Fords willow run bomber plant, designed by albert kahn and constructed in 1941, undoubtedly contributed to the outcome of world war ii. A new home in a preserved portion of the willow run plant will provide a home for the yankee air museums flyable historic aircraft. Over the course of the war, the hospital handled more than two million medical cases. Although the yankee air museums focus so far has been military aviation, the move to the bomber plant isnt about creating a bigger museum of that type. The willow run plant was famous to americans as part of the arsenal of democracy that helped us win world war 2. Originally 975 acres of farmland owned by henry ford, the site was developed by the ford motor company into. Apr 29, 2016 lets celebrate all things rosie and lets save a small piece of her willow run bomber plant as a new home for the yankee air museum. Steady of eye and hand, women workers at the great willow run bomber plant are among those throughout the country who are relieving serious shortages of skilled workers by doing such semiskilled jobs as the one shown here.
The willow run plant was the workplace of rose will monroe, the iconic rosie. We are currently renovating the historic willow run bomber plant near detroit, michigan to become a new home for the yankee air museum. Jun 17, 20 the former willow run bomber plant in ypsilanti township built by henry ford to make planes for the u. Held less than a mile away from the site of the willow run wwii bomber plant, the gathering attracted a great breadth of classic american cars, trucks, and planes. Dennis norton, founder of the yankee air museum, and randy hotton, the museums former director, talked about the history of the willow run bomber plant, and why the museum is trying to rescue. The yankee air museum is proud to present this documentary, produced by stone bridge productions, to preserve the memory of those heroic women and men workers, visionaries, and innovators who served there. Jan 24, 2019 despite how smoothly the plant ran, putting out a bomber an hour still wasnt an easy feat. B24 liberator assembly line at ford willow run bomber plant. Willow run was built in 1941 after the ford motor company came to an agreement with the federal government to start building b24 bombers. In 20, reports emerged of negotiations between the museum and the racer trust that would see the museum into a section of the former bomber plant. Today, there are efforts to preserve this historical plant. Michigan air museum yankee air museum southeast michigan. The historic willow run plant produced b24 bombers at the staggering rate of one.
After successful fundraising, the museum reopened in 2017 in the historic building. A portion of the eastern end of the willow run plant would be preserved, and along with part of willow run airports hangar building, become the new home of the yankee air museum. They built nearly 10,000 in just a couple years at willow run. Yankee air museums historic plane rides feature the b17 yankee lady and b25 yankee warrior bombers, the c47 hairless joe skytrain, the uh1 huey, and the openair cockpit waco biplane. Henry ford and his crew of industrial engineers showed the world how to build b24 bombers literally twenty five time faster than it was thought possible. In the following pages you will see the many photos and the history of the willow run b24 liberator manufacturing plant. The willow run bomber plant recently marked a milestone in its rebirth. There were not a great number of people living within a few miles of the new plant who were looking for jobs. The mighty eithth airforce world war ii by warren benjamin kidder. Thousands of rosie the riveters plan to gather in ypsilanti to try and set another world record.
Henry ford for declaring that his willow run bomber plant could turn. The story of the yankee air museum begins in 1941 when willow run airport was built by the ford motor company to serve as an airfield for their b24 bomber plant. Although there was very rough beginnings for this plant it had a huge impact on ypsilanti. Thank you for helping us turn historic willow run into a museum. Willow run is an albert kahndesigned world war ii bomber plant near ypsilanti. With tremendous assistance from the yankee air museum, this book presents a pictorial history of willow run during world war ii. Willow run reference book third edition compiled by members of plant guide staff. The willow run bomber plant opened in 1941 and produced over 8,600 b24 liberator bombers, a key element of the allied arsenal in world war ii. This was the first aircraft manufacturing complex to use fords automotive mass production technique, a. We are raising funds for our campaign to save the willow run bomber plant near ypsilanti, michigan, to become the future new home of the yankee air museum. Willow run, also known as air force plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in michigan.
