Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

====C-109 version====
[[File:C-109 Liberator Express tanker unloading.jpg|thumb|C-109 tanker unloading]]
The C-109 was a dedicated fuel transport version of the B-24 conceived as a support aircraft for Boeing B-29 Superfortress operations in central China.<ref name="c-109">https://web.archive.org/web/20090304014706/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher2/b24_27.html Consolidated C-109</ref> Unlike the C-87, the C-109 was not built on the assembly line, but rather was converted from existing B-24 bomber production; to save weight, the glass nose, armament, turret fairings and bombardment equipment were removed. Several storage tanks were added, allowing a C-109 to carry 2,900&nbsp;gal (11,000&nbsp;L) of fuel weighing over {{convert|22000|lb|kg}}.

Plans originally called for 2,000 C-109s to support 10 groups of B-29s (approximately 400) in China, but the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|capture of the Mariana Islands]] provided a far more easily resupplied location for raids on mainland [[Japan]], and the plans were greatly scaled back. Only 218 C-109s were actually converted. After the transfer of the B-29s, the C-109s were reassigned to the [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|Air Transport Command]]. According to the history of the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, at least one squadron was assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command in Europe to transport gasoline to advancing ground and air forces on the Continent after the Normandy invasion.

However, whereas a combat-loaded B-24 could safely take off with room to spare from a {{convert|6000|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=on}} runway, a loaded C-109 required every foot of such a runway to break ground, and crashes on takeoff were not uncommon. The aircraft demonstrated unstable flight characteristics with all storage tanks filled, and proved very difficult to land fully loaded at airfields above {{convert|6000|ft|m|abbr=on}} MSL in elevation, such as those around [[Chengdu]]. After it was discovered that these problems could be alleviated by flying with the forward storage tank empty, this practice became fairly routine, enhancing aircrew safety at the cost of some fuel-carrying capacity.<ref>Baugher, Joe. [http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b24_27.html "Consolidated C-109".] ''USAAC/USAAF/USAF Bombers: The Consolidated B-24 Liberator'', 16 August 1999. Retrieved: 15 June 2010.</ref> Many C-109s were lost in flying the Hump airlift to China.

The ''Singing Cowboy'' [[Gene Autry]] served in the Air Transport Command (in the same squadron as [[Barry Goldwater]]), and described flying the C-109 over "The Hump" as "the thrill that lasts a lifetime".<ref>Autry, Gene with Herskowitz, Mickey. (1978). ''Back in the Saddle Again''. Doubleday & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|038503234X}} Page 85</ref>

B-24 bombers were also extensively used in the Pacific area after the end of World War II to transport cargo and supplies during the rebuilding of Japan, China, and the Philippines.