I used to watch those Super Privateers land for fuel at Fortuna Air Strip while they flew as Tankers for CDF. I thought they resembled a modified 24 with 29 engines and Tails, and some kind of fabbed up in a hurry nose’s. Amazing to see one of those tankers again, and hear its true history. Thanks. We watched quite a few B26’s a couple of Boxcars, one with a JATO assist pod mounted up high on its back. Liberators, mostly A-26 surplus or B-26’s surplus tankers. I will always picture in my memory a huge aircraft that seemed to have the same tail as a B-29 but much bigger or so it seemed. Thanks for your content. Great memories.
Being a modeler of 1/72 scale aircraft and a fan of all WWII subjects the PB4Y was one of my favorites. I happened to purchase two Matchbox kits of their PB4Y's in the early '70's and held on to them when (and I can't remember who or what) came out with a small decal sheet of one particular aircraft. A crude kit, I began sanding down all raised panel lines and rescribing them. I used the beautiful Squadron-Signal canopy set to replace the thick Matchbox fair and ended up selling it at an IPMS "Butch O'Hare" club show up at one of the last ones held at the Glenview Naval Air Station outside of Chicago. I still have the other kit but no add-ons for it. I wish some other manufacturer would put one out.😁
This bird is sadly ignored in ALL scales! The Matchbox kit was awful (as most of their releases were). Not long ago I bought a really nice 1/48 kit of the Douglas Skyshark... sort of a turboprop Skyraider ...of which possibly three or four aircraft were actually ever built and tested but there are no decent kits of a "major player" in WWII? Really??? The (now rather rare) 1/48 Koster Privateer conversion kit is the only game in town at present. It is very good but not for a novice.
My Grandfather was an Engineer on a B24. He and his crew survived a crash in WW2. For whatever reason he stripped the wreck of instrumentation. I've still got it all stored along with throat mics, leather cap and gloves, goggles and 20 -25 instruments. The gyro compass is still stuck on Heading 226°. The direction they were going when they crashed out and lost vacuum. A moment frizen in time. I always thought it's kinda cool.
@@bbrut3332 Actually l have made just such provisions in my Last Will. However, l ain't dead yet. One day l hope to have it all in a nice display in my own home. It's NOT in my garage BTW. That was just some Troll's assertion... It's all very well preserved, in my home, in big Tupperware with desiccants. I don't want to "restore" it. It's still got the original dirt and grime from a B24 crash in WW2. Never touched but briefly since the day. It's like a time capsule.
My friend John Copp was a bird colonel Captain out of England. Thay sold him his B24 after the war , he lost.a propeller over Australia and landed it safely. He sent for another prop and all thay sent him was a block of wood and a draw knife. Thank you for your service John and god bless
While I was a pilot at Hawkins and Powers Aviation in Greybull, Wy I had two rides(not as a pilot) in PB4Y-2's in the 1970's. That along with a ride in a KC-97 are among my favorite memories.
Saw the footage at the end of the video of H&P. I'm from Meeteetse... once had a H&P helicopter go down in our meadow on Wood River because one of the seismographers hooked on a sling of gear and didn't tell the pilot. He hooked a fence and the cable went up into the rotors... My dad and I were working on a ditch about 100 ft away. Nobody killed, but had some back injuries.
I worked with the BLM fire fighting teams a few summers 1968-1971. We had PB4Y2’s,B17’s, Grumman Goose, P51 two place spotter, various choppers ( I was on hellitack 1 year).
Thanks for this video. My father was a turret gunner in PB4Y2s in WWII. They flew anti-sub patrols out of San Diego and were scheduled to go to Okinawa to participate in the invasion of Japan but the war ended before they shipped out.
I am glad to hear your father did not go to Okinawa. My grandfather was there and even witnessed Ernie Pyles being killed. It was another island hopping blood bath. God bless your father for his service!
I recently did some commission model work for a guy whose grandfather owned a large farm in Texas during and after the war. He gave me a copy of a home video (in color!) of an airshow in Texas around 1951. It has a bunch of these aircraft as well as Hellcats and many other WW2 era aircraft but the real gem was a flyover by an early B-36 (before they put jets on it), escorted by several P-82 twin Mustangs. the P-82s landed and he got a bunch of footage of the flying and taxiing. Also a lot of footage of them flying their grandfather's Cessna "Bamboo Bomber" that he bought surplus after the war... landing it on dirt roads and such. Really cool footage. I need to post it to TH-cam someday.
Actually sounds like someone my dad used to fly for, he did a lot of farming as well as being an ag pilot himself, and one of the founders of the original CAF down in Harlingen.
I consider myself a knowledgeable person on most things in the aviation world. I am also an old baby boomer having grown up around WWII aviators, including my father who was a C-47 and then a B-25 bomber pilot. As such I believed I knew every WWII era aircraft, of both the Army Air Corp and the Navy. I had never seen or heard of the Privateer. I find it to be a truly fascinating aircraft. It was obviously a very capable airplane worthy to be well known for its service and contributions. Thank you so much for this very informative documentary video.
PB4Y2 Privateers were noted for curing most of the handling characteristics that made pilots hate the standard B-24. B-24s were noted for being difficult and tiring to fly for long periods. Most former PB4Y (standard Navy B-24) pilots that wound up later flying the PB4Y2 were known to praise the newer version to high heaven. Better stability, better control at speed, less muscle needed to fly.
My grandad was a B-24 pilot. Very cool to see this other plane. A lot of people don't know that the reason the B-17 was considered tougher was it has low slung wings instead of high. When a Liberator would make a ditch landing, it would rip the bottom off the plane and kill far more crew than the B-17. Because the B-17 was protected from the bottom being shredded off by the wings and super strong connecting structure taking more of the grinding instead. Both were incredible planes.
When i made the cross country move from south Florida to Phoenx alomg I-10 high on my list was an overnight at Pensacola to see the Naval Air Museum, particualarly the Privateer.Of course it rained like It does in Florida. The ;Larger Aircraft are outside. It happens that I had met General James Stewert and asked if he had ever flown a Privateer (having flown B-24's in the Army) his answer was that the Navy had offered a hop amd he felt the Privateer had better stability. The Navy needs more funding for a larger faciliility, its tiny commpared to the USAF Museum and yeah Im a Zoomie. But we built a building aroud a B-36! My respect as always to my brother service.
@DarkDocsSkies Do you have any information about any aircraft losses in the Indochina war? It's impossible to find anything on the jets or any planes lost.
One of these planes converted to a slurry bomber crashed on Mt. Graham in AZ not 20 miles from where I live. I hiked to the wreckage about 10 years ago. The father and son crew were both killed in the 1974 crash that was witnessed by the fire crews that were fighting the fire at the time.
The high wing of the B-24 were not as sturdy as the lower wings of the B-17 and were known to collapse if there was enough damage. But they were faster than the 17 because there were no rivets to slow air speed and the internal bomb bay doors rolled up into the plane thereby not affecting it's speed.
The difference in the wings was the construction, with the B-17 having eight smaller spar elements vs a single large spar in the B-24. The B-24 wing was far lighter and more efficient, but a flak hit on that spar would doom the aircraft.
My father was a PB4Y2 radio operator in the Korean War. He explained that strength of the structure was all above, because that where the wings are. The B17 has low wings, with the strength on the bottom. He saw a crash where the PB4Y2 landing gear collapsed and everybody in the plane was killed as it crushed them. It wasn't really the top collapsing down, but rather the weak bottom giving way from hitting the ground. People survived B17 crash landings, but almost never B24 / PB4Y2 crashes. He said the fuel was stored above and the planes were taken out of mothball storage for the Korean War and the fuel was seeping enough that it could always be smelled inside the plane. He said they once had the landing gear hydraulics shot out and they had to climb below and hand crank the landing gear down. He told me that gear ratio for hand cranking the landing gear was really slow and it took a long time to complete.
As a kid I built models of every airplane available. Many years later living in Alaska I saw one of these at the Air Force base in Fairbanks. I thought what the hell is that ? I’d never heard or seen one before. I recognized the B-24 shape but the single vertical stable really threw me off.
I saw one in the early ‘70s dropping slurry north of Eielson AFB, and also was confused by the big tail, took a long time for me to find out what it was. Might have been the same plane. Have good day, from Northwest Montana.
Saw a PB4Y2 departing Fairbanks while on my way to Eielson in a Beaver. That was 1992. The Privateer wore a bare metal finish with no markings other than an N number. It looked tired and well worn, like it had been recently resurrected from a scrapyard. Watching it lumber into the air from above, I couldn't believe my eyes, as I never thought any of these rather rare aircraft had survived the war.
I wish the clickbait was not this inaccurate. This is by far my favorite bomber from ww2 and... I already heard about it... So the picture is what got me to watch.
The PB4Y-2 Privateer Spy-Plane was replaced by the Boeing RB-47H Stratojet. The RB-47H continued in service until the more capable RC-135 replaced it in the mid-1960s.
In the Navy, they were replaced by EC-121s. And like the PB4Y-2 in this video, one of them was shot down while on a mission for the Naval Security Group.
One of my type ratings is in a PB4y-2 I flew them for H&P fighting fires. I have over 2,000 hours in type. Flew back and forth to Alaska and the entire mountain west from 96-02
@@thezirons Had an engineer who lived in Cody. I used to go hang with him at Cassies. I played in the Cody mens hockey league until I was 39, kids were skating circles around me. Cigarettes and whiskey and wild wild women drove me into a journey I never anticipated. Quite the ride
I was fortunate enough to see one of these operating as a tanker out of CalFire's Air Attack base in Rohnerville, California, in the late 70s or early 80s. The enormous tail was a dead giveaway.
I think I saw that plane in the 70s at Grand Canyon Airport. Me and my dad were flying his Piper Aztec and landed there and there was a firefighter Privateer.
I, too, recognized a Privateer fire fighting tanker dropping slurry on a mountain top fire threatening the town of Canyonville, Oregon, where I lived in the late 80's. Even as a tanker, it's performance was remarkable. It could drop into a valley, like no other tanker, drop a load, spot on, pop up and bank turn tightly for another pass. It quenched the blaze and saved the town with it's last pass. Impressive. What a hot rod.
