Item Number: 2003

The B-24 Liberator was built in greater quantities than any other
U.S. bomber of World War 2. The prototype model was produced by
the Consolidated Aircraft Corp. with the first XB-24 taking to
the air on Dec. 29, 1939. It featured the revolutionary Davis
wing design that enabled the B-24 to carry the same payload as
its rival the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress but at a much greater
speed and range. Over 18,000 Liberators were built during the
war. Of all the European operations in which B-24s were involved,
the initial raid on the Ploesti oil refinery in southern Romania
on Aug. 1, 1943 was by far the most dramatic because it was
heavily defended by anti-aircraft guns as well as squadrons of
German Luftwaffe and Royal Rumanian Air Force Fighters. Of the
164 B-24s engaged, 53 were shot down or lost enroute, 23 were
forced down and only 88 returned to base. ?Jerk?s Natural?, the
subject of this kit, was a Ploesti bomb group survivor.

Wing Span: 48½"
Scale: 1/28

For Ages 14 and up