This is the single best video I have ever seen on and about the B-24. Thank you very much. My late father served with a B-24 Liberator outfit in the 15th AF in Italy 1944-45 and trained with actor Jimmy Stewart before they both went overseas - Stewart served as a Squadron Commander with the 8th AF in England. I wish they had stayed in touch after the war. It is very emotional for me to see this airplane knowing my Dad faced death each and every time he boarded his airplane. My late mother said he suffered from nightmares and cold sweats for many months after he returned stateside after the war. She said he had lost his very crazy sense of humor and had a very short fuse and bad temper (which I seemed to have inherited from him). Obviously he had PTSD that was never formally diagnosed. He never spoke much about his wartime experiences and years after he passed I researched his unit and what he did. I quickly learned why he didn't talk about his experiences and what he saw. His unit lost more than 50% of its original air crew in combat and suffered some of the heaviest casualties in theater. He was regularly escorted on missions by the Tuskegee Airmen who were stationed about 60 miles down the road and flew bombing missions over some of the most heavily defended strategic targets of Nazi Germany - including many against the Ploesti oil refineries in Rumania. My Dad received two (2) Purple Hearts and his unit received two (2) Presidential unit citations for their contribution in WW2. Obviously I am VERY proud of him. I miss you and love you Dad. I look forward to seeing you and Mom again and spending eternity with you both. Thank you again for sharing this wonderful video.

Awesome. I was lucky enough to get to fly on “Diamond Lil” in Wendover, UT in about 2001. One of my fellow passengers was a B-24 Driver from the PTO, there with his two sons for his birthday. He must have been 80+, but when they fired up those four Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasps, and we took off, his face just lit up. He was a young man again, striking out over the vast reaches of the Pacific. “Keep ‘em flying!”

My father flew in 25 bombing missions on a B-24. He was a radio operator and waist gunner. He was shot down (the plane exploded 3 seconds after he bailed--the cabin was filled with fuel from those wings), taken POW, and was in the Black Hunger March. He weighed 80 pounds when liberated. I have a world of respect for the people who flew in combat. My dad was in the 15th Air Force, so he flew in a later model. The waist gun had a lock on it by then, which prevented it from reaching the tail. It broke once during a battle and my dad almost blew the fin off. He once almost flew out the window; the gun broke his trajectory and kept him inside. There were lots of discomforts in addition to combat dangers. Lots of guys were airsick. There was a box near the passage to the cockpit, and it had a lid with a hinge on one side. They would throw up into it, and there were often several guys sitting around it, feeling utterly miserable. They often flew at 30,000 feet, where the air temperatures were -60 to -70. The clothing didn't always fit well; sometimes my dad would turn his body and the air would shoot into an opening. He'd quickly turn the other way, and another opening would emerge. He said that it almost felt like knives being thrust into him. Their worst fear was burning, and that was even in their fight song--"We'll go for fame or go down in flames." Flak terrified him because it was completely unpredictable--a plane could fly into it in any second and be ripped apart. His last plane was called Rough Deal Lucille. Thank you for posting this--it's enabled me to more vividly visualize many of his stories.

It never ceases to amaze me when I read about and see the stories of these craft and think of the men who used these, who fought and died in them. They were tough men with nerves of steel. It is essential that we preserve our land and freedom and remember that we may enjoy it, but it wasn't free. Great video.

I got to see Diamond Lil take off from the redbird airfield one time many years back (I think before the Confederate Airforce changed to the Commemorative Airforce name, but I could be wrong on that). I was driving an armored car for Dunbar at the time and when I saw her coming down the runway, I pulled over on the shoulder of the road and both me and my hopper (guy who runs the money bag) sat in awe as she took to the sky like the incredible, stately old girl she is. We were both left speechless seeing something that incredible. I hope she continues to fly for another 80 years at least.

My dad was a Naval Aviator with VP-23 "Hurricane Hunters" and flew the Navy version PB4Y2 which had the vertical fin. The last time I saw Diamond Lil, she was at Tulsa Jones Riverside and in the Tulsa Tech hangar. At the time she was painted in a sand brown color. I am glad to see she's undergone a restoration and will soon be coming back to Tulsa's Air & Space Museum at Tulsa International Airport. I plan to be there, and enjoy her once more!

Thank you so much for this video. It gives me an insight into how much courage it took to fly these. An Australian cousin served with RAF Sqn120 as a captain on convoy protection missions during the Battle of the Atlantic. Under heavy fire he attacked and destroyed a U-boat, and although the aircraft was significantly damaged he was able to return to base and land safely, for which he was awarded a bar to his DFC.

Thanks for the tour. Those were some brave and hardy souls.

Finally got around to watching this. Great video, thanks, Erik!! Hope she’s happy in her new home in Dallas.

Thank you Mr.EJ for B-24 walkaround movie!!!

As a machinist, I manufactured all new hinge pins, plus, added grease fittings and a new hydraulic cyl for Diamond Lil's port main gear. I then took a ride in the flight engineer's seat, with the in-flight intercom head set! What an unforgetable experience!

I toured the Diamond Lil a few years ago at Buffalo NY , never realized it was a very early model . Very nice video . After watching this video , they were the "Greatest Generation" for sure .

Truly incredible. From the engineers,designers, machinists, fabricators, final assembly. To the men that had to operate and fly these machines in combat…

My great uncle flew B-24s over the hump. He is also still alive at 97.

Amazing......Thank you. These videos keep getting better all the time. Love It !!!

It makes me so happy to know there is still a flying b24 b29 and b17 i wish that 1 of every plane ever made was kept running purely for records

Thanks for the tour. My dad was a B-24 pilot in 8th Air Force 389th bomb group stationed at Hethel AFB from Sept 44 to end of War. Appreciate more now than ever what he and his crew must have experienced and see why he was buried with 8th Air Force Captain’s wings as his grave marker.

Thank you for the walkaround of this early model B-24 she's a beauty and the nose art is exceptional. atb Opal

Thank you for this. So very appreciated.

Well done walk around. God bless you for your passion for these wonderful machines.

Back in the late 1980s they had a B-17 and a B24 at Melbourne Airport in Melbourne Florida. For $10 you can do a walk through tour of both aircraft. I was mostly interested in the B24 because my dad was a waist Gunner on one of them. I walked through both aircraft thoroughly and took pictures with my 35 mm camera. One thing that surprised me was how small the cockpit really was in a B-17. The B-24 seem to be one of the later models because it had the ball turret and the turret in the tail. I still have all those photos to this day. I had some other people there take my camera outside the B24 and take a picture of me holding the 50 caliber machine gun in the waist position.

Great video, thanks very much. I was lucky enough to get a tour inside when she came to the UK in 1992, such an epic journey for this Old Lady, and very much appreciated as sadly there no flying examples of the great B24 in Europe. I remember hearing about Fortress crews referring to the B24 as 'The Box the B17 came in' ha ha. I love this aircraft.

Thank goodness it was changed back to Diamond Lil. I remember the earlier paint scheme from when she was kept in Harlingen, TX. Diamond Lil was my favorite.

Very informative and enjoyable. Thanks for keeping this bird active for all the enthusiasts who treasure WW ll heavy metal

I saw her in Harlingen in 1975. Thanks for keeping her flying.

I had the pleasure and privileged of climbing inside this aircraft when she was flown here to the UK and displayed at airshows all over the UK,my son was so small i sat him on one of the huge wheels,my son is so big now he could put me on the tyre now ..Diamond lil was Pink back then ,,I actually have a photo of my son on that tyre..thanks for the Memory by showing this wonderful old Bird..

Absolutely beautiful video. Thank you for making it. So informative. Well spoken, well said and we'll done. Keeping this plane alive is sooooo admirable. Willow Run, a fantastic piece of history. This plane is a rare and beautiful piece of history. Thank you for restoring it so very well.

Great vid. Thanks. I saw this aircraft fly into CLT a few years back, and saw her up close on the ground. What a treat!

This is the most informative video showing the complexities of flight in WW ll era planes, that I have seen. I imagined the crews she had, as this walk around progressed. Very well done! Thanks for this unique in depth perspective! I now more fully understand the efforts it took to from those air crews to accomplish their missions. The fact that Diamond Lil is still around, is a supreme testament to their skill , and keeping her going demonstrates the depth of our ongoing respect for their courage and sacrifice. Thanks again!

Thank you very much for this wonderful tour of a B-24. My grandfather was a bombardier during World War II on this aircraft. He just passed away and this was a wonderful chance for his family too see the aircraft he flew on.

I love these walkaround videos! Thanks for uploading.

Excellent!! Thanks so much for posting it here.

My grandpa flew on one of these, top gunner and engineer, shot down by friendly fire, but first or second crew to all live after ditching one of these

Man, do i love yer walkarounds!

when pilots truly had to fly and aircrew were beyond brave!!

Watched a vid on the Willow Run Plant. Turning it from a farm to a plant and then building these eventually at a rate of one per hour. Amazing for sure.

What a fantastic aircraft, thanks for the tour. ❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍

My father flew in a B-24 out of Horsham England it was it was referred to as the fastest B-24 in the European theater of operations the aircraft was named the Howling Banshee it was two aircrafts made into one with the largest engines available. The 458 Bomb Group

Great Video. VERY informative. Thank you.

Thanks for the tour.

this video surprisingly helped me visualize what it was like in the book unbroken. Great video!

This makes walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time look easy! Beautiful bird and awesome presentation.

Did fantastic work with coastal Command, spending many hours on patrol

Very, very interesting tour !! Enjoyed it !!

My Uncle was a Navy bombardier on this type aircraft during WW2 flying anti-sub missions over the Bay of Biscay. Unfortunately him and his crew perished when they were attacked and shot down by five German JU 88's. Thank you for this video.

My father was a nose gunner in the later model and started by flying out of Africa and the Italy. His plane and crew flew some scary missions... the raids on Ploesti, bombing of sub pens on France, oil fields in Vienna. They were shot to heck over Vienna and ditched in the Adriatic Sea. They were picked up by Italian fishermen (they would go to sea when they saw bombers heading out and wait out there to see if any had to ditch). 2 wks later, they were in a new plane over Vienna again. Credited with 50 missions, purple heart w/ oak leaf cluster and many other medal, him and all that served in this war were truly the greatest generation. Lots of great info can be found at the 376th Heavy Bombardment Groups web page. Mission histories, flight crews and pilots and some really great pics... check it out!

Fascinating talk. When you see the physical effort involved in flying the plane,you can understand the stories of heavy bomber pilots being soaked in sweat despite being at seriously sub -zero temperatures at 20,000 feet. Be nice to see a tour of a late model version with all the gun turrets installed.

Great video! Thanks for posting.

Outstanding tour! What a beautiful warbird.

Thankyou so much for the tour!

Wonderfully made video, thanks.

Thanx, Dad ! A B24, Liberator pilot, with 12 missions, in the Pacific. 7th A.F, 494 bomb group, Kelly's Kobras.

Aircraft 64 a B - 24 D flying from north west Libya became hopelessly lost retuning from mission to Naples Italy. Early morning hours in very dark night entire crew bailed with aircraft on auto trim. Nearly 500 miles south easterly of home base. Aircraft sat in situation in amazingly good condition for 16 years before discovery. All gauges, radio, most guns still in operable condition. Frosted from blistering heat and blowing sand she was totally recognizable as her mission that night. Crew suffered horrible deaths after week lost in most inhospitable terrain imaginable. Views there appear as the terrain of Planet Mars. She was painted in a desert sand pinkish hue and had been monikered Lady Be Good by crew consent. To me she represents the dedication and sacrifice of our aircrews globally in the Liberator flying armada. A flyover at a major sporting event stadium with the old girl would be more to me than words could ever speak. 🇺🇸

Very cool! My grandfather was a crew chief on B24's during the war.

One of the great events in my life was being able to get up in the flight deck of Diamond Lil with my B-24 combat pilot dad in Wichita Falls, TX. 1995!!! I had never been in one before and grew up listening to his war stories, looking at his photos, etc. all my life. He had never been in one since the last Lib in transported, by himself, from Menphis, Tenn. to Kingman. Az. for salvage, late 1945. So to be with him there, he in the right seat, me in the left, was unforgettable! He flew them for a very long time. When I was born in early '43, as a Firt Lieutenant, he was flying them in antisub patrols, Galveston, TX. In Feb. '44 as a Captain and part of the new 15th AF, he and his Group, the 464th, left Pocatello Idaho, in their new '24s heading for Pantanella, Italy. He named his ship the 'Three Cornered Kid', from the fact that he and two other officers just had their first son. The Kid survived 15 missions In the 776th Bomb Sqd. until comming back from Vienna, with one engine gone, a co-pilot out with a head wound and no hydraulics, dad made it back and crash landed it at base. Dad was extremely upset about loosing his ship. He was later promoted to Major, and was the flight ops officer for the 777th Sqd. for the rest of his 51 mission credits. For several months in the summer of '45 he flew decommissioned Liberators from Memphis, Tenn. to their doom at the salvage yards in AZ and California. He said that was the scariest duty of all; the ships had been stripped of everything, and he flew alone!

Thanks for the great video! I'm currently working on a story about a B-24 non-combat crash, never satisfactorily explained, mechanically, in the Pacific (Hawaiian Islands). My father, who's nearly 92 now, was piloting the ship that day and has lived with the memory of lives lost since. I have hours and hours of oral history (and still get more from time to time) and have transcribed training tapes on flying the thing, Dad's recall is amazing; when I fact check him, he's almost always spot on. But there is nothing like this sort of video and talk to give a real feel for the size and spatial relationships of the plane. I am grateful for having it. I've believe I've been in a B-17 and B-26 (he flew night intruder missions in the Korean War, USAF 731st) but not a B-24 since I was a very young child and have only the vaguest of recollections and, later, was in awe but didn't pay enough attention for what I'm trying to do now. This is an invaluable resource.

I was lucky enough as I was shown around this magnificent aircraft when she flew into Norwich for the 50th anniversary of the 8th Army Airforce coming to East Anglia. I also met a pilot who was based at Rackheath during the War and David Hastings who helped fly her when she was flown across the pond via Iceland. Never to be forgotten moments.

I was fortunate enough to walk into this B24 when it was at FT Lauderdale executive airport for a showing. Loved this plane

Thanks for posting this video!!!

Nice tour!

We built tens of thousands of these and other aircraft, but only a few still exist and are flyable. I wish we had preserved more of them.

I got s picture of my dad with a B-24. Awesome!😅😅😅😅

The simple fact that this B-24A (Production Model #18 of ~18,000 assembled from 1941-45 at 3 or 4 plants across the US!) is still around and in flying order is astounding. Diamond Lil' is a rare, rare gem! Thanks for the video, Erik!

I have a great interest in WW2 and am in the UK. I have just watched a video Aviation at War on the construction of the B-24 Liberator . It was fascinating and am finding this just as good. Brilliant! It looks quite spacious compared to the British Lancaster. I didn't know we flew B-24's under Lend-Lease.

Diamond LiL looks to myself from this video to be in A1A SHAPE. She's a very fine example of an early prototype LB30. Absolutely Outstanding.

Great expert detail. Thanks so much. Wish I could fly her.

Very good, informative video, many thanks for sharing .

A great man and a great plane! Thank you.

Proud to say I have been on board this aircraft once when at an air show.

Great video.

What a fantastic video! Had to laugh at “if it’s not dripping oil, then you’re out of oil” 😂

Another great walkaround. Slot of KZfaq channels don't even put effort into their videos but I can tell that you do.

absolutely awesome...great narration by the AC.....

