Mike,
That picture you posted is of a VERY important B-24. 41-23765 became known as "Connell's Special" and was the first B-24 to be equipped with a nose turret. A very good history of this modification can be read here:
http://www.ploiesti.net/page11.html
This old girl was a good bargain to the American taxpayer, as she survived combat and then became a trainer. Here are a few pictures:
Original paint with turret modification:
Paint removed while still in the combat zone, and with a fairly impressive scoreboard:
And in her final role as a B-29 gunnery training machine. Notice that the tailwheel is still doing it's job!
I was once told that a number of Libs in the SWPA had some form of tailwheel or roller mounted on the standard tail bumper--the standard tail skid would easily snag the pierced steel planking that was normal for runway surfaces, and the rollers would alleviate this problem.
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