The B-24 Liberator Trivia Quiz

Answer: Douglas Aircraft, North American Aviation, and Ford Motor Company

This distribution of the work was common and often firms found themselves working in areas quite foreign to them. For instance, both the Singer sewing machine company and the Remington typewriter company were called on to make Colt-designed firearms. Ford Motor Company began supplying parts for the aircraft companies which then assembled the finished aircraft, but lobbied to use their mass production skills for the complete building of finished bombers.

In the end, Ford produced just over a third of all the B-24s.

Answer: The blue prints from Consolidated lacked the details the parts supplier needed.

The greatest difficulties were experienced at Ford. The Consolidated drawings were meant to be used by experienced aircraft machinists and contained terms not common in the automotive world. Furthermore, they were more in the line of guidelines that the experienced aircraft craftsmen would know how to use.

This was wholly inadequate for the production line workers at Ford. Eventually, Ford redid 30,000 drawings.

Answer: The B-24 was significantly cheaper to build.

I have seen a number of different performance numbers for both aircraft. Not all agree on the exact numbers, but all agree the B-24 scored higher in each of the three key categories: speed, range, and bomb load.

Answer: There were a lot more B-17s made.

The B-17 had a large wing, which made it easy to fly. The B-24 had a long narrow wing, the Davis Wing, which gave it is speed and range, but made it very demanding to fly. It was also poorly balanced over its landing gear. This made it prone to "porpoising" while taxing, that is rocking back and forth. Taxi had to be done very carefully with very gentle starts and stops. If a B-17 went down in water the crew had a life raft in the plane itself. It would float for hours, even days. The B-24 had a nasty habit of breaking up and sinking in minutes. In the cold waters of the North Sea this was sure death for the crews.

Actually, more B-24s were built than B-17s.

Answer: The oil fields at Ploesti

The oil fields at Ploesti, Romania were a major source of fuel to drive the Nazi war machine. Disrupting this source was key to the Allied offensive but the site was extremely well defended. A key part of the strategy to attack this target was a low altitude dash by a heavy force of B-24s.

Their great range, high speed, and heavy bomb load made them the best choice for this task. While the raid did a lot of damage, Ploesti was a very tough nut to crack and was not completely shut down until it was overrun by Allied ground troops.

Answer: They could not fly as high.

The B-24 flew at 30,000 feet while the B-17 could go a bit higher. Both the Lancasters and Halifaxes were limited to about 24,000 feet. The extra 6,000 feet might not seem like much. However, when people on the ground are shooting cannons at you, every foot matters.

Answer: The German tactic was submarine warfare and the B-24s greater range allowed it to be used to attack submarines in the mid-Atlantic where previously land based aircraft could not reach.

The battle of the Atlantic went back and forth between the Allies and the German submarine fleet. The biggest problem for the Allies was the inability to protect the vital convoys in mid-ocean due to the limited range of land based aircraft. The long range B-24 provided a significant counter force. When small escort aircraft carriers were added to the mix, the German submarines were doomed.

The aircraft that provided the tank busting air cover on the Eastern front was the Soviet Ilyushin IL-2. Some say this aircraft holds the record for most military aircraft built with something like 36,000 produced. It was a very tough craft and destroyed a lot of the German armor.

Answer: PB4Y

The PBY Catalina was an anti-submarine warfare and search and rescue aircraft. The SBD Dauntless was a very effective dive bomber. The F4U Corsair was a fighter aircraft of Black Sheep Squadron fame.

Answer: Two

There are two. One is operated by the Commemorative Air Force, the other by The Collings Foundation. Both organizations do summer tours and offer rides in their restored aircraft. Other classic aircraft are in their fleets including B-17, B-29, B-25, and P-51. I rode on the Collings Foundation B-24, and it was pretty darn cool.

Answer: Jimmy Stewart and George McGovern

Jimmy Stewart was an accomplished pilot before the war. He started his military flying career in earnest as a B-17 flight instructor. Eager to get into combat he moved to B-24s in the European theater. His flying and leadership skills helped him rise to the rank of full colonel by the end of the war. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserve for many years, reaching the rank of Brigadier General.

We know George McGovern from his opposition to the Vietnam War. Therefore, we tend to see him as a pacifist. While he did have an aversion to war, when called on to defend his nation, he served with honor and distinction. He was highly decorated and saved his crew on several very hairy missions.