Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

===Design===
The B-24 had a shoulder-mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing. This wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range. Compared to the B-17, it had a {{convert|6|ft}} larger wingspan but a lower wing area. This gave the B-24 a 35-percent higher [[wing loading]]. The relatively thick wing held the promise of increased tankage while delivering increased lift and speed, but it became unpleasant to fly when committed to heavier loadings as experienced at high altitude and in bad weather. The Davis wing was also more susceptible to ice formation than contemporary designs, causing distortions of the aerofoil section and resulting in the loss of lift, with unpleasant experiences drawing such comments as, "The Davis wing won't hold enough ice to chill your drink".<ref name=":1" /> The wing was also more susceptible to damage than the B-17's wing, making the aircraft less able to absorb battle damage.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

The wing carried four [[Supercharger|supercharged]] [[Pratt & Whitney R-1830-35 Twin Wasp]] engines mounted in cowlings borrowed from the [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBY Catalina]] (similar except for being oval in cross-section allowing for oil coolers mounted on each side of the engine) that turned 3-bladed [[Variable-pitch propeller (aeronautics)|variable-pitch propeller]]s.

The [[tailplane]] featured two large oval vertical stabilizers mounted at the ends of a rectangular horizontal stabilizer. As early as 1942, it was recognized that the Liberator's handling and stability could be improved by the use of a single vertical fin. The single fin was tested by Ford on a single B-24ST variant and an experimental XB-24K: it was found to improve handling. However, all Liberators were produced with twin oval fins, with the exception of eight preproduction B-24N aircraft. The B-24N was intended as a major production variant featuring a single tail. Over 5000 orders for this version were placed in 1945, but they were cancelled due to the end of the war. The single fin did appear in production on the [[Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer|PB4Y Privateer]] derivative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_bombers/b24_19.html|title=Consolidated XB-24K Liberator}}</ref><ref name="aerofilesConsolidated"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Simons |first=G. |title=Liberator: The Consolidated B-24 |publisher=Pen & Sword Books Limited |isbn=978-1-78303-591-5|date=2012 }}</ref>

The B-24's spacious, slab-sided fuselage (which earned the aircraft the nickname "Flying [[Boxcar]]")<ref name="44th BG History">Allan, Chuck. [http://www.chuckallan.com/history/History_44th.html "A Brief History of the 44th Bomb Group."]''chuckallan.com''. Retrieved: 15 June 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808083844/http://www.chuckallan.com/history/History_44th.html |date=8 August 2007 }}</ref> was built around two central bomb bays that could accommodate up to {{convert|8000|lb|kg}} of ordnance in each compartment (but rarely did, as this decreased range and altitude). The forward and aft bomb bay compartments were further split longitudinally with a centerline ventral catwalk just {{convert|9|in|cm|spell=in}} wide,<ref>Hillenbrand 2010 {{page needed|date=December 2011}}</ref> which also functioned as the fuselage's structural keel beam.

An unusual four-panel set of all-metal, tambour-panel "roller-type" bomb bay doors, which operated very much like the movable enclosure of a [[rolltop desk]], retracted into the fuselage. These types of doors created a minimum of aerodynamic drag to keep speed high over the target area; they also allowed the bomb bays to be opened while on the ground since the low ground clearance prevented the use of normal bomb bay doors.<ref>Green 1975, p. 84.</ref> The occasional need during a mission for crewmen to move from fore to aft within the B-24's fuselage over the narrow catwalk was a drawback shared with other bomber designs.

The Liberator carried a crew of up to ten. The pilot and co-pilot sat alongside each other in a well-glazed cockpit. The navigator and bombardier — who could also double as a nose or ''wiggly ear'' gunners (guns mounted in the sides of the aircraft nose) — sat in the nose, fronted on the pre-B-24H models with a well-framed "greenhouse" nose with some two dozen glazed panels and with two flexible ball-mounts built into it for forward defensive firepower using [[.30-06 Springfield|.30 caliber (7.62 mm)]] [[M1919 Browning machine gun|Browning M1919]] machine guns (later versions were fitted with a powered twin-.50 caliber (12.7&nbsp;mm) [[M2 Browning|M2 Browning machine gun]] nose [[Aircraft gun turret|turret]]). The radio/radar operator sat behind the pilots, facing sideways and sometimes doubled as a waist gunner. The flight engineer sat adjacent to the radio operator behind the pilots; he operated the upper gun turret (when fitted), located just behind the cockpit and in front of the wing.

Up to four crew members could be located in the waist, operating waist guns, a retractable lower [[ball turret]] gun, and a [[Tail gunner|tail gun turret]] matching the nose turret. The waist gun hatches were provided with doors. The ball turret was required to be retractable for ground clearance when preparing to land as well as for greater aerodynamic efficiency. The tail gunner's powered twin-gun turret was located at the end of the tail, behind the tailplane.

The B-24 featured a tricycle undercarriage, the first American bomber to do so,<ref name=":1" /> with the main gear extending out of the wing on long, single-oleo strut legs. It used differential braking and differential thrust for ground steering, which made taxiing difficult.<ref>Hillenbrand 2010, p. 64.</ref>