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The Consolidated XB-24N Liberator was a second attempt to fit a single vertical tail to the B-24. A previous effort had produced the single XB-24K, which had proved that the basic idea was correct, but it had not entered production. The single tail had then been adopted by the Navy for the PB4Y-2 Privateer and had produced the hoped-for improvement in stability.
The test program for the XB-24N began in November 1944. As well as the single tail, the new design carried new ball turrets in the nose and tail positions and staggered enclosed waist guns.
The testing program proved the XB-24N to be superior to the B-24J. Seven service test YB-24Ns were built and an order was placed for 5,168 production aircraft. None of these aircraft had been built before the order was cancelled at the end of the war.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator (Crowood Aviation), Martin W. Bowman. A well balanced book that begins with a look at the development history of the B-24, before spending nine out of its ten chapters looking at the combat career of the aircraft in the USAAF, the US Navy and the RAF.
