#36, B-24 Liberator: America's Most-Produced Warplane
Approximately 18,500 Consolidated B-24 Liberators were produced, making it the most-produced American military aircraft and the most-produced multi-engine aircraft in history. Ford's Willow Run plant alone turned out one B-24 every 59 minutes at peak production, a feat of industrial might that remains almost incomprehensible. The Liberator served in every theater of World War II and in every Allied air force, from the USAAF to the RAF to the Soviet Union.
The B-24's high-mounted Davis wing gave it longer range and greater speed than the B-17, making it the preferred bomber for the vast distances of the Pacific and the anti-submarine campaign in the Atlantic. Liberators flew the epic low-level raid on the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania, one of the most costly and daring missions in aviation history. The B-24 also served as a naval patrol bomber, transport (C-87), and fuel tanker (C-109). It may lack the B-17's romantic reputation, but by production numbers and operational reach, the Liberator was the most important American bomber of World War II and a triumph of defense technology mass production.
