted to share with everyone right away –

It is the radio operator’s table from Consolidated B-24L 44-50006. 

Because of the woodwork I have done on the bombers, it is always a treat to see an original piece like this.  And this is certainly a rare one. 

Early B-24s like the LB.30s carried the navigator and radio operator directly aft of the pilots, facing forward.  When the LB.30 Liberator II was introduced, lengthening the nose, many units modified this arrangement to move the navigator there.  This became standard for the remainder of the B-24’s service life, particularly after the introduction of the Martin 250CE upper turret in the cockpit.  Though I have no evidence of this, it is likely that weight was a consideration in this move, as the B-24 was notoriously tail heavy. 

Along with this shift came the decision to revise the radio operator’s position, now having his desk face sideways against the right side.  Said arrangement remained standard up through Block J-175-CO, after which the table was revised again, once more facing forward.  This change was first introduced on B-24Gs license-built by North American in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later standardized on Liberators built at the Consolidated plant in Fort Worth, Texas.

The B-24L was the first of a newly-limited production pool of the Liberator.  With need for the Liberator drying up by July 1944, the Army cancelled contracts for B-24s at the Tulsa and Fort Worth plants.  The B-24L was the product of a weight reduction program, the variant removing the A-13A Ball Turret and A-6B Tail Turrets during production and replacing them with handheld, flexible positions.  (The tail turret would eventually be redesigned into a lighter variant). 

Most late-production B-24s were sold to the Royal Air Force, with Liberator VI and VIIIs (as they were designated) seeing service in Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, India, and Australia.  44-50006 was a Ford-built Liberator VIII that saw service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  Judging from what little information is available, it seems that she did not see much use.  In fact, her total flight hours at the time of discharge were 24:20. 

44-50006 was assigned to No 2 Air Command on 18 September 1944, an interim unit formed by merging multiple training commands in preparation for peacetime.  She was placed into storage in Lethbridge, Alberta on 2 February 1946 and, shortly after No 2 Command was disbanded, 44-50006 was struck off charge for sale by the War Assets Corporation.

We look forward to placing 44-50006’s table on display in the hangar! 

In other news, the last of Liberator II Maid of Athens is due to be loaded up tomorrow for its trip here to South Carolina.  So, keep an eye out – you might see a semi loaded up with B-24 wings going down the road!

Lastly, the Project Warbird website has been revamped and is now up and running.  The site is rather bare at the moment but that will change as time goes on.  Hope everyone likes how it looks!

The top of the newly arrived radio operator’s table from 44-50006.

The black assembly is an FT-154 Mount for a BC-348 Liaison radio system receiver.  We are talking with Hangar Thirteen volunteer Charlie Liberto about setting up one on the table to run for visitors.

Photo taken 15 April 2025.

The top of the newly arrived radio operator’s table from 44-50006.

The hole behind the FT-154 Mount is for feeding the lines to the BC-348 Receiver. 

To the right of the FT-154 is another hole, which fed the antenna line down to the SW-224 Knife Switch.  This switch cycled the antenna between the main antenna above the fuselage and the reel antenna below. 

Above the hole is the Liaison system master switch and the aircraft’s call number.

Photo taken 15 April 2025.

The underside of the newly-arrived radio operator’s table from 44-50006. 

Note the Dark Dull Green paint here.

Photo taken 15 April 2025.

Manual illustration of the radio operator’s position aboard a late B-24. 

While the table is identical, the receiver on this aircraft is mounted on a shelf above the table.  Still, the line connecting the two antennas, running through the right side of the table, is still visible.

The radio operator’s position aboard an LB.30 Liberator II, identical to that which was aboard Maid of Athens.

Because LB.30s were sold to Great Britain at a time when the US was still neutral, the radio equipment that came with this aircraft were off-the-shelf units from Bendix.  The pieces you see here are, from left to right: Type 3616 Control Box, MR-9 Control Box, Type 3618 Intercom Box, and partially obscured, the 1134 Intercom Amplifier.  An MT-11 CW Key sits just below the MR-9 Box. 

