MORE ON THE LIBERATOR-LINER

I do not know what materials you have in your files, 2nd Air Force, but here is a summary of what I have located in contemporary U.S. newspapers from the summer of 1944.

On 12 June 1944, the Liberator-Liner was shown publicly for the first time. This was reported in the press the next day but only in the form of a couple of paragraphs – no photos. The story was usually linked with the completion of the 5,000th Liberator, which was given the name “V-Grand”. At least one later report seems to have confused V-Grand with the Liberator-Liner. The first flight of the latter was given as 14th April.

On or around 19th June, a photograph of the Liberator-Liner was released. It showed the aircraft on the ground with someone up a tall ladder at the tail end.  One newspaper (the wonderfully named “Palladium-Item and Sun- Telegram” from Richmond, Indiana) showed it with the “First Photo of B-29 Taking Off To Bomb Japan”.

On the evening of Tuesday, 4th July 1944, the Liberator-Liner took off from Washington and flew to La Guardia, where it was viewed by military and airline officials the following day (as reported in the press on the 6th July). NOTE: I have yet to find anything about its flight from California to Washington.

On or around 10th July, a photo was released of the Liberator-Liner at La Guardia. It showed a woman about to board the aircraft and waving at the camera.

On 16th July, a Miami newspaper reported that it had been expected to tour “principal air centers’ around the country but “by Tuesday” (presumably 11th July) was returning to San Diego.

About a week later, a photograph of the aircraft in flight was being published and, about a week after that, a different photograph of it in flight was published.

I hope there is something of interest in the above.

Here’s something a little different. It’s from the small ads columns of a Baltimore newspaper in the summer of 1941,  That year, newspapers around there carried several  news and other reports about Pan Am’s Clippers and BOAC’s “giant flying boats”.  BOAC set up a base there that summer.

The BOAC ad,  which was repeated at intervals for a period,, was much less prominent than the image I’ve posted might suggest, since there were very many miscellaneous small ads on the page..

Can anyone suggested what might have prompted this advertising?

Yes, indeed, the “Liberator-Liner”.

And you got it so quickly, too. I am mightily impressed. I was not familiar with this aircraft and it took me a while to pin it down.

As far as I can gather, after it had been evaluated and subsequently rejected by the U.S. Navy, American Airlines used it as freighter but only for about three months.

American Airlines named it “City of Salinas” after the Californian town of that name (perhaps more widely known though John Steinbeck) because it was used principally to carry agricultural produce from that part of California to rest of the USA. 

I found the photograph in a January 1946 article about an airport in Long Island.

[It was also pleasing to find that these pages are still being accessed  by folk]

This is a slight change of tack but still on the subject of transatlantic air services in WWII.

The thread started with an official photograph of Liberator AL528 about to land at Prestwick after crossing the Atlantic. It was one of several photographs given me more than half-a-century ago and only found again a few years back.

The photograph below shows Boeing 314A G-AGBZ “Bristol” and it is different from the AL528 photo in several respects. The original is much, much smaller, bears no rear stamps or identifying markings and showed a number of printing blemishes, which I have removed.  I have also cropped out some sea and sky but I have not changed the image in any material way. The photo was taken from a distance and, seemingly, just as ‘GBZ began to leave its moorings, so that it is not as sharp as I would have wished.  Nevertheless, someone may be able some questions

[1] Has this photo been published previously and, if so, where and when?                                                                                                                            {2] What did the caption say?                                                                                                                                                                                                                  [3] And, in particular, did it state or indicate the place where it was taken or the date?

NOTE: The photographed is attached as well as embedded and may be a little clearer as an attachment

I have assumed the photo was taken at Bermuda, based on the white uniforms and what I can make out of the flag at the nose of the aircraft. However, while Bermuda was a standard stopover on the southern route across the Atlantic, the aircraft sometimes called in elsewhere in the region.

I would welcome any guidance on this.

You’re welcome, Freecell49.  Another, slightly later report, said that the North-South runway   was completed (Probably in August 1941) and that, at 10.000 feet, was then the longest runway in the USA. It isn’t clear to me from the report whether this was an entirely new runway or the extension and improvement of an existing runway.

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As promised, 2nd Air Force, here is another contemporary report on the crash of AM927.

It provides more details of the circumstances, as well as the names of the crew.

IF AM927 was repaired at TWA’s Kansas City base, then I assume that there was some kind of temporary fix carried out in Albuquerque for it to fly between the two. Do you know if this is correct?

It is likely that the newspaper report was based on a press statement of some kind.  The brief article on the crash that I posted earlier came from the AP (Associated Press) news agency, as did a similarly brief report in another newspaper.  All three were published on 25 July 1941.  You may well find that other newspapers picked up the AP story, too, and, if you or others wish to pursue the matter, then that may be a route worth exploring.

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I have other (non-aviation) interests and it is likely that one of these will be taking precedence over the next week or so. I shall, nevertheless, keep an eye on this thread and may pop in from time to time.

Freecell49, there was a report out of New York published on 25 June 1941.

In this article, it says that TWA announced the opening of the Ferry crew training facility on 24 June 1941 and that the company was to interview prospective trainees on 25 and 26 June 1941 at the Lexington Hotel – not sure of its location but presumably New York.  Applicants had to have a minimum of 600 flying hours  (later increased to 750 hours, I believe) and prospective co-pilots a minimum of 400 hours.

 The article quotes TWA’s president, Jack Frye, in places. It states that “The government is to furnish an undisclosed number of planes” and goes on to list some of the types. It adds, “Six planes have already been received”

The article also states that, “Civilian applicants will be trained for the Atlantic Ferry organization” and “Younger Army officers will be trained as well to ferry bombers across the United States”.

I hope that this may help.

The first cohort at the school experienced the occasional incident during training.