Commando (aircraft)
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Commando was a very long range Consolidated Liberator II aircraft adapted for passenger transport, to serve as the personal aircraft of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Commando disappeared without a trace on 27 March 1945 over the North Atlantic Ocean, while on a flight from RAF Northolt to Lajes Field in the Azores, en route to Ottawa in Canada. The cause of the disappearance of the aircraft remains unknown to this day.
January 1943. AL504 Commando, VIP taxying at Lyneham, Wiltshire, with Winston Churchill on board returning from Casablanca
The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill in RAF uniform, accompanied by Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, leaving Commando at RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire, on their return from the Casablanca Conference. The picture shows Commando in its initial dark earth and dark green with night black undersides standard RAF Bomber Command night bomber colour scheme in which it was delivered from the factory.
interior of AL504 Commando
The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber built during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces. A total of 287 C-87s were officially delivered from Consolidated Aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The plant also developed and delivered a USAAF flight engineer trainer designated as the AT-22. The AAF C-87A was an executive transport version of the C-87. The United States Navy VIP transport designated as the RY. The last development was a Navy contracted, single tail version with an extended fuselage. Built in San Diego, its USN designation was RY-3 and the AAF had order the design as the C-87C. Those were cancelled and allotted to a Royal Air Force VIP transport designated as the Liberator C.IX
C-87 Liberator Express takes off from Fort Worth, Texas on a test flight in October 1942.