Consolidated B-24J Liberator "Union Hotel/Night Mission" (Nose Art)
Lessons learned over Europe and the Pacific showed that the B-24 was vulnerable to attacks from the front—a problem it shared with the B-17. In the field, B-24 crews jammed as many machine guns as possible into the glasshouse nose of the B-24D (some B-24s at Ploesti had five or six guns in a nose designed only for three at most), but this was not the solution.
Consolidated experimented with various kinds of modifications until settling on a redesigned nose with a manned turret (unlike the remote chin turret on the B-17G). This would cause some loss of aerodynamics on an aircraft already known for its difficult handling, but it at least would give the B-24 better defense from forward attacks. The redesign also made the nose roomier, added chin windows for the bombardier, enlarged the dorsal and tail turrets for better visibility, and enclosed the waist positions. The wet wing used by the B-24D was deleted in favor of self-sealing fuel tanks, eliminating the B-24’s tendency to catch fire.
Production shifted to the B-24H in late 1943, but there was a shortage of the electrically-powered Emerson nose turret, and so a hydraulically-powered Sperry turret was used on the B-24J. If that was not confusing enough, Consolidated also produced a lighter version, the B-24L, with no ball or tail turrets, leaving it to individual groups to install heavier turrets, flexible mounts, or no armament at all. All three were produced at once, and all three were used in increasingly heavy combat over Europe.
Though losses climbed over Europe, the aircraft could at least be easily replaced, for by the introduction of the B-24H/J series, Liberator production had truly hit its stride. Four factories were producing B-24s, but the most famous and efficient was Ford’s Willow Run plant, which by 1944 was producing one bomber per hour—crews fresh from training would arrive at Willow Run around nightfall, and pick up their new B-24 the next morning. The B-24 would not only become the most produced bomber of World War II, it would be the most produced American combat aircraft in history—no less than 18,482 Liberators would come off the line by the end of the war.
B-24Js and like variants would see heavy service worldwide, replacing the B-17 entirely in the Pacific and supplementing it over Europe. B-24s would bomb both Berlin and attack the southernmost Japanese home islands. Besides acting as strategic bombers, Liberators would also act as antisubmarine maritime patrol aircraft for the RAF, the USAAF, and the US Navy as the PB4Y-1; the latter would also be converted to primitive cruise missiles in Operation Aphrodite against German V-weapon sites in Belgium. One Aphrodite mission would claim the life of Joseph Kennedy Jr., older brother of future President John F. Kennedy. Still others would be converted to long-range transports, flying fuel over the Himalayas “Hump” in support of operations in China, and two would be converted to executive transports for both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the latter becoming the first of many Presidential aircraft. By 1945, it was possible to find B-24s literally everywhere, from Alaska’s cold Aleutians to sunny Brazil, from China to Italy.
After the end of World War II, the USAAF rapidly scrapped nearly its entire B-24 fleet, but a few soldiered on in the 1960s, mainly in India, where they operated as maritime patrol aircraft. Others served as seed aircraft for postwar airlines, including Qantas of Australia. By 1968, however, nearly all B-24s had disappeared from inventories worldwide; today, only 14 complete Liberators are left, with two aircraft flyable.
"Union Hotel" was also known as "Night Mission" to her crew, and was a B-24J assigned to the 308th Bomb Group (Heavy) at Kunming, China. The confusion arises from her eventual fate. Though the aircraft survived the war, when it was scrapped in 1946, only the nose art was saved--and the nose art only shows the name on the welcome mat, "Union Hotel." The "Night Mission" portion was not preserved. It was only when photographs were found of the real bomber later that the truth of the aircraft's name came out.
I had a little confusion on this myself. The black underside led me to believe that this was from a B-29 Superfortress, since B-29s were given black undersides during the Korean War. However, the 308th BG often undertook night strikes on Japanese shipping in the Taiwan Straits, so their Liberators were also painted black on the lower fuselage. "Union Hotel/Night Mission" was indeed a B-24J; it also had a sharkmouth, which was somewhat unique to the 308th when it came to B-24s.
"Union Hotel" shows an attractive blonde getting back to her hotel room, preparing for a "Night Mission." Though the art was painted in 1944, it bears a striking resemblance (in my opinion) to the Robotech character Lisa Hayes, from the 1980s!
Consolidated B-24J Liberator "Union Hotel/Night Mission" (Nose Art)
Lessons learned over Europe and the Pacific showed that the B-24 was vulnerable to attacks from the front—a problem it shared with the B-17. In the field, B-24 crews jammed as many machine guns as possible into the glasshouse nose of the B-24D (some B-24s at Ploesti had five or six guns in a nose designed only for three at most), but this was not the solution.
Consolidated experimented with various kinds of modifications until settling on a redesigned nose with a manned turret (unlike the remote chin turret on the B-17G). This would cause some loss of aerodynamics on an aircraft already known for its difficult handling, but it at least would give the B-24 better defense from forward attacks. The redesign also made the nose roomier, added chin windows for the bombardier, enlarged the dorsal and tail turrets for better visibility, and enclosed the waist positions. The wet wing used by the B-24D was deleted in favor of self-sealing fuel tanks, eliminating the B-24’s tendency to catch fire.
Production shifted to the B-24H in late 1943, but there was a shortage of the electrically-powered Emerson nose turret, and so a hydraulically-powered Sperry turret was used on the B-24J. If that was not confusing enough, Consolidated also produced a lighter version, the B-24L, with no ball or tail turrets, leaving it to individual groups to install heavier turrets, flexible mounts, or no armament at all. All three were produced at once, and all three were used in increasingly heavy combat over Europe.
Though losses climbed over Europe, the aircraft could at least be easily replaced, for by the introduction of the B-24H/J series, Liberator production had truly hit its stride. Four factories were producing B-24s, but the most famous and efficient was Ford’s Willow Run plant, which by 1944 was producing one bomber per hour—crews fresh from training would arrive at Willow Run around nightfall, and pick up their new B-24 the next morning. The B-24 would not only become the most produced bomber of World War II, it would be the most produced American combat aircraft in history—no less than 18,482 Liberators would come off the line by the end of the war.
B-24Js and like variants would see heavy service worldwide, replacing the B-17 entirely in the Pacific and supplementing it over Europe. B-24s would bomb both Berlin and attack the southernmost Japanese home islands. Besides acting as strategic bombers, Liberators would also act as antisubmarine maritime patrol aircraft for the RAF, the USAAF, and the US Navy as the PB4Y-1; the latter would also be converted to primitive cruise missiles in Operation Aphrodite against German V-weapon sites in Belgium. One Aphrodite mission would claim the life of Joseph Kennedy Jr., older brother of future President John F. Kennedy. Still others would be converted to long-range transports, flying fuel over the Himalayas “Hump” in support of operations in China, and two would be converted to executive transports for both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the latter becoming the first of many Presidential aircraft. By 1945, it was possible to find B-24s literally everywhere, from Alaska’s cold Aleutians to sunny Brazil, from China to Italy.
After the end of World War II, the USAAF rapidly scrapped nearly its entire B-24 fleet, but a few soldiered on in the 1960s, mainly in India, where they operated as maritime patrol aircraft. Others served as seed aircraft for postwar airlines, including Qantas of Australia. By 1968, however, nearly all B-24s had disappeared from inventories worldwide; today, only 14 complete Liberators are left, with two aircraft flyable.
"Union Hotel" was also known as "Night Mission" to her crew, and was a B-24J assigned to the 308th Bomb Group (Heavy) at Kunming, China. The confusion arises from her eventual fate. Though the aircraft survived the war, when it was scrapped in 1946, only the nose art was saved--and the nose art only shows the name on the welcome mat, "Union Hotel." The "Night Mission" portion was not preserved. It was only when photographs were found of the real bomber later that the truth of the aircraft's name came out.
I had a little confusion on this myself. The black underside led me to believe that this was from a B-29 Superfortress, since B-29s were given black undersides during the Korean War. However, the 308th BG often undertook night strikes on Japanese shipping in the Taiwan Straits, so their Liberators were also painted black on the lower fuselage. "Union Hotel/Night Mission" was indeed a B-24J; it also had a sharkmouth, which was somewhat unique to the 308th when it came to B-24s.
"Union Hotel" shows an attractive blonde getting back to her hotel room, preparing for a "Night Mission." Though the art was painted in 1944, it bears a striking resemblance (in my opinion) to the Robotech character Lisa Hayes, from the 1980s!