I was in this aircraft back in the 90s, when it was at Lunken Airport , in Southern Ohio. many planes that day and the Old Diamond Lil painting was on it then. They allowed us to walk though it . pretty cool.

Thank Eric sir. For very nice tour pleased my curiosity. Diomnd lill really a mighty plane. Very nice to see working condition 70 year old plane.

My Dad was a radio operator/air gunner flying in these for the R.A.F. coastal Command during WW2 on U Boat patrol. The aircraft was fitted with RADAR and a Leigh light mounted under the wing. Target located by RADAR and then when close enough illuminated by the Leigh light.

Thank you for this information. I shared it with friends.

My father, now passed on, was a nose gunner in one of these with the 5th Air Force, 90th Bomb Group (Heavy) flying from Australia (Iron Range) and from fields in New Guinea. Among his more reported missions was the first raid on Rabaul in August 1943.

As a teen, I built a model of a B-24 so it was interesting to learn about the variations and improvements which worked into the design as they were built.

Great video thank you well done .

A friend of my late father was an instructor pilot on B-24s before he was assigned to combat in the 8th AF. One night over dinner, many years ago, he told us about flying the Liberator, that it was difficult to hold steady in formation, that it was control-heavy and more of a wrestling match to hold in a tight formation. But he claimed that it could fly higher, faster and with a larger bomb load than the B-17. His biggest concern flying the B-24 was losing an engine on takeoff. He instructed pilots how to avoid a wing-over and crash, but in England he witnessed two fully-loaded Liberators crash in flames on takeoff on two different missions. He said that when he instructed and flew with a student to demonstrate an 'engine-out' takeoff , those Liberators carried no bomb load or aircrew. Hard lessons for college-age pilots to learn...

Simply Amazing 👍 & Super Super Cool

My next door neighbor here in Aiken, SC was a radio operator/gunner on a B-24 in the CBI theater. He's 92 now, but he still has pictures of his crew mates, an escape map with Chinese writing on it, and a wooden model of a B-24. He's in poor health now, but he is one heck of a nice guy. He would love to see this video.

My Great Grandfather was founder of Consolidated Aircraft. Thank you for carrying on the legacy of this great aircraft.

My father Ward B. Richie was the Captain of the B-24 Gollwalloper.

my great grampa was the pilot of the b29 at wwll. he served through most of the war. he got shot down but made it out alive. sadly he dies from a stroke after the war

GREAT JOB THANK YOU...

Very nice video !!! :..Thanks.

Awesome video. My grandfather parachuted out of a modified B-24 at night over northern France while in the OSS to help supply French Resistance forces prior to the Normandy Invasion. The ball turret was removed and enlarged to promote safe evacuation of both covert operators and supplies. According to him, solo B-24's modified in this fashion with night drops helped to conceal that paradrop operations were being performed.

Outstanding

What a beautiful plane.

Saw one of these flying over our neighborhood two days ago. It was thrilling to say the least. One person knew it was a heavy bomber but if it wasn't for the unusual twin tail roundish discs on it, we wouldn't have been able to ID it online. One person gave thanks to these planes and the seemingly fearless men who flew them.

Love this bird. Thanks for making many trips to KOSH. (Still like the old paint and nose art better). Camo-side up, and keep em' flying!

The legend

Great video. I wish we had one of these wonderful aircraft over here in the UK, all we have in flying condition is a B17 (Memphis Belle) and a Lancaster bomber.

Excellent

I remember being a young boy and Diamond Lil flew to the UK and seeing her at Duxford. I think she was painted a light brown colour then

My Father was bottom turret Gunner on a B-24 In the Pacific theater in 44-45. I would love to be able to fly in a B-24 in the bottom turret to see what it felt like.

My grandfather was a tail gunner on the plane "no love no nothin". A true badass.

Very nice walk-through. My dad was a flight lieutenant in WW2 with the RAAF. He was gunnery trained in Canada then in the middle east. he was the WOP, (wireless operator), where would he have sat in the B24 Lib which was the plane he was most often in