B-24 Liberator Willow Run Assembly Plant
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2009
- The manufacturing and construction production video for the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. This video is about the Ford Motor Company production plant at Willow Run for B-24's before and during World War II. Ford Motor Company manufactured and built B-24 Liberators under license from Consolidated Aircraft Company. Production rates were so great at the Ford Willow Run plant, that a new B-24 rolled off the production line every 55 minutes.
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
My father-in-law (CPT Richard "Gene" Adkins) was a B-24 "Liberator" Pilot in WWII. He flew (28) missions over Germany and Western Europe in this ship. It gives me chills to think that one of the planes in this video could have actually been his. We are truly blessed and honored to have had Gene in our lives (we lost him in 2004.) ~ Thank you for posting this video!
My grandfather flew a b24 in indo china. Burma India. I thank Ford for Bringing my grandfather home safely. He said it was quite a plane. My grandfather never flew again after the war, but he told us so many stories. He bombed japanese bridges. He passed at 92 a few years ago. God bless those pilots of ww2.
Just did an interview with my Grandma about WW2, and she said she helped make these B-24 at Willow Run. Thank you for the great video.
Connor Sochocki Both my grandparents did too. They said they worked six 12-hour shifts per week with one day off. 72 hour workweeks made postwar civilian life seem like a vacation. I’m sure your Grandma felt the same way. It’s great you got to speak with her about it.
The number of parts of the plane relative to an automobile is staggering. One every 55 minutes. All this mass production BEFORE computers, TQM, 6 Sigmas, etc. Incredible!
My Dad was a Bombardier/Navigator in a B-24. 9th Bomb Squadron/10th Air force. Flew "the Hump" in India. I have some great pic's he took when he was 19! Great story of how a great aircraft was built. I had no idea they built so many! Great film.
May 9, 1945... my uncle, Lieutenant R.B. Anderson, Jr., was co-pilot of a Lib that flew a successful bombing mission on Marcus Island (an isolated atoll with a Japanese airstrip) and they were shot down. They crashed into the Pacific. All aboard were lost. Patrol Squadron 14, Bomb Squad 102, Patrol Bomb Squad 102, "The Reluctant Dragons." My grandparents were informed that Ben (who had been a college student at Williams College) was MIA on their wedding anniversary. At first, the crash was considered pilot error, and my grandfather flew around the entire country to speak with the families of the rest of the crew that died. Many would not speak to him. Finally, it was accepted that they were shot down. But, those that shunned my grandfather never apologized to him. War is hell in so many ways.
When this country is challenged and is willing to take it on, there are no limits!
Be glad, very glad, that you have not been "challenged" yet on your own soil. That is completely different from "bringing democracy" to the other side of the world.
+Tillerman56 if you mean by "challenged" that the U. S. has not been invaded before, you are wrong. The United States has been invaded and was invaded during W. W. 2. The U. S. was invaded on both the east and west coast during W. W. 2. Check it out and find out when, where and how.
My father was an inspector at Willow Run, 1941-45.
My Uncle, 2 Lt John Daniel West, was a co-pilot on a B-24 in Sicily. He gave his life for his country.
Kind of shows us how we have given up being a productive and capable Country!!!
i used to go to offutt AFB in Omaha Nebraska. We were in the "Martin" building. Parts of it still had the floor made of wooden blocks. I was told the wooden blocks kept the vibrations low during the b-24 manufacturing process
Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And think of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
- Got this as a comment from a Yahoo! article on this bomber. Thought best to share it!
Words to a great song that I had forgotten about till I saw your post.
I would have loved to have sat in the same room with him...Honor and respect to Louie Zamparini and my dads generations. And again Thank-you for the post.
The logistic of such a feat defies the imagination, as well as the capabilities of today. It shows what a widespread sense of innovation, duty and diligence can accomplish.. 2015/01/14
That place is part of Detroit/Wayne County Airport now. I new old timers that worked there. I was impressed: the plant was built at a slight slope a half a mile long. About 5 guys could actually push the plane to the next build station. As they got pushed out the back, they were fueled and "test flown" to California... mostly by women btw. So Yes, they were all "thoroughly tested"....lol. One is in Lake Mead. Typical FoMoCo testing parameters. (Found On Road, Dead.) (Sorry, i mean no offense to the workers or Pilots.)
Some had drastic failures before and during their duties, but they overall did the task. I pray the world never gets into anything like that again. Ever!
B-24 and Ford...........All American, Hell Ya!
My Grandfathers cousin was a rear Gunner on a B-24 UnFortunaltey the Bomber crashed just north of Toretta Field he was killed in the crash . They had just come back from a Bombing Run on Germany .
My grandfather from Kansas who was serving in the Army met my grandmother who was working on the line at the WR plant. Ive heard many stories about the place from them. Not to mention the inspiration of Rosie came from there.
