Aviation of World War II

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Consolidated

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Consolidated - Vultee Aircraft Corp., headquartered in San Diego, California, (abbreviated as "CONVER") grew out of the small firm Consolidated Aircraft Corp., founded by Major R. Fleet in 1923 in Greenwich, pcs. Delawar. The initial share capital of this firm was $ 60,000. At the time, the firm did not have its own factory, but used part of the premises of another aviation firm, building two-seat training aircraft of the Dayton-Wright design.

Gradually expanding, the company in 1924 switched to the production of aircraft of its own design and moved to Buffalo, pcs. New York, where it occupied the premises of a factory previously owned by the Curtiss company. In 1935, the firm sold the Buffalo plant and bought the San Diego, California plant.

In March 1943, Consolidated and Vultee Aircraft merged to form the powerful Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corporation with a share capital of about $ 6 million and a reserve capital of over $ 30 million. 29% of the shares of the new concern remained in the hands of Aviation Corporation, which actually became the owner of this concern.

B-24 Very Long Range Liberators at the Consolidated-Vultee Plant, Fort Worth, Texas

B-24 Very Long Range Liberators at the Consolidated-Vultee Plant, Fort Worth, Texas in the foreground with the dark green and white paint scheme. To the rear of this front line are C-87 "Liberator Express Transports" in various assembly stages.

The Liberators made a great contribution to Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic against German U-boats. The decision to allocate some Liberator Is to Coastal Command in 1941 to patrol the eastern Atlantic Ocean produced immediate results. The Very Long Range (VLR) Liberators "almost doubled the reach of Britain's maritime reconnaissance force". This extended range enabled Coastal Command patrols to cover part of the mid-Atlantic gap, where U-boats had operated without risking being attacked and sunk by-Allied aircraft. TB-32s being assembled at Consolidated`s Fort Worth factory

TB-32s being assembled at Consolidated`s Fort Worth factory.