The only flyable B-24 Liberator aircraft
in the world, serial no. 44-44052 is the aircraft owned and operated
by the Collings Foundation, and named after “The Dragon and His
Tail,” a lavishly decorated B-24 that flew in the Pacific during WW
II. The B-24 did not get the attention or fame of the B-17 either
during or after the War. With longer range and bigger bomb loads
than the B-17 the B-24s were generally based far from London. As a
result, most war correspondents looked for stories at the B-17
fields and avoided the long treks to the B-24 fields. The B-17 also
looked more modern and more powerful, although this was not an
accurate assessment. The B-24 that has been restored by the Collings
Foundation was built in August 1944 by Consolidated Aircraft at the
company’s huge Ft. Worth assembly plant. Originally delivered to the
USAAF the aircraft was shortly transferred to the Royal Air Force.
Under British Flag the plane saw combat service in the Pacific in
operations ranging from anti-shipping to bombing, to re-supply. At
War’s end she was abandoned to an aircraft graveyard in Khanpur,
India. In 1948 the aircraft was restored by the Indian Air Force and
it saw service until 1968. She sat abandoned in India until 1981
when famed British aircraft collector, Doug Arnold, purchased her
and had her disassembled for shipment back to England. She was sold
in 1984 in “as is” condition to the Collings Foundation and was
returned to America in 1984. Restoration commenced in 1985 with
General Dynamics acting as a major sponsor of the restoration. More
than 420,000 rivets were replaced during the restoration that
involved rebuilding more than 80% of the aircraft’s parts. The
completed B-24 was originally named “All American” in honor of an
Army Air Force B-24 of the same name. The original All American shot
down fourteen enemy fighters in a raid over Germany on July 25,
1944. That aircraft was lost on a combat mission when it was shot
down over Yugoslavia in October of 1944. In 1998 the Collings
Foundation renamed its B-24 “The Dragon and its Tail” to honor an
aircraft than served with the 64th Bomb Squadron of the 43rd Bomb
Group in the Pacific. The original Dragon survived the War, and was
the last B-24 scrapped in Arizona. In Stan Stokes’ marvelous
painting the original Dragon is depicted during a typical
anti-shipping mission.
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Collector Sized Lithograph:
$40
16" x 11 1/2"
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Giclee on Canvas:
$445
18'' x 27''
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