Ol 927

Another anticipated first time ever event at The Greatest Show On Turf will be the participation of the CAF’s newly restored B-24A Liberator “Ol 927.” Although the Geneseo Airshow has hosted the Collings Foundation’s B-24J “All American” several times, this will be a new experience for both Airshow attendees and the Liberator's aircrew. The aircraft was originally obtained by the Confederate Air Force in the late 1960s and flew in the desert pink colors of the 98th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force since 1970 when it was christened as “Diamond Lil.”

With its elongated RY-2 solid nose and lack of gun turrets or armament, “Diamond Lil” was often accused of being a transport aircraft masquerading as a bomber. Not anymore. CAF's present Director of Maintenance and Quality Assurance, Gary Austin, spearheaded the restoration project in October, 2006 and in eight months brought the aircraft back to its original B-24A configuration. Liberator number AM927 is now the world's oldest flying four-engined aircraft as well as the oldest continuously flying four-engined bomber of World War II.

Life for “Ol 927” began after Consolidated made its first flight with the XP-24 on September 29, 1939. With the war going on in Europe, France ordered 175 export versions of the Consolidated B-24A/Model 32 which were designated LB -30 MF (Land Bomber-Mission Français) on June 4, 1940. France soon fell and Great Britain took over 135 B-24s from the French order as LB-30As with the first order having serial numbers AM258 to AM263. The second shipment of 20 B-24A conversions went to England as LB-30Bs (serials AM910 through AM929) and went into combat as Liberator Mark I's with 120 Squadron of the Coastal Command. This aircraft was the 25th liberator built and the 18th production B-24 with USAAF serial number 40-2366 but went to the RAF instead as a Liberator Mark I AM927 on May 7, 1941.

Instead of going to Great Britain it was sent to the Eagle Nest Flight Training Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico to be used by Transcontinental and Western Airlines (later TWA) to train USAAC and RAF Ferry Command Operations. The British Air Commission (BAC) then converted the bomber into an experimental transport version. All bomb bay doors, structure, interior bulkheads and armament was removed. All windows, bomb bays and glass nose were skinned over and returned to service on July 12, 1942.

Due to the success of 927's experiments as both “private air yacht” and workhorse, it paved the way for Consolidated's transport version called the C-87 Liberator Express which were used to fly vital supplies over the Hump in the China-Burma-India theater.

After the war BAC returned “Ol 927” to Consolidated and received civil registration and NL24927 on April 1, 1947. It was purchased by the Continental Can Corporation on November 10, 1948 and outfitted with a luxurious interior for CCC's executives and used for 11 years before being sold to Patroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's state owned petroleum company.

When the CAF started to build its bomber fleet in the late 1960s they acquired the aircraft from Pemex, complete with its four Pratt and Whitney R-1830 engines. From “Diamond Lil,” back to its original configuration, CAF's B-24A Liberator “Ol 927” is an aircraft you won't want to miss seeing at Geneseo this year.

By Frank Schaufler and Seth Goltzer