It was also lengthened to make more room for the sub hunting RADAR, more machine guns were added and the crew usually had one more electronics tech / radio operator. The single rudder allowed for additional radius and vision from the additional machine guns.
There was the fuselage of one of these at an airport just outside of Orlando, due to be restored. Sadly a hurricane came through and destroyed most of the planes they were working on.
The Naval Air Museum in Pensacola has a Privateer on display, it is out in the open outside the buildings that house the museum. The museum is great with many exhibits and is free to the public. A great way to spend a day if you're in the area.
@allanfranklin9615 hopefully it is the same plane. When I heard of the hurrcaine Andrew damaging the Kissimmee Municipal Airport, I assumed the worst. But it has been 30+ years now.
There is a Privateer in a museum in Willow Run Michigan, the site of a factory that built the B-24. In my eye, it has a rather short fuselage, compared to the B24. The first time I saw her there was talk of making a B-24 out of here. A couple years ago I visited that museum and there was a fuselage from one of the B-24s that was sold to India sometime after WW2. I have no confirmation of what going to happen to either aircraft but maybe there are plans to assemble a B-24. Sad when you think about it.
My grandfather was in VPB-123, they landed their Privateer on Saipan while the fighting was still going on. They spent the night in foxholes while the marines stopped the Japanese from putting grenades in their engine cowlings
My Grampa was Furher of Germany back in the '40's. He survived the war and lived in obsurity on a private ranch Patagonia. Government officals, captains of industry, extra terrestrials would visit him secrety for advice and what not for decades after the war.
If the Privateer your talking about is the last flying example then it must be the one I saw at Oshkosh a few years ago. Learned about this model from a very old WW II vet from Missouri back 10 years ago 😊
All retired at this point. Hawkins and Powers were the last to use them for that. About 10 years ago, the wing came off of one of them during a run. That was the beginning of the end.
I flew T-121 out of Jeffco back in the 90’s. Then took T-126 up to Alaska and back. Got about 2k hours in them right up until all were grounded. N2871G (old T-121) is still flying out of Mesa, paint removed. Anyone ever hear of wonderbread? Now theres a story
This channel should cover the equally dangerous, (and mostly still secret), ops flown in the early Cold War by recon RAF Canberras, US RB-45's, RB-36's, RB-47's, etc...
I recognized this plane immediately and have yet to watch the video or read comments. It's a PB4Y-2 Privateer, long range, land based, naval reconnaissance aircraft, flown in the south pacific, essentially a flying gas tank. My father was a naval aviator and flew one during the end of WW2, spearheading the island hopping. He told of landing at Iwo Jima when the Americas controlled one end of the run way while the Japanese controlled the other. He attended squadron reunions every year, (my mother expressed her displeasure every time). He saved his crew on one mission, for which they held him in the highest esteem.
Amazing how the slightly pudgy B-24 design could be transformed into a truly elegant looking aircraft. Yes, the B-24 was pudgy but it was also a more advanced, capable aircraft than the B-17 and far more adaptable.
Lone Star flight museum was in the process of restoring one to flight worthy condition before Hurricane Ike hit. Not sure what the status of the airframe is.
Consolidated built another aircraft derived from the B-24... one that would ultimately have (most likely) replaced both the B17 and the B24 in Europe as the standard heavy bomber: The B-32 Dominator. The B-32 program was originally submitted in competition with Boeings B-29. It was accepted as a backup plan, in case the B-29 failed. The B-32 featured the same engines as the B29. It was also designed to be pressurized, like the B-29. It had the same teething problems that the B-29 suffered (mostly concerning problems with the engines). The B32 had a single tail, had the same top speed as the B-29, same armament and characteristics. Pilots commented the the Davis wing carried over from the B24 offered superior landing and low speed handling characteristics. The B-32 entered combat in late 1945 and 118 aircraft were constructed before war's end. Considered a backup plan at war
@@mar83161 Things were different then. Supposedly its for the better. I say BS BTW I am one the bad boys who were responsible for the sexually suggestive noseart on the 4ys.
Not sure about WW-II, but during Operation Desert Storm the pilots of the fighter jets, were given Amphetamines, under a doctors orders and were allowed to fly just 8 hours, Can you imagine a pilot in a F-15 or F-16 etc, jacked up on speed; and fully armed! 👊 😎🇺🇸
My grandfather flew 171 fighter missions in P-39/P-47/P-38's escorting B-17's. It was a mistake. The United States turned out to be just as ev1l and w1cked as Japan, and imprisoned two of his grandchildren on false convictions. One of them won their appeal after 1001 days being held prisoner and tortured in a US prison camp, before winning their appeal and walking out the back door one month later. Even when winning an appeal and legally not guilty, they did not open the front door; they do not want to let you go. That person was me. Fight the state, never fight for it. Disobedience is the foundation of freedom. By definition, those who obey are slaves. Democracy is just a scam to keep the popular kids in power forever, and you are not one of the popular kids.
Just as bad huh. You think Japan would have let any prisoners go? For one it’s kinda hard to live for 3 years without anything to eat let alone the sadistic torture. And to be able to appeal and challenge the government and courts to be set free is very democratic. In a communist country you would have been executed before you got the stamp on your letter of petition
Don Hurley, told me when the lights burned out the fighters would have to go full power max climb or they’d hit the mountains. “Korea is all mountains. “ the roads were down in the valleys. I didn’t watch the whole vid, sorry.