A great place to touch, feel, and interact with some of the most amazing aircraft throughout aviation history. Sequel to willow run the colossus of industry about the construction of the b24 liberator. At the beginning of world war ii, henry ford was given the task of creating the largest b24 bomber plant in the world to make warplanes. Book an air adventure on one of our five historic aircraft and take a ride into history. It has acquired a 144,000 squarefoot chunk of the former willow run bomber plant, a wwiiera. Willow run reference book by willow run bomber plant. Dennis norton, founder of the yankee air museum, and randy hotton, the museums former director, talk about the history of the willow run bomber plant, and why the museum is trying to rescue this. The yankee air museum and the yankee air museum foundation are 501c3 nonprofit organizations. Despite how smoothly the plant ran, putting out a bomber an hour still wasnt an easy feat. The books are willow run, colossus of american industry, alaska, and the mighty eighth air force, world war ii. Held less than a mile away from the site of the willow run wwii bomber plant, the gathering attracted a. Along with the b17, the b24 formed the backbone of the allies air war over europe. So read lilys crossing first before you read willow run. Our aircraft fly from may to october so act now to check off that bucket list item.
The historic plant is undergoing a radical transformation. Willow run is the legendary b24 bomber plant near ypsilanti, michigan, which was a focal point of the arsenal of democracy during wwii. Sorensen, fords director of production during ww2, conceived the idea of manufacturing the giant b24 liberator bomber at the unbelievable rate of one an hour. There are many rumors around town about why fords willow run wwii b24 assembly line takes a 90degree turn at the end, enabling the finished bombers to exit the plant on the washtenaw side of the county line but heres the real story. With nationwide support, weve succeeded in our initial goal to purchase and preserve our part of the plant, and are now shifting our efforts to raising the funds needed to renovate the interior and begin building. March 22, 2014 editor aviation museum news, yankee air museum 2 fitting the tail of a transport plane to the wing center section in the fuselage mating fixture at the consolidated aircraft corporation plant, fort worth, texas. Willow run is an albert kahndesigned world war ii bomber plant near ypsilanti, michigan. Your donation today will help us turn the historic willow run bomber plant into the future home of the yankee air museum. A look at the map reveals that the old bomber plant lies snug up against the. To care for the plants workforce, willow run maintained an onsite hospital with eight doctors, 40 nurses, and a dentist. It is the place where meggie and her family move to help america win the war ww ii.
Aviation is a part of all of us, and the yankee air museum offers something for everyone. Willow run reference book third edition compiled by members of plant guide staff february 1, 1945 extract from espionage act the enclosed information is strictly confidential and should be regarded as such. Book an air adventure on one of our four historic aircraft and fly where heroes have flown. Before the plant closed in 1945, willow run produced 8,685 b24 bombers.
However with the war now over there was not much need for building bombers, and the population of the plant and ypsilanti dropped significantly by the end of 1945. Dennis norton, founder of the yankee air museum, and randy hotton, the museum s former director, talked about the history of the willow run bomber plant, and why the museum is trying to rescue. By the spring of 1944, willow run was producing a fourengine b24 bomber each hour on an assembly line. Willow run, also known as air force plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in michigan, located between ypsilanti township and belleville, constructed by the ford motor company for the mass production of aircraft, especially the b24 liberator heavy bomber. The remaining four hours were used to restock parts and change tooling. The inaugural wings and wheels show at willow run airport near ypsilanti, michigan presented the finest in aviation and automotive eye candy. Djs handpick music events, politics, environment 89. But no project captured the publics imagination like willow run, where ford motor company built one b24 liberator airplane every 63 minutes. In response, the save the bomber plant campaign was created to preserve a critical portion of the plant, and then use it to tell the amazing story of willow run to future generations as well as provide an exciting new permanent home for the yankee air museum and its historic flyable wwiiera aircraft. For the first time in more than 50 years, three iconic planes were moved back inside the historic willow run bomber plant in ypsilanti township, mich. Randy hotton, a graduate of michigan state university and. Jan 07, 2019 the yankee air museum and the michigan aerospace foundation are engaged in numerous activities and fundraising events to preserve the historic willow run bomber plant as the new home for an. Architect albert kahn designed the main structure of the willow run bomber plant, which had 3,500,000 square feet 330,000 m2 of factory space, and an. Ben has also written a movie script about the mighty eighty air force which is in production as of 422012.