IFF systems were prohibited from being photographed but the control box for the R.3003 IFF was mounted to the square section on the right wall. 

Under the table, the mount for where the RAF would install the TR-9F transceiver is also visible.

If you can help with the 3616 Control Box, R.3003 IFF system, TR-9F Transceiver, and any additional Bendix intercom boxes, please let us know!

AM929, an LB.30 Liberator I of RAF 120 Squadron. 

Note the short length of the nose, a characteristic of Liberator Is.  Surprisingly, the choice to lengthen the Liberator’s nose was a unique case of an aircraft’s design being altered purely for aesthetic reasons. 

AM929 is easily one of the most war’s most distinguished Liberators, having the unique distinction of destroying an incomparable three U-Boats:

U-597 – 12 October 1943

U-200 – 24 June 1943

U-540 – 17 October 1943

An LB.30 Liberator II, with her serial number blotted out by a censor.  Note the lengthened nose, characteristic of future B-24s. 

The aircraft shown here is identical to Maid of Athens.

Mighty Eightball (41-24224, 308BG), a B-24D with the 14AF in free-China. 

While retaining the nose of the LB.30 Liberator II, the navigator has been moved from the flight deck down into the nose compartment (evidenced by the relocation of the astrodome).  Also note how the Boulton Paul Type A turret, which was mounted in the waist compartment, is now replaced with a Martin Type A-3 behind the cockpit.

Mighty Eightball was lost when she hit a mountain in bad weather on 29 June 1944.

Manual illustration of the radio operator’s position aboard a B-24.  The layout shown here was typical of most B-24s throughout the D through J series.

Above the BC-348 Liaison Receiver is the mount and power plug for the IFF system, which was prohibited from being photographed.  The tilted box to the right is for a SCR-518 Radar Altimeter, a rarely installed piece.

An unidentified radio operator aboard a B-24D.  His desk faces outwards, against the right wall.

The object to his back, crowding him, is the Martin 250CE Upper Turret.  Despite its obtrusiveness here, the Martin turret, having multiple designations starting with Type A-3, was easily the most successful powered gun turret in aviation history.

A Bob Stevens cartoon aboard the Consolidated B-24. 

The aircraft’s weight issues and unforgiving controls are highlighted here.

1LT Robert O. Nixon, a navigator with the 458BG, aboard an early Ford-built B-24J. 

Note how Nixon is laying on his worktable – an attempt to make more room in the B-24’s cramped nose compartment.

Flying Ass (44-49647, 451BG), a B-24L of the 15AF, during a strike on the railyards of Vienna on 15 January 1945. 

Visible is the handheld Consolidated stinger tail, which replaced the powered tail turrets in many later-variant B-24s.  This tail was designed and installed at the Tucson Modification Center and relieved the aircraft of more than 200 lbs.

A drawing of the Tucson M-6 stinger tail.

Made of blown plexiglass, the twin .50 cals were mounted on bearings and not only saved weight, but offered a greater field of fire than the A-6B hydraulic turret.

Lilas Marie II (44-40720, 90BG), a B-24J with the 5AF. 

The ball turret on this aircraft has been removed and replaced with a handheld gun position.  This was common with B-24s in the South Pacific, as removing the turret saved weight and, as a result, increased the aircraft’s range.

An interior view of a B-24 converted to remove the ball turret and replace it with a flexible position.

Ironically, the B-24 did not initially receive a ball turret until much, much later than the Boeing B-17.   The first B-24s to come standard with ball turrets were B-24Ds from Block D-140-CO – relatively late in 1943. 

Two B-24Ls currently survive, both veterans of the Indian Air Force: KN751, on display at the Royal Air Force Museum in Hendon, England and HE773, on display at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Rockcliffe, Ontario.

This photo is of the latter upon her acquisition in 1968.

Sadly, we do not have any photos of 44-50006.  If you have any, please let us know so we can display it alongside the table!