I don't remember seeing a lot of these at Greybull, but I know there's a bunch of KC-97's and C-119's there. Sad, there's really only one of these that still flies.
It could have been even superior to the B17 had they made more improvements on it, but it was already obsolete by the ends of the war. Just like the B36 was an interim solution before the B52 took over that role. America could have ended up with their own version of the Tupolev Tu-95 bear. All that the B36 needed was turboprop engines instead of radials.
I wish you wouldn't stretch vintage film footage to a 16:9 aspect ratio. It looks so distorted that it's hard to even recognize the shape of the planes. I'd rather just see it in its original 4:3.
I used to watch those Super Privateers land for fuel at Fortuna Air Strip while they flew as Tankers for CDF. I thought they resembled a modified 24 with 29 engines and Tails, and some kind of fabbed up in a hurry nose’s. Amazing to see one of those tankers again, and hear its true history. Thanks. We watched quite a few B26’s a couple of Boxcars, one with a JATO assist pod mounted up high on its back. Liberators, mostly A-26 surplus or B-26’s surplus tankers. I will always picture in my memory a huge aircraft that seemed to have the same tail as a B-29 but much bigger or so it seemed. Thanks for your content. Great memories.
Being a modeler of 1/72 scale aircraft and a fan of all WWII subjects the PB4Y was one of my favorites. I happened to purchase two Matchbox kits of their PB4Y's in the early '70's and held on to them when (and I can't remember who or what) came out with a small decal sheet of one particular aircraft. A crude kit, I began sanding down all raised panel lines and rescribing them. I used the beautiful Squadron-Signal canopy set to replace the thick Matchbox fair and ended up selling it at an IPMS "Butch O'Hare" club show up at one of the last ones held at the Glenview Naval Air Station outside of Chicago. I still have the other kit but no add-ons for it. I wish some other manufacturer would put one out.😁
This bird is sadly ignored in ALL scales! The Matchbox kit was awful (as most of their releases were). Not long ago I bought a really nice 1/48 kit of the Douglas Skyshark... sort of a turboprop Skyraider ...of which possibly three or four aircraft were actually ever built and tested but there are no decent kits of a "major player" in WWII? Really??? The (now rather rare) 1/48 Koster Privateer conversion kit is the only game in town at present. It is very good but not for a novice.
My Grandfather was an Engineer on a B24. He and his crew survived a crash in WW2. For whatever reason he stripped the wreck of instrumentation. I've still got it all stored along with throat mics, leather cap and gloves, goggles and 20 -25 instruments.
The gyro compass is still stuck on Heading 226°. The direction they were going when they crashed out and lost vacuum. A moment frizen in time. I always thought it's kinda cool.
Out in the garage I guess? More nonsense than usual!
Amazing
There are restoration groups that would love to have the aircraft gear you have stored in your garage. Please donate the items to a deserving group.
@@bbrut3332 Likelihood?
@@bbrut3332 Actually l have made just such provisions in my Last Will. However, l ain't dead yet. One day l hope to have it all in a nice display in my own home.
It's NOT in my garage BTW. That was just some Troll's assertion...
It's all very well preserved, in my home, in big Tupperware with desiccants.
I don't want to "restore" it. It's still got the original dirt and grime from a B24 crash in WW2. Never touched but briefly since the day. It's like a time capsule.
My friend John Copp was a bird colonel Captain out of England. Thay sold him his B24 after the war , he lost.a propeller over Australia and landed it safely. He sent for another prop and all thay sent him was a block of wood and a draw knife. Thank you for your service John and god bless
The only thing that would've made this story better is if he carved out a functional prop and kept flying
That's a great story.
Thanks for sharing that story.
This sounds like shenanigans.
How is he a full bird Colonel and a Captain. Doesn't make sense.
While I was a pilot at Hawkins and Powers Aviation in Greybull, Wy I had two rides(not as a pilot) in PB4Y-2's in the 1970's. That along with a ride in a KC-97 are among my favorite memories.
I flew for H&P too.
Type rated in the 4ys
Saw the footage at the end of the video of H&P. I'm from Meeteetse... once had a H&P helicopter go down in our meadow on Wood River because one of the seismographers hooked on a sling of gear and didn't tell the pilot. He hooked a fence and the cable went up into the rotors... My dad and I were working on a ditch about 100 ft away. Nobody killed, but had some back injuries.
So little talked about. One of your finest, most informative documentaries yet! The La-11 encounter was never known until now. Very good sir.
My father was a crew chief on both PBYs and PB4Ys, both 1 and 2. My mother worked on building them at Consolidated.
Was that the plant at Willow Run air field in Michigan?
I worked with the BLM fire fighting teams a few summers 1968-1971. We had PB4Y2’s,B17’s, Grumman Goose, P51 two place spotter, various choppers ( I was on hellitack 1 year).
Thanks for this video. My father was a turret gunner in PB4Y2s in WWII. They flew anti-sub patrols out of San Diego and were scheduled to go to Okinawa to participate in the invasion of Japan but the war ended before they shipped out.
