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planettomHuron Valley AIA Tour. June 14 2018.
Ford's B-24 Liberator plant, Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti Michigan.
Originally 4 million square feet. 97% has been demolished, but the remaining 3% will be the new site of the Yankee Air Museum, with 4 times the floor-space of the current museum. 8000+ B-24 Liberators were made here. Only 4 of the B-24s made here still exist today. Plant was constructed from 1940 to 1942.
Production began summer 1941 (June 16), components only.
By October 1941 Ford was producing complete Liberators.
Production went through May 1945.
By the end, B-24 bombers were being turned out at a rate of 1 per hour.
There was a chain drive that towed the plane through the assembly line.
At the end, they'd be weighed on a scale and then the 42-ton final door
would be raised and they've be driven under their own power to the flight
test hanger (which is where the current day Yankee Air Museum's
flyable planes are now stored).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Run
http://www.savethebomberplant.org/
See also the book
The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War (2014) A.J. Baime
https://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Democracy-Detroit-Quest-America-ebook/dp/B00FJ5EPVG/.
Video 1 - 13 seconds - inside the building.
Video 2 - 18 seconds - inside the building.
Video 3 - 19 seconds - inside the building.
Video 4 - 21 seconds - Big door opening.
Video 5 - from outside the bomber plant - 14 seconds.
Video 6 - 12 seconds - inside the bomber plant.
Video 7 - 77 seconds - final large door opening.
Or https://flic.kr/p/25sJfKf (Final big door opening 77 seconds)
Video 8 - 21 seconds - In the flyable aircraft hanger.
Video 9 - In the flyable aircraft hanger - 16 seconds.
Or
https://flic.kr/p/JyMMxc (Inside 13 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJnYJ (Inside 18 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/289nHgj (Inside 19 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJjeE (Big door opening 21 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/289nEmb (Outside 14 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJgYC (Inside 12 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfKf (Final big door opening 77 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfH1 (Flyable airplane hanger 21 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfnS (Flyable airplane hanger 16 seconds)
Photos: https://planettom.dreamwidth.org/10563.html
Ford's B-24 Liberator plant, Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti Michigan.
Originally 4 million square feet. 97% has been demolished, but the remaining 3% will be the new site of the Yankee Air Museum, with 4 times the floor-space of the current museum. 8000+ B-24 Liberators were made here. Only 4 of the B-24s made here still exist today. Plant was constructed from 1940 to 1942.
Production began summer 1941 (June 16), components only.
By October 1941 Ford was producing complete Liberators.
Production went through May 1945.
By the end, B-24 bombers were being turned out at a rate of 1 per hour.
There was a chain drive that towed the plane through the assembly line.
At the end, they'd be weighed on a scale and then the 42-ton final door
would be raised and they've be driven under their own power to the flight
test hanger (which is where the current day Yankee Air Museum's
flyable planes are now stored).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Run
http://www.savethebomberplant.org/
See also the book
The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War (2014) A.J. Baime
https://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Democracy-Detroit-Quest-America-ebook/dp/B00FJ5EPVG/.
Video 1 - 13 seconds - inside the building.
Video 2 - 18 seconds - inside the building.
Video 3 - 19 seconds - inside the building.
Video 4 - 21 seconds - Big door opening.
Video 5 - from outside the bomber plant - 14 seconds.
Video 6 - 12 seconds - inside the bomber plant.
Video 7 - 77 seconds - final large door opening.
Or https://flic.kr/p/25sJfKf (Final big door opening 77 seconds)
Video 8 - 21 seconds - In the flyable aircraft hanger.
Video 9 - In the flyable aircraft hanger - 16 seconds.
Or
https://flic.kr/p/JyMMxc (Inside 13 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJnYJ (Inside 18 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/289nHgj (Inside 19 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJjeE (Big door opening 21 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/289nEmb (Outside 14 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJgYC (Inside 12 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfKf (Final big door opening 77 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfH1 (Flyable airplane hanger 21 seconds)
https://flic.kr/p/25sJfnS (Flyable airplane hanger 16 seconds)
Photos: https://planettom.dreamwidth.org/10563.html