United states office of war information, rosener, a. Many of the workers came to willow run from farms and from little towns and crossroads. In a strategic campaign, the airplanes and their crews attacked factories, railroads, harbors and as the war progressed cities in germany, italy and occupied france. Help the yankee air museum save the willow run bomber plant. With nationwide support, weve succeeded in our initial goal to purchase and preserve our part of the plant, and are now shifting our efforts to raising the funds. This was the first aircraft manufacturing complex to use fords automotive mass production technique, a leading technological innovation of the time. The yankee air museum and the michigan aerospace foundation are engaged in numerous activities and fundraising events to preserve the historic willow run bomber plant as. Top nasa images solar system collection ames research center. After several years of effort, the yankee air museum now officially owns the remaining 144,000 square foot section of the old ford bomber plant at willow run in ypsilanti, michigan. In 2004, a fire tore through the yankee air museum in southeast michigan, damaging or. Yankee air museum takes ownership of willow run plant. Willow run is also the name of this book, which is part 2 to the story lilys crossing. They came to willow run from main and from californiafrom all of the fortyeight states in the union, and from canada, hawaii, and puerto rico.
For information on save the bomber plant and rosie the riveter events, please visit the events page on. Discover a southeast michigan gem, the yankee air museum. The willow run bomber plant had many problems at startup, due in part to the mindsets and technical skills of both management and labor, who were each accustomed to the requirements of auto production, finding it difficult at first to adapt to the higher precision required in aircraft production. Workers came from all over to work at the plant in willow run, and so he created willow run village for them to live.
Save the bomber plant our current efforts are focused on the preservation of a portion of the historic wwii willow run bomber plant as the future new home of the yankee air museum. Willow run bomber plant the henry ford henry ford museum. Run arising from the wartime surge in the worker population in their book of 1952. See more ideas about rosie the riveter, lets celebrate and ypsilanti michigan. B24 liberator assembly line at ford willow run bomber. Whether you are planning a family outing or an educational field trip, our southeastern michigan air museum is the perfect destination.
Henry ford already owned most of the 3,000 acres of farmland, straddling the two counties, that would soon comprise the colossal plant with its milelong assembly line, adjacent willow run airport, and a us. B24s under construction at ford motors willow run plant. Michigans yankee air museum celebrates rosie the riveter and. When meggies father moves to willow run to take a job building planes, meggie desperately misses her home.
Historic plane rides yankee air museum southeast michigan. The willow run book covers the building of the willow run b24 liberator factory near detroit. The fivemillion square foot willow run plant was closed in 2010 as part of gms bankruptcy proceedings. How detroit went from motor city to the arsenal of democracy. Due to its large file size, this book may take longer to download. Wwii riveters return one last time to bomber plant. Construction of the willow run bomber plant began in 1940 and was completed in 1942. Shop here and support our campaign to save the willow run bomber plant.
B24 liberator willow run assembly plant in michigan run. Focuses on the ford willow run b24 bomber plant and the. Spot welding parts for the nacelle of an aircraft engine. A campaign called save the bomber plant was created to preserve a critical portion of the plant and repurpose it as the yankee air museum, which will tell the story of willow run and store wwiiera aircraft save the willow run plant. If you are looking for rosie world record photos and keepsakes, click here to shop at j. May 02, 2014 the willow run bomber plant was conceived of in 1940, and, for the most part, built in 1941 prior to pearl harbor, in expectation of war. After a museum is destroyed, a historic world war ii factory is getting. B24 liberator willow run assembly plant in michigan run by. In 1981, a group of aviation enthusiasts established the yankee air museum about a mile away from the original bomber plant.
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