Hi from a fellow son of a PB4Y2 gunner. (VPB-109, 1944-45)
Hi from a 4y pilot from H&P.
Firefighting ops
I am glad to hear your father did not go to Okinawa. My grandfather was there and even witnessed Ernie Pyles being killed. It was another island hopping blood bath. God bless your father for his service!
Ernie Pyle
@@skualpascal6684
God rest Ernie Pyle's soul...
😓☠️✝️
I recently did some commission model work for a guy whose grandfather owned a large farm in Texas during and after the war. He gave me a copy of a home video (in color!) of an airshow in Texas around 1951. It has a bunch of these aircraft as well as Hellcats and many other WW2 era aircraft but the real gem was a flyover by an early B-36 (before they put jets on it), escorted by several P-82 twin Mustangs. the P-82s landed and he got a bunch of footage of the flying and taxiing. Also a lot of footage of them flying their grandfather's Cessna "Bamboo Bomber" that he bought surplus after the war... landing it on dirt roads and such. Really cool footage. I need to post it to TH-cam someday.
Actually sounds like someone my dad used to fly for, he did a lot of farming as well as being an ag pilot himself, and one of the founders of the original CAF down in Harlingen.
Would love to see this. Please post it when you have time.
My father worked as a radio mechanic on twin mustangs in Japan during the Korean war. I would be interested in seeing your video.
It's amazing that he had videotape before it was invented. Had he traveled into the future or something?
@@garryferrington811 It was 8MM film, put on a CD. Guess you never heard of that, huh?
I consider myself a knowledgeable person on most things in the aviation world. I am also an old baby boomer having grown up around WWII aviators, including my father who was a C-47 and then a B-25 bomber pilot. As such I believed I knew every WWII era aircraft, of both the Army Air Corp and the Navy. I had never seen or heard of the Privateer. I find it to be a truly fascinating aircraft. It was obviously a very capable airplane worthy to be well known for its service and contributions. Thank you so much for this very informative documentary video.
PB4Y2 Privateers were noted for curing most of the handling characteristics that made pilots hate the standard B-24. B-24s were noted for being difficult and tiring to fly for long periods. Most former PB4Y (standard Navy B-24) pilots that wound up later flying the PB4Y2 were known to praise the newer version to high heaven. Better stability, better control at speed, less muscle needed to fly.
My grandad flew both the PB4Y-1 and 2 and he said the PB4Y-2 was much more stable at lower altitude and speed.
I flew the 4ys with upgraded 2600’s
Like a giant supercub.
Three engine out flight got a little dicey, but was doable
My grandad was a B-24 pilot. Very cool to see this other plane. A lot of people don't know that the reason the B-17 was considered tougher was it has low slung wings instead of high. When a Liberator would make a ditch landing, it would rip the bottom off the plane and kill far more crew than the B-17. Because the B-17 was protected from the bottom being shredded off by the wings and super strong connecting structure taking more of the grinding instead. Both were incredible planes.
Grandad ???
I do not believe we could have won the war in Europe with put the 17 and the 24
The 24 had weaker wings because of the way the gear folded too.
My dad was a waist gunner on a b-24 that was shot down and he spent the last 3 months of the war in a POW camp in Bulgaria.
It took a while to realize waste was very poor ammunition.
When i made the cross country move from south Florida to Phoenx alomg I-10 high on my list was an overnight at Pensacola to see the Naval Air Museum, particualarly the Privateer.Of course it rained like It does in Florida. The ;Larger Aircraft are outside. It happens that I had met General James Stewert and asked if he had ever flown a Privateer (having flown B-24's in the Army) his answer was that the Navy had offered a hop amd he felt the Privateer had better stability. The Navy needs more funding for a larger faciliility, its tiny commpared to the USAF Museum and yeah Im a Zoomie. But we built a building aroud a B-36! My respect as always to my brother service.
Thanks for this episode. I didn't know anything about the Privateers. They were a great design. Thanks for sharing! Stay Healthy!
Last year, Osprey published a book in their Duel series titled "H6K Mavis/H8K Emily vs PB4Y-1/2 Liberator/Privateer: Pacific Theater 1943-45"
@DarkDocsSkies Do you have any information about any aircraft losses in the Indochina war? It's impossible to find anything on the jets or any planes lost.
Interesting- I was unfamiliar with this modification of the B24, with its many roles, and with that incident off Latvia. Fascinating.
One of these planes converted to a slurry bomber crashed on Mt. Graham in AZ not 20 miles from where I live. I hiked to the wreckage about 10 years ago. The father and son crew were both killed in the 1974 crash that was witnessed by the fire crews that were fighting the fire at the time.
The high wing of the B-24 were not as sturdy as the lower wings of the B-17 and were known to collapse if there was enough damage. But they were faster than the 17 because there were no rivets to slow air speed and the internal bomb bay doors rolled up into the plane thereby not affecting it's speed.
The difference in the wings was the construction, with the B-17 having eight smaller spar elements vs a single large spar in the B-24. The B-24 wing was far lighter and more efficient, but a flak hit on that spar would doom the aircraft.
My father was a PB4Y2 radio operator in the Korean War. He explained that strength of the structure was all above, because that where the wings are. The B17 has low wings, with the strength on the bottom. He saw a crash where the PB4Y2 landing gear collapsed and everybody in the plane was killed as it crushed them. It wasn't really the top collapsing down, but rather the weak bottom giving way from hitting the ground. People survived B17 crash landings, but almost never B24 / PB4Y2 crashes. He said the fuel was stored above and the planes were taken out of mothball storage for the Korean War and the fuel was seeping enough that it could always be smelled inside the plane. He said they once had the landing gear hydraulics shot out and they had to climb below and hand crank the landing gear down. He told me that gear ratio for hand cranking the landing gear was really slow and it took a long time to complete.
I've heard about the Privateer and as an artist I've drawn her.
As a kid I built models of every airplane available. Many years later living in Alaska I saw one of these at the Air Force base in Fairbanks. I thought what the hell is that ? I’d never heard or seen one before. I recognized the B-24 shape but the single vertical stable really threw me off.
I saw one in the early ‘70s dropping slurry north of Eielson AFB, and also was confused by the big tail, took a long time for me to find out what it was. Might have been the same plane. Have good day, from Northwest Montana.
My old flight instructor flew them as water bombers in Alaska for 2 or 3 years.
Saw a PB4Y2 departing Fairbanks while on my way to Eielson in a Beaver. That was 1992. The Privateer wore a bare metal finish with no markings other than an N number. It looked tired and well worn, like it had been recently resurrected from a scrapyard. Watching it lumber into the air from above, I couldn't believe my eyes, as I never thought any of these rather rare aircraft had survived the war.
I wish the clickbait was not this inaccurate. This is by far my favorite bomber from ww2 and... I already heard about it... So the picture is what got me to watch.
The PB4Y-2 Privateer Spy-Plane was replaced by the Boeing RB-47H Stratojet. The RB-47H continued in service until the more capable RC-135 replaced it in the mid-1960s.
In the Navy, they were replaced by EC-121s. And like the PB4Y-2 in this video, one of them was shot down while on a mission for the Naval Security Group.
One of my type ratings is in a PB4y-2 I flew them for H&P fighting fires. I have over 2,000 hours in type. Flew back and forth to Alaska and the entire mountain west from 96-02
Loved watching these fight fires! Probably watched you drop some loads on the Big Horns when I was growing up there.
@@thezirons
Had an engineer who lived in Cody. I used to go hang with him at Cassies.
I played in the Cody mens hockey league until I was 39, kids were skating circles around me.
Cigarettes and whiskey and wild wild women drove me into a journey I never anticipated.
Quite the ride
Hi I was a certified aircraft welder and repaired ground equipment for H&P for 5 years. I welded on plenty of PB 4 Y s. Now in Ohio.
@@RossSellars Im in Ohio too.
My home is in the Hocking Hills near Old Mans Cave
I was fortunate enough to see one of these operating as a tanker out of CalFire's Air Attack base in Rohnerville, California, in the late 70s or early 80s. The enormous tail was a dead giveaway.
I think I saw that plane in the 70s at Grand Canyon Airport. Me and my dad were flying his Piper Aztec and landed there and there was a firefighter Privateer.
I, too, recognized a Privateer fire fighting tanker dropping slurry on a mountain top fire threatening the town of Canyonville, Oregon, where I lived in the late 80's. Even as a tanker, it's performance was remarkable. It could drop into a valley, like no other tanker, drop a load, spot on, pop up and bank turn tightly for another pass. It quenched the blaze and saved the town with it's last pass. Impressive. What a hot rod.
My father was a B24 pilot out of England in WWII. He didn’t have many good things to say about it.
Great Video. Excellent content and coverage!👍
There was a privateer that was used for firebombing in Montana. It was finally retired in the early 2000's
The Privateer was basically a Liberator with a single fin / rudder setup
It was also lengthened to make more room for the sub hunting RADAR, more machine guns were added and the crew usually had one more electronics tech / radio operator. The single rudder allowed for additional radius and vision from the additional machine guns.
The Privateer and the Silent Service were deadly effective against Japanese shipping
I always like hearing about reconnaissance aircraft.
Great information previously unknown but pretty much assumed. 👍. Thx. keep it up. 🇺🇲. Go Navy.
Consolidated became Convair . Convair became part of General Dynamics.
Loving the fiddler
Thank you for another great video. Cheers
There was the fuselage of one of these at an airport just outside of Orlando, due to be restored. Sadly a hurricane came through and destroyed most of the planes they were working on.
The Naval Air Museum in Pensacola has a Privateer on display, it is out in the open outside the buildings that house the museum. The museum is great with many exhibits and is free to the public. A great way to spend a day if you're in the area.
@allanfranklin9615 hopefully it is the same plane. When I heard of the hurrcaine Andrew damaging the Kissimmee Municipal Airport, I assumed the worst. But it has been 30+ years now.
The RCAF flew 1 for aircraft icing experiments. It was called the Rockliffe Ice Wagon
Wow. Never heard of this aircraft. Thanks
As always excellent research and significant story. Thank you
That turned out to be one useful aircraft!
I saw a PB4Y-2 in Fairbanks, Alaska during 1994 on water bombing duty. It was parked on the alert apron.
There is a Privateer in a museum in Willow Run Michigan, the site of a factory that built the B-24. In my eye, it has a rather short fuselage, compared to the B24. The first time I saw her there was talk of making a B-24 out of here. A couple years ago I visited that museum and there was a fuselage from one of the B-24s that was sold to India sometime after WW2. I have no confirmation of what going to happen to either aircraft but maybe there are plans to assemble a B-24. Sad when you think about it.
LOL the header confused me because when I saw the clip picture I thought, that's not a flying fortress variant, that's a PB4Y, a Liberator variant 🤣🤣
My granddad flew a PB4Y-2 in WW2. Squadron VPB-118
Hey, everything black, who was your grandfather. My grandfather was also in VPB-118 The Old Crows. He was in Park Crew.
@@bobandbettykoontz1943 No kidding!?Lt Bob Finley, crew 6.
Did you ever go to any of their reunions? We were able to go to a few. These men were amazing to meet, all so very humble.
@@bobandbettykoontz1943 unfortunately no.
Bob, did your grandfather survive the war?
Fact was built in WW2 and served right up 2000's thats impresive!
Amazing aircraft.
My grandfather was in VPB-123, they landed their Privateer on Saipan while the fighting was still going on. They spent the night in foxholes while the marines stopped the Japanese from putting grenades in their engine cowlings
My Grampa was Furher of Germany back in the '40's. He survived the war and lived in obsurity on a private ranch Patagonia. Government officals, captains of industry, extra terrestrials would visit him secrety for advice and what not for decades after the war.
The last Privateer lives just a few miles north of me, and her owner flies her often. Beautiful aircraft.
If the Privateer your talking about is the last flying example then it must be the one I saw at Oshkosh a few years ago. Learned about this model from a very old WW II vet from Missouri back 10 years ago 😊
@@jameshazen1679 yes, he takes her around the country sometimes. Passed her again just a few hours ago.
The privateers were still flying as retardant- dropping wildland fire suppression tankers when I retired several years ago.
All retired at this point. Hawkins and Powers were the last to use them for that. About 10 years ago, the wing came off of one of them during a run. That was the beginning of the end.
I used to watch them fly in and out of the Jeffco fire base. Magnificent beasts.
I flew T-121 out of Jeffco back in the 90’s. Then took T-126 up to Alaska and back. Got about 2k hours in them right up until all were grounded.
N2871G (old T-121) is still flying out of Mesa, paint removed.
Anyone ever hear of wonderbread?
Now theres a story
@@luthiermatt
T-121 is still flying out of Mesa on the Airshow circuit
I saw you flying it then. I could recognize the rumble a few minutes before I could see it.
This channel should cover the equally dangerous, (and mostly still secret), ops flown in the early Cold War by recon RAF Canberras, US RB-45's, RB-36's, RB-47's, etc...
Great video. I like your aircraft reviews. Curious if you’ve ever done a review of the F82 (twin P51)?
I recognized this plane immediately and have yet to watch the video or read comments. It's a PB4Y-2 Privateer, long range, land based, naval reconnaissance aircraft, flown in the south pacific, essentially a flying gas tank. My father was a naval aviator and flew one during the end of WW2, spearheading the island hopping. He told of landing at Iwo Jima when the Americas controlled one end of the run way while the Japanese controlled the other. He attended squadron reunions every year, (my mother expressed her displeasure every time). He saved his crew on one mission, for which they held him in the highest esteem.
I thought this was a B-32 at first.
Sad that none of those were preserved.
My great uncle flew on Dominators. I should have asked him more questions.
Good Video/Info.
The Privateer were used as a carrier aircraft for the ASM-N-2 Bat guided missile during the end of WW2
It resembles a b 32, cool plane!
Amazing how the slightly pudgy B-24 design could be transformed into a truly elegant looking aircraft. Yes, the B-24 was pudgy but it was also a more advanced, capable aircraft than the B-17 and far more adaptable.
It carried a much heavier bomb load.
The Great and Powerful Turtle🐢 would approve! 😉. 🤓😎✌🏻🇺🇲
Rare to understand the gable of this soundtrack.
My dad was sent to Guam VW-3 after the typhoon Doris accident as the relief crew. Because of the accident the typhoon hunters converted to P2V-5
I also flew P2V’s for H&P
Ours were -7’s
See my avitar?
...it was a highly modified B-24 'Liberator' NOT the B-17 'Flying Fortress
I thought the Liberator was a mid fuselage wing. But they did tend to break up when attempting a water landing.
My kids and I got to walk around in the one at Casa Grande.
I lieve in Baltic states Liepāja city, soo cool 👍
Awesome!
My Uncle Larry Mullinix was a navigator on a B24 after joining the Army Air Corp during WW2 .
I think Winston Churchill flew in a modified version of this plane in his last couple years as Prime Minister during WW2
Lone Star flight museum was in the process of restoring one to flight worthy condition before Hurricane Ike hit. Not sure what the status of the airframe is.
Consolidated built another aircraft derived from the B-24... one that would ultimately have (most likely) replaced both the B17 and the B24 in Europe as the standard heavy bomber: The B-32 Dominator.
