B-24 Liberator Surviving Aircraft (2024)

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was a 4-engine, twin-tail heavy bomber designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego. Its first flight was on December 29, 1939, and it began service in 1941.

The B-24's spacious, slab-sided fuselage was built around a central bomb bay with two compartments that could accommodate up to 8,000pounds of ordnance each. The B-24 provided excellent service in a variety of roles due to its large payload and long range.

B-24 Liberator Surviving Aircraft

A total of 18,493 Liberators were built, more than any other airplane in World War II.Several factories produced the Liberator:

• Original Consolidated plant in San Diego
• A second Consolidated plant in Fort Worth
• Ford Motor Co. at Willow Run, Michigan
• North American Aviation in Dallas
• Douglas Aircraft Co. in Tulsa

After the end of World War II in August of 1945, the U.S. Army Air Corp found itself with thousands of surplus, and now obsolete, B-24 Liberators. Most were sent to military aircraft boneyards for temporary storage, sale, or scrapping and smelting into aluminum ingots. While some planes were sold and continued usage in civilian aviation, most ended their service, not in combat, but in the smelter at locations such as Kingman Army Air Field in Arizona.

Read more about B-24 Liberator storage, scrapping and smelting into ingots after World War II

Of the massive numbers of Liberators that were built, only thirteen are known to exist around the world, either on display (10), under restoration (1), or airworthy (2).

B-24 Liberators in the United States

In the United States, only two aircraft are airworthy, and six complete airplanes are on static display, for a total of eight B-24 Liberator survivors, shown below listed by state. Other Liberators are on display around the world.

Model	S/N	Name	Location	Status	City	ST
B-24J	44-44175	Bungay Buckaroo	Pima Air & Space Museum	Static Display	Tucson	AZ
B-24M	44-41916	Shady Lady	Castle Air Museum	Static Display	Atwater	CA
B-24J	44-44272	Joe	Fantasy of Flight Museum	Static Display	Polk City	FL
B-24J	44-48781	Rupert the Roo II (former Louisiana Belle)	Global Power Museum Barksdale AFB	Static Display	Bossier City	LA
B-24J	44-44052	Witchcraft	Collings Foundation	Airworthy	Stow	MA
B-24D	42-72843	Strawberry Bitch	National Museum of the U.S. Air Force	Static Display	Dayton	OH
B-24A	40-2366	Diamond Lil	CAF	Airworthy	Dallas	TX
B-24D	41-23908	Unnamed B-24	Hill Aerospace Museum	Static Display	Ogden	UT

B-24 Liberator at the Imperial War Museum in the U.K.

Another B-24M is on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, U.K. It was built at the Ford Willow Run plant as S/N 44-51228, and assigned to the Wright Aeronautical Development Center in Minneapolis, Minnnesota, for ice research.

The bomber was retired from active service in 1954. It was flown to the Lackland Air Force Base Enlisted Mens Basic Training Centre in San Antonio, Texas, where it was displayed on the edge of the parade ground. Many recruits who passed through Lackland scratched there names/initials on it.

In early 1999 it was recovered by the Imperial War Museum. Today, it is painted as S/N 44-50493, "Dugan".

Later, a full-size fiberglass copy of the B-24 was put on display at Lackland AFB.

Other B-24 Liberators on Display

B-24 Liberator Restoration in Australia

There is also a B-24M being restored in Australia, the last surviving Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Liberator, RAAF serial number A72-176. The plane was delivered from the United States in late 1944 as USAAF Serial Number 44-41956. The restoration is being done at a hangar at the formerRAAF Werribee Aerodrome in Victoria.

The RAAF operated 287 B-24D, B-24J, B-24Land B-24M models from 1944 to 1948.

Read about the 2018 status of the restoration at AcesFlyingHigh

PB4Y-2 Privateer Survivors

The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer was a World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy based on the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.

Read more about the PB4Y-2 and survivors on this website

B-24J Liberator "Rupert the Roo II"

B-24J Liberator "Bungay Buckaroo"

B-24J Liberator "Witchcraft"

B-24D Liberator at the Hill Aerospace Museum

B-24J Liberator "Straberrry Bitch"

More Photographs of B-24 Survivors