Both my grandfathers on either parents sides were gunners on a B-24J gunners one of them was a frontal gunner and one of them was a tail turret operator.
The man responsible for engineering the process to build a "bomber an hour" was Charles Sorensen of Ford Motor.
Nov. 11, 2019---Anyone out there build model airplanes? Shepperd Paine was a famous modeler and he did a 1/48th factory scene of a B-26 being built, with several Rosie the Riveters taking a break around it.
Thing is, with today's technology, if the U.S. or any other country ever went to war like we did in WW 2, there's NO WAY we'd ever be able to mass produce everything like they did back then.
Thanks for the video. As to those thumb downers, these and other short films like it were probably shown at movie theaters across the nation to help booster civilian morale and help sell more war bonds.
The sound of those engines are cool!
+philipbuster12 'The sound of those engines IS cool' not are. You're referring to the sound (singular) not the engines (plural).
I was an RAAF pilot in WW2,did two ops tours on Blenheims and Baltimores in the Middle East with the RAF during 1941/4,returned to Australia,was sent to Tocumwal in NSW as a Flying Instructor on Libs.Whoever built the many Libs I flew did a damn good job.They flew well but a bit sluggish after the Balts. Tony T.
I worked there for 30 years when it was a G.M. plant you could still see a lot of history in that place. To bad they tore it down around 2010.
My family ran a machine shop in our house basement where we made B26 bomber parts for Glen L Martin co. My father was a huge fan of production manufacturing as were other small machine shop owners in Baltimore.we also stamped out thousands of aluminium washers for the B24 bomber Henry Ford and Willow Run was their God and heaven.
Amazing piece of film! Thanks for posting! I went to the Ford museum a few years ago.Henry ford was a huge fan of aviation and the contributions to aviation from Ford are amazing The Ford Tri-Motor pioneered several major aviation's firsts like tail wheels and main gear brakes (one led to the other! lol!)
8685 of my favorite plane ever, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, half of all the B-24's made, were made here in Ypsilanti MI... Amazing!
Auggie,
I think you mean the PB4Y Privateer. That was the maritime patrol version of the B-24.
The PBY was the Catalina.
You got me all excited as Planes of Fame is looking for a PBY Catalina for static display.
Amazing to see how these things were put together by man and so many of them as well.
This is truly amazing. Ford did a great thing during WW2. Huge help and a great turning point for women in the work force.
Louie Zamparini was the featured speaker at our Planes of Fame Taste of Flight event in 2011. A very interesting and funny man.
When things were done right
My father was a waist gunner on a B-24 in the 450th Bomb Group/15th AF stationed in Manduria, Italy from 1943 till the end of the war in Europe. They were known as the "Cottontail Liberators" and were singled out in a speech Hitler gave to his troops which didn't help their survival rates afterward.
I grew up a Ford fan and found out many years later that my loyalty to Ford was not unfounded. Ford built the B-24H and J model that brought my father home so many times.
Hopefully you mean your loyalty was to the Ford brand and not Ford the person. Henry Ford was a virulently anti-semitic misogynist who admired Hitler. He supported the war effort because it made him huge profits. Respectfully, I think our loyalty should be directed to the thousands of women and men who designed and built the aircraft. My mother's brother-in-law was 19 yr old gunner on a B-24 flying from Pantanella Airfield. He was killed when his plane crashed on landing returning from a bombing raid over Vienna where it was damaged by flak.
Danielle Price
of course Danielle. I'm well aware of Ford's personal views towards Hitler and the Jews. Which, oh by the way, was shared by many people in America before we actually knew his(Hitler's) dark side. But your telling me that his only motivation for building war materials for us was profit is strictly your own opinion and is basically a strawman cause that could be said of any industrial tycoon during the war. You just choose to equate his admiration of Hitler(in the 1930's) and his anti-semetism with the fact that he made a profit on the war. Like a lot of businesses did. Including to a greater degree General Motors and Chrysler.
I'm sorry your mother's brother-in-law was killed. My dad lost his best friend, who was also the ball turret gunner, when he was blown out of the turret by flak.
@@danielleprice6936 Wouldn't your mothers brother inlaw be your uncle?
Always enjoy these old WWII era films, newsreels, etc. Here's a fun fact to show how durable the B-24 was: The Indian Air Force was still operating them in active service until 1968.
My father was an engineer for Consolidated and did extensive work on the B-24. He told me that Ford, used to building cars, had originally decided to drill elliptical (oval) holes for the rivets in the plane as they did for cars - it made assembly of cars go faster, since parts didn't need to line up perfectly. They didn't realize that aircraft construction had to be done to very tight tolerances! A major goof that was thankfully caught before construction began.
My Grandfather's B24 was built there. The Lilli Marlene, 44th bomb group, 67th squadron. My 91 Buick Roadmaster was also built there, 50 years apart to the week. The automatic transmissions in 5 cars I have owned have been built there also.
Yes, