TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson's remarkable connection to aviation history includes the B-24 Liberator. A key U.S. bomber in World War II, American pilots and their crews trained here at Davis-Monthan.
Thanks to Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson is home to one of the best preserved B-24s in the world.
"Makers of many of this war's headlines have been B-24 Liberators and the men who fly and fight them," said the narrator of a 1943 U.S. War Department training film.
The B-24 Liberator, an American heavy bomber built by Consolidated Aircraft, helped the United States and its allies win the Second World War in Europe.
"Pilots and crew members, when you take off you want to be alert to every capability of your plane," warned the narrator.
The B-24 training film would have been shown to the pilots and crew training right here in Tucson. From 1941 to 1945, Davis-Monthan Army Air Field was a heavy bomber training site.
"D-M was a primary training base for the B-24s," said Pima Air & Space Collections Curator Larry Herndon. "It had the mission that all the pilots, the air crews would come together at D-M, and that's where they kind of merged together to learn to operate the B-24s."
Consolidated Aircraft improved on the B-17 design to create and build the B-24 Liberator. Consolidated even operated a plant at the Tucson Airport where they made modifications to the B-24 throughout the war.
Unfortunately, a mid-air collision in late 1944 of two B-24s on the east side of Tucson, marred the aircraft's safety record.
"A fleet of B-24s, they were taking off to conduct their training mission," explained Herndon.
Herndon has done research using some of the original documents about the crash. He says the morning sunrise over the mountains played a major part in the planes clipping wings.
"The pilots became sun blinded and they ended up colliding and two B-24s crashed," Herndon said.
Both B-24s ended up crashing and exploding in the Pantano Wash between what is now Speedway and Broadway. All 18 crew members on the two planes died.
"This was just pilot error," recalled Herndon. "A miscalculation in the time of day that they went up."
Today, we honor those 18 crew members, as we near the 80th anniversary of the collision, with the Airmen Memorial Bridge, which spans the Pantano Wash connecting North Sabino Canyon Road to North Kolb Road.
The bridge remembers those crews, thanks to the efforts of three Tucson men: Ray Villalobos, Bill Davidson and Fred Gateman, who led the effort to name the new bridge the Airmen Memorial Bridge after they discovered an old .50-caliber cartridge while using metal detectors in the area of the crash.
During the dedication of the bridge in 2017, several family members of the fallen crew came to Tucson to pay their respects.
"It was very difficult for the family for two generations," said Wendy Turner, granddaughter of one of the fallen airmen." I am so grateful to have this moment to heal."
Despite the tragedy in Tucson, the B-24 was a highly successful aircraft throughout World War II.
"There were over 18,000 B-24s built," said Pima Air and Space Museum Marketing Director Brad Elliott . "It is the most produced American military aircraft of all-time. And it is also the world's most produced multi-engine aircraft of all-time."
You will find one of the most well preserved B-24s left in the world on display at Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson.
"From the 18,000 down to this, we're incredibly lucky to have one here," Elliott said.
There are only an estimated thirteen B-24s left in the world.
"This is one of the birds that really puts Pima Air and Space Museum on the map," explained Elliott.
The B-24 at Pima Air & Space was originally flown by the Royal Air Force, and left in India after the war.
Fast forward to the early 1970s, when Pima Air & Space Museum acquired the plane. Pilots who trained on B-24s in Tucson volunteered to fly it back.
"The fact that we could even get it here because of the pilots that had flown the B-24, so that Tucson connection is definitely here," said Elliott.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.