Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express

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. It was hastily designed in early 1942 to give the service a heavy cargo and personnel carrier with longer range and better high-altitude performance than the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. Gun turrets and armament were removed, the cargo floor was strengthened, the glazed bomb aimer nose was replaced by a hinged metal cap and a cargo door was added on the port side of the fuselage. In its final configuration it carried 20 to 25 passengers or 12,000 lb of cargo. Consolidated delivered 287 C-87s from its Fort Worth plant, and the type flew war material over the Himalayas on the Hump route.