Consolidated B-24 Liberator variant
Consolidated B-24 Liberator B-24L
Lightened version requested by the Army because of the B-24J's excessive weight: no Sperry ball turret and reduced tail armament, often fitted at a depot before delivery. 1,667 built.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator sheet
- 1,667
- Units built
History
The accumulated weight of the B-24J — turrets, armour, equipment — had steadily eaten into the Liberator's performance, and the Army asked for a lightened version. The B-24L was that version: it deleted the Sperry ball turret in favour of a floor ring mount with two .50 in machine guns, and replaced the A-6B tail turret with the lighter M-6A.
Later aircraft left the factory with no tail guns at all. The installation was carried out at a maintenance depot before delivery to operational units, and the solution varied: 190 received an A-6B or M-6A turret, 42 a hand-held but hydraulically assisted twin .50 in mount, and the rest a purely manual twin mounting.
The B-24L was built at Willow Run and at Consolidated's San Diego plant, with 1,667 completed. Training and test variants derived from it: the RB-24L, used to train B-29 gunners on a remote gun system identical to the Superfortress's; the TB-24L, the same with additional radar equipment; and General Electric's XB-24Q, a testbed for a radar-controlled tail turret intended for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.