The B-32 program was originally submitted in competition with Boeings B-29. It was accepted as a backup plan, in case the B-29 failed.
The B-32 featured the same engines as the B29. It was also designed to be pressurized, like the B-29. It had the same teething problems that the B-29 suffered (mostly concerning problems with the engines). The B32 had a single tail, had the same top speed as the B-29, same armament and characteristics. Pilots commented the the Davis wing carried over from the B24 offered superior landing and low speed handling characteristics. The B-32 entered combat in late 1945 and 118 aircraft were constructed before war's end. Considered a backup plan at war
Not one airframe was saved for posterity and all 118 aircraft were summarily scrapped.
The Shadow in the Sky !
It LOOKS like a cross between a Flying Fortress and a Liberator
Consolidated Privateer. There's long range and there's in flight refuelling. Somewhere in the middle there is this thing. Needs more dakka.
I have been to Greybull, WY and seen the plane at 12:39. I suspect it is still sitting there. I did not recognize it as a US plane.
I lived on 24st in Greybull.
Been to the hangin tree?
@@Fyrpylit I have!
@@mar83161 Things were different then.
Supposedly its for the better.
I say BS
BTW I am one the bad boys who were responsible for the sexually suggestive noseart on the 4ys.
@@mar83161
I lived at the hotel next door for two seasons before I got my own place in town over near Lisa’s.
I still make Brad Burgers.
It's the "TRUCULENT Turtle" (TRUE-cue-lent) not the "Turbulent Turtle". Truculent means "boldly aggressive".
Not sure about WW-II, but during Operation Desert Storm the pilots of the fighter jets, were given Amphetamines, under a doctors orders and were allowed to fly just 8 hours, Can you imagine a pilot in a F-15 or F-16 etc, jacked up on speed; and fully armed! 👊 😎🇺🇸
Like Belushi’s “Wild Bill” Kelso in 1941?
My grandfather flew 171 fighter missions in P-39/P-47/P-38's escorting B-17's.
It was a mistake.
The United States turned out to be just as ev1l and w1cked as Japan, and imprisoned two of his grandchildren on false convictions.
One of them won their appeal after 1001 days being held prisoner and tortured in a US prison camp, before winning their appeal and walking out the back door one month later.
Even when winning an appeal and legally not guilty, they did not open the front door; they do not want to let you go. That person was me.
Fight the state, never fight for it. Disobedience is the foundation of freedom. By definition, those who obey are slaves.
Democracy is just a scam to keep the popular kids in power forever, and you are not one of the popular kids.
Testify
Just as bad huh. You think Japan would have let any prisoners go? For one it’s kinda hard to live for 3 years without anything to eat let alone the sadistic torture. And to be able to appeal and challenge the government and courts to be set free is very democratic. In a communist country you would have been executed before you got the stamp on your letter of petition
My grandfathers best friend flew Operation Lamplight in the PB4Y I believe.
Operation Lamplighter.
Correct.
Korea.
In coordination with squads of Corsairs for night raids
Don Hurley, told me when the lights burned out the fighters would have to go full power max climb or they’d hit the mountains. “Korea is all mountains. “ the roads were down in the valleys. I didn’t watch the whole vid, sorry.
There are a heap of these in Greybull, WY. Used for dropping retardant on wildfires in the western states. Now retired.
I don't remember seeing a lot of these at Greybull, but I know there's a bunch of KC-97's and C-119's there.
Sad, there's really only one of these that still flies.
Consolidated B24 was the Liberator, not the Flying Fortress B17.
There are countless aircraft that were in production in the skies of WWI that no one heard of.
B-24 but with 1 tall tail fin
Where are all of the 8th AF B17Gs?
Still prefer the B-24 to the B-17, always will.
It could have been even superior to the B17 had they made more improvements on it, but it was already obsolete by the ends of the war.
Just like the B36 was an interim solution before the B52 took over that role. America could have ended up with their own version of the Tupolev Tu-95 bear. All that the B36 needed was turboprop engines instead of radials.
It was this aircraft and the B32 Dominator that separate to see.
No notice on this one either.
I wish you wouldn't stretch vintage film footage to a 16:9 aspect ratio. It looks so distorted that it's hard to even recognize the shape of the planes. I'd rather just see it in its original 4:3.
Yes! I keep saying that people weren't dwarves then.
Unsung heros
in the gulag achepelago, mention is made of a US aircrew from such a plane.
The Flying Fortress was the B17, not the B24 - that's the Liberator.
You already did a piece, on this plane, but this one is more "in depth" which is why I watched it
PB4Y2: Hint, the Y stands for Consolidated not Boeing!!!
The taaaall tail
78 feet
Why would turbochargers make an aircraft cumbersome?
Weight hung off of the wings slows its roll rate.
Were designed to be low level patrol bombers.
Turbo charging is really only necessary at high altitude
Leave it to the USA to try and start an escalation during tense moments.
That's because it wasn't 'another Flying Fortress'- it was another 'Liberator'. /shakes cane "Now get off my lawn, you lousy kids"
War thunder does these plans justice
If you watch this channel, you probably play war thunder, in which case you definitely know this plane.
Hold the hell ip I just got a fallout add of a movie on April 11th... LETS GOOOO