Warbirds of India

Capt Navin Bala in front of the B-24 Liberator belonging to the Collings Foundation, USA.

Flying the Collings Liberator

Very few Indian civilians can claim to have been aboard on an Indian Air Force B-24 Liberator, and almost none, bar the HAL Test flying team led by Capt Munshi, can claim to have piloted the aircraft. Another exception to this exclusive club is Capt Navin Bala of Air Deccan. Prior to taking up his assignment in Air Deccan, Navin was a commercial pilot in the Americas.

B-24 Liberator 'Dragon and his Tail' of the Collings Foundation, USA. Pic Copyright: Lani Muche's Warbirds

Collings Foundation, USA T18 B-24J-85-CF (44-44052)

The Liberator currently owned and operated by the American private operator, the Collings Foundation (www.collingsfoundation.org), is an example retrieved from AFTC Jalahalli with the unusual number of T-18. It was formerly KH 191 of the RAF.

B-24 Liberator HE-877 as displayed with the Sea Dragon insignia of No.6 IAF Squadron at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona, USA. The aircraft carries the USAF Markings on the other side. Pic Copyright: Wg Cdr K S Vasan (Retd)

The Liberator currently on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, USA, was formerly - and on one side, is still finished as - HE-877 "A" of the Indian Air Force. It was built by the Convair plant at Fort Worth, Texas, one of five factories making up the Liberator Production Pool. This plant is now the Fort Worth division of General Dynamics, which manufactures F-16s.

B-24 Liberator 11130 as displayed at the National Aviation Museum, Rockville, Canada. It is displayed in a seperate hangar and not in the public display area.

The Liberator currently on display at the Canada Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe, near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was formerly HE-773 “M” of the Indian Air Force. It was built by the Ford Motor Company’s plant at Willow Run, Michigan, one of five factories making up the Liberator Production Pool. It was allocated to the RAF under the Lend-Lease programme, and assumed the RAF serial KN 820.

B-24 Liberator KN-751 is currently displayed in SEAC Colors at the Cosford Museum in UK. The aircraft, orginally HE-807 was gifted by the IAF to the RAF and was flown here in 1974. Note the plaque on the forward fuselage. Pic Copyright: Sree Kumar

The Liberator now on display at the RAF Museum in Cosford, near Wolverhampton in the UK, was formerly HE-807 “K” of No 6 Squadron, Indian Air Force. The full US variant designation is B-24L-20-FO; the British variant designation is said in some sources to be BVI and in others BVIII. It was built by the Ford Motor Company's plant at Willow Run, Michigan, which was one of five factories making up the Liberator Production Pool.

If not for the Indian Air Force flying the Liberator till the late sixties, the world would not have a single flying example as of now. Photograph shows the handing over ceremony of the B-24 Liberator to the Royal Air Force Museum in 1975. Pic Courtesy : HAL Museum via Dr. Shiv Shankar Sastry

By K S Nair

A question for all you aviation history enthusiasts who found your way to this page: Which World War Two aircraft was built in the largest numbers, by the Western allies? (C’mon; we know you saw it in the link that brought you here!!)

Hint: It was a four-engined heavy bomber. No, not the Lancaster, nor the Flying Fortress, despite the Hollywood coverage those two types have received. Answer: The World War Two aircraft built in the largest numbers by the Western allies was of course -- as you all knew perfectly well!! -- the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Something like nineteen thousand examples of this type were built, by a production pool consisting of five different factories in the United States. No other Western type comes close (though some Soviet types may have been built in even larger numbers).