THE CONSOLIDATED C-87/109

The Consolidated C-87/109 was one of two four-engine aircraft used in the HUMP operation. The other was the Douglas C-54. The C-87 and the C-109 were both converted B-24 bombers; the C-87 coming from the B-24D and the 109 from the B-24E.

The C-87 could carry twenty passengers and a crew of 5, or the flight crew and a cargo load of 26,000 pounds. It was designed for speed and long range. Known as the Liberator Express, the C-87 could cruise at 278 mph at an altitude of 25,000 feet.

The C-109 was the fuel tanker version of the converted B-24. Gun turrets and armament were stripped out of the bombers and non-metalic fuel tanks were added. The aircraft had a fuel hauling capacity of 2900 gallons of aviation gasoline. This did present certain hazards for the crew. It was reputed that if the bomb bay doors were not cracked for ventilation, the whole plane would explode when the electric flaps were retracted after takeoff. In many areas, the plane became known as the C-1-oh-BOOM!

Art Sutton III.
Copyright © 1999-2005  by Arthur W. Sutton III. All rights reserved.
Revised: 13 May, 2005 20:52:44 Eastern Daylight Time.