consolidatedb24jliberator

B-24J, USAAF Ser. No. 42-109999, "Madame Queen" (formerly "Little Lulu".) Written off after an aborted crash-landing at Sanga-Sanga, Philippines, June 25, 1945. As "Little Lulu": www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6801321938/

Among the earliest 44-series B-24s sent to China, 44-40296 TOUGH TITTI flew its first combat mission 15-Jun-1944. Mission 551 – 2 APR 1945 – TOUGH TITTI lost an engine on its bomb run. It couldn’t keep up with the formation or maintain altitude on the return to base. The crew bailed out when a second engine quit. They landed in friendly territory and were conducted back to base by Chinese military.

The coding on this Navy PB4Y-1 is a bit of a mystery. Looking at the data and serial stencil at the upper left corner of the frame, the aircraft is listed as a B-24J-125-CO, USAAF Serial No. 44-40079 (possibly 44-40078). This would make it one of a lot of B-24Js transferred to the Navy as a PB4Y-1, BuNo 32316. See: www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_4.html and www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries4.html However, the aircraft is coded "61" on the nose. Typically, on the PB4Ys this number would incorporate the last two or three digits of the aircraft's Navy Bureau of Aeronautics number ("BuNo"), occasionally with a letter prefix. "61" obviously wouldn't fit that practice in this particular instance. PB4Y-1s with the BuNo 31961 (ex- USAAF B-24D 41-24133), BuNo 32061 (ex- USAAF B-24D 42-40578), BuNo 32161 (ex- USAAF B-24D 42-72883), BuNo 32261 (ex USAAF B-24J 42-109955), BuNo 38761 (ex- USAAF B-24J 44-40313), BuNo 38861 (ex- USAAF B-24J 44-40913), and BuNo 38961 (ex- USAAF B-24J 44-41525), don't seem to fit the bill either. Just an interesting mystery for now. . . .