Scale: 1:22
Length: 13.5"
Wingspan: 17.5"

Essentially the same as the B-24H; but early "J"s were equipped with the Convair (merged Consolidated/Vultee) A-6A nose turret, instead of the Emerson A-15 turret, due to a limited supply of the Emerson turrets. By early 1944, enough Emersons were available for all five factories. The B-24J was also equipped with an improved C-1 automatic pilot, a new M-series bomb sight, an electronic control system for the turbosuperchargers, and a better fuel transfer system.

At first, only the two Convair plants manufactured the B-24J, with Ford/Willow Run and Douglas/Tulsa continuing to produce the B-24H and North American/Dallas continuing to build the B-24G. However, in early 1944, the Army directed that the C-1 automatic pilot and the M-series bombsight be installed on all production Liberators under the designation B-24J. For the first time, all five members of the Liberator Production Pool would be building aircraft under the same designation. Ford/Willow Run produced its first B-24J in April of 1944, with Douglas/Tulsa and North American/Dallas following in May. (This paragraph quoted directly from Joe Baugher's B-24 page.)

Excessive weight was a real drawback of the B-24J; numerous additions totalling 8,000 pounds had been made since the B-24D, but the same engine. Performance, fuel efficiency, and flight stability fell off because of this excess weight. (Sounds like what my wife and my doctor tell me.)

6678 B-24J's were produced. By late 1944, the Army foresaw a lessened demand for Liberators, and ordered that three of the plants be freed up for other purposes. Only Ford-Willow Run and Convair-San Diego continued turning out B-24's in 1945. Late in the B-24 program, attempts were made to trim its weight (in the Pacifc, field engineers had been removing the belly turreets to save weight). The result was the B-24L, some 1,000 pounds lighter than the "J," of which 1667 were built, mostly at Willow Run.