There were more B-24 Liberators produced than any other four engine bomber in World War II. Over 18,000 planes were produced by Consolidated Vultee, Ford Motor Company, Douglas Aircraft and North American Aircraft between the years of 1939 and 1945.
   A B-24 carried a crew of from eight to ten men. Its gross weight when loaded exceeded 60,000 pounds. It was powered by four 1,200 horsepower engines and carried 2,750 gallons of fuel. Many B-24 missions were round trips of 1,500 miles and some extended ranges were near 2,000 miles. The most common bomb-load was ten 500 pound bombs or five 1,000 pounders. It's altitude over heavily defended targets in the European Theater was from 18,000 to 28,000 feet. The planes were not pressurized or heated; crewmen wore oxygen masks on high altitude missions and were exposed to temperatures that could reach -50 degrees farenheit.