Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

===Initial specifications===
The Liberator originated from a [[United States Army Air Corps]] (USAAC) request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. After company executives including President [[Reuben Fleet]] visited the [[Boeing]] factory in [[Seattle, Washington]], Consolidated decided to submit a more modern design of its own.<ref>Taylor 1969, p. 462.</ref>

The new Model 32 combined designer [[Davis wing|David R. Davis]]'s wing, a high-efficiency [[airfoil]] design created by unorthodox means,<ref>{{citation|jstor=3105326|title=The Davis Wing and the Problem of Airfoil Design: Uncertainty and Growth in Engineering Knowledge|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=27|issue=4|pages=717–758|last1=Vincenti|first1=Walter G.|year=1986|doi=10.2307/3105326|s2cid=112031158 }}</ref> with the [[twin tail]] design from the [[Consolidated Model 31]] [[flying boat]], together on a new fuselage. This new fuselage was intentionally designed around twin bomb bays, each one being the same size and capacity of the B-17 bomb bays.

In January 1939, the USAAC, under Specification C-212, formally invited Consolidated<ref name=":0">Baugher, Joe. [http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b24_1.html "The Consolidated XB-24."] ''USAAC/USAAF/USAF Bombers: The Consolidated B-24 Liberator'', 8 August 1999. Retrieved: 15 June 2010.</ref> to submit a design study for a bomber with longer range, higher speed and greater [[Ceiling (aeronautics)|ceiling]] than the B-17. The specification was written such that the Model 32 would automatically be the winning design. The program was run under the umbrella group, "Project A", an Air Corps requirement for an intercontinental bomber that had been conceived in the mid-1930s. Although the B-24 did not meet Project A goals, it was a step in that direction. Project A led to the development of the [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress|Boeing B-29]] and Consolidated's own [[Consolidated B-32 Dominator|B-32]] and [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker|B-36]].<ref>Craven and Cate 1949 {{page needed|date=May 2015}}</ref>