Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express

what is it?

The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber built during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces. A total of 287 C-87s were delivered by Consolidated Aircraft from its plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The plant also developed and delivered a USAAF flight engineer trainer designated the AT-22.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · retractable tricycle gear · 33.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 483 km/htop speed
• seats 25passengers
• size 25.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 287made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🏎️Top speed is 3.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 33.5 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

—

introduced

1942

status

retired

number built

287

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Consolidated Aircraft

engines

4× Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43

passengers

25

length

20.2 m

wingspan

33.5 m

height

5.5 m

max take-off weight

25.4 t

top speed

483 km/h

range

—

ceiling

8,534 m

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family