Consolidated RY-3 Privateer Express – Old Number One.

[zenrat]

Consolidated RY-3 Privateer Express – Old Number One.
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 22 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
When World War Two came to a close in 1946 following the dropping of Britain's nuclear bomb on Japan's Antarctic base, the resulting rise in sea levels and associated changes in climate led to the greening of what had previously (at least since the arrival of Humans and their use of fire for land clearance 60,000 years earlier) been desert.
The distances involved meant that until railways were built then anyone wishing to exploit these newly re-verdant lands would need air transport.
In the People's Democratic Republic of Victoria a young returned serviceman, Freddie Fredericksson, fresh from the war with a head full of ideas put his backpay, his life savings and a mortgage on his father's snake catching business into an ex USAF cargo plane.
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 1 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The aircraft he bought was a Consolidated RY-3 Privateer Express.  The RY-3 was based on the C-87 Liberator Express (itself based on the B-24 Liberator).  The design included various modifications, including the elimination of gun turrets and other armament along with the installation of a strengthened cargo floor, including a floor running through the bomb bay.  A cargo door was added to the port side of the fuselage, just forward of the tail, and a row of windows was fitted along the sides of the fuselage.
In its final configuration, the C-87 could carry between 20 and 25 passengers or 12,000 lbs of cargo. Because of war production bottlenecks and shortages, many C-87 aircraft were fitted with turbosuperchargers producing lower boost pressure and power than those fitted to B-24s destined for combat use, and ceiling and climb rate were accordingly adversely affected.
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 7 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The C-87 was plagued by numerous problems and suffered from a poor reputation among its crews. Veteran airline pilot and author Ernest K. Gann, in his 1961 memoir Fate is the Hunter, wrote: "They were an evil fuzzy bunny contraption, nothing like the relatively efficient B-24 except in appearance."  Complaints centered around electrical and hydraulic system failures in extreme cold at high altitudes, a disconcertingly frequent loss of all cockpit illumination during takeoffs, and a flight deck heating system that either produced stifling heat or did not function at all.
The C-87 did not climb well when heavily loaded and many were lost on takeoff with the loss of just a single engine. Gann's book recounts a near-collision with the Taj Mahal after takeoff in a heavily loaded C-87 when full flaps had to be hastily deployed to increase the aircraft's altitude to avoid the edifice. The aircraft's auxiliary long-range fuel tanks were linked by improvised and often leaky fuel lines that crisscrossed the crew compartment, choking flight crews with noxious gasoline fumes and creating an explosion hazard. The C-87 also had a tendency to enter an uncontrollable stall or spin when confronted with even mild icing conditions. Gann said they "could not carry enough ice to chill a highball".
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 15 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The aircraft could also become unstable in flight if its centre of gravity shifted due to improper cargo loading. This longitudinal instability arose from the aircraft's hasty conversion from bomber to cargo transport as the bomb racks and bomb bays built into the B-24 design were fixed in position, greatly limiting the aircraft's ability to tolerate improper loading.  The design's roots as a bomber are also considered culpable for frequently collapsing nosegear; its strength was adequate for an aircraft that dropped its payload in flight before landing on a well-maintained runway, but it proved marginal for an aircraft making repeated hard landings on rugged unimproved airstrips while heavily loaded.
Despite its shortcomings and unpopularity among its crews, the C-87 was valued for the reliability of its Pratt & Whitney engines, superior speed that enabled it to mitigate significantly the effect of head and cross winds, a service ceiling that allowed it to surmount most weather fronts, and range that permitted its crews to fly "pressure-front" patterns that chased favourable winds.
The RY-3 was a C-87 with the single tail and seven-foot fuselage stretch of the PB4Y-2 Privateer.  39 were built, and were used by the RAF Transport Command No. 231 Squadron (where they were designated Liberator C.IX), U.S. Marine Corps, and one was used by the RCAF.
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 20 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Freddie's Privateer Express was the first of what was to become a sizeable fleet of aircraft flying under the zenrat industries banner.  It led a hard life and was retired from active service in 1953 when faster and more efficient aircraft were added to the fleet.  Upon retirement the aircraft was overhauled and became the first of zi's reserve fleet; an eclectic mix of aircraft that while no longer required for everyday use occasionally came in handy.  The reserve fleet went on to become the core of the Dadswell Bridge people's aviation museum.
Consolidated Privateer Express - Old No. 1  - 21 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
With apologies to Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_C-87_Liberator_Express

[Old Wombat]

 

[Tophe]

  I always like when a bomber turns civilian, even if the back story relates this to war...
This big nose (without turret anymore) is... "clean", nice somehow.

[NARSES2]

Come out well mate 

[Dizzyfugu]

That upper green is surreal, and I like the subtle, overpainted stars and bars on the nose. 

[chrisonord]

Absolutely marvellous  Fred
Chris

[PR19_Kit]

I like that VERY much. 

The backstory needs considerable effort to discern where reality begins and ends....... 

[kerick]

I like that VERY much. 

The backstory needs considerable effort to discern where reality begins and ends....... 

Exactly right about that!
Great work!

[63cpe]

Nice! Very well done, Fred. Love the story and will stick to this with the privateer COD.story.

David aka 63cpe

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.

I was very lazy (and to be honest, lacking in inspiration - the words just wouldn't come out of my fingers last night) and just lifted the entire middle section from the Wikipedia page.

Dizz, the base for the green was Vallejo Panzer Olive which I "faded" with Vallejo Portland Stone.  The underside is Vallejo USAF Light Grey again with Portland Stone.  The overpainting is the green or the grey without the stone added.

[McColm]

Great work 

[zenrat]

Thanks Mac.