A72-176 did not see combat, but was used by No. 7 Operational Training Unit to train B-24 crews. At the war’s end most B-24’s were no longer required and were scrapped for their metal which was then melted down for more urgent use. So much metal was required for the war effort that once peace came it was put back into essential items for daily life from pots and pans to cars and the like. Luckily A72-176 avoided this fate as it was required for use as a geographic survey aircraft before its last flight to RAAF East Sale in 1946 where it remained as an instructional airframe until 1948.
Although a suitable B-24 airframe was located in 1988, the restoration project did not commence in earnest until 1995 with the recovery of the airframe from a property in Moe, Victoria where it had sat for the last 47 years. At some stage the owner had been living in it while his house was built! Later it became a chicken shed!
A lot of hard work and long hours have gone into this big project and although the Liberator is being restored to its original appearance (it is looking fantastic) it will not be to flight condition (it is too rare to risk). The intention is to have the B-24 be capable of starting the engines up for taxiing purposes only and for it to displayed in a museum
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/restoring-the-last-surviving-raaf-consolidated-b-24-liberator.html/4
https://acesflyinghigh.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/remnants-of-the-vietnam-war-wrecks-captured-aircraft/
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