Consolidated B-24 "Liberator"

Bomber (Testbed)

The B24 (PB4Y-1 "Privateer") fitted with wing mounts for the testing of SWOD MK 9 ASM "Bat"

Test: Republic JB-2 "Loon" / SWOD MK 9 ASM "Bat" / General Electric I-16

Specification for B-24 J

Engine: 4x Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 radial piston engines of 1,200 hp

Wing Span: 110'

Length: 64' 2''

Height: 18'

Weight: Empty 38,000 lb / Loaded 71,200 lb

Maximum Speed: 300 mph

Ceiling: 30,000'

Range: 1,700 miles

Crew : 10

Armament: 10x 0.50'' machine guns / 12,800 lb bomb load.

History:

Designed in 1938 as a rival to Boeing's B-17, the B-24 proved to be one of the USA's most versatile aircraft of World War II. In 1944/45 along with the USAAF's tests with the B-17 and the B-29. The B-24 "Liberator" was used to tested the of the JB-2, the , to see the Aircraft's feasibility as a air-launch platform as well as the feasibility of the JB-2 in that roll. It can by asumed that the US Navy took a great interest in these tests, as they were at the time trying to find the best use for the new missile.

The PB4Y-2 "Privateer" fitted with 2x "Bat" glide bombs

However the Navy had another ASM in the form of the SWOD MK 9/ASM-N-2 "Bat" a glide bomb with an active radar seeker, this weapon was better suited to the Navy's needs in the anti-shiping roll, with the LTV-A-1 being used from ships and submarines to attack shore targets

A number of tests of the US Navy's "Bat" were made in late 1944 with the missal being fitted to the PB4Y-1 were relatively successful, and the weapon was declared combat ready in January 1945, seeing service in May 1945 fitted on to the Consolidated PB4Y-2 "Privateer".

Also In 1946 a B-24M # 44-41986 was modified by having a General Electric I-16 jet engine fitted in the waist compartment, with a large air scoop built on top of the fuselage and the exhaust exiting at the former tail-gunner's position. This was undertaken by NACA Lewis Research Center for testing of the effects of icing on jet engines