Consolidated R2Y

The Consolidated R2Y "Liberator Liner" was an airliner derivative of the Consolidated [B-24 Liberator|B-24 Liberator] built for the United States Navy by Consolidated Aircraft.

Development and service

The XR2Y-1, as the single prototype was known in Navy service, used the aspect [ratio (wing)|high-aspect] wing and tricycle landing gear of the Liberator. The fuselage was an entirely new design, and the vertical stabilizer was taken from the Consolidated [PB4Y-2 Privateer|PB4Y Privateer]. The final design looked much like a smaller, high-wing Boeing B-29 Superfortress, but with windows for passengers.
The aircraft was meant to carry passengers or cargo to distant Navy bases, but after a brief evaluation the prototype was demilitarized in the mid-1940s, returned to Convair, and leased to American Airlines as a freighter with the name "City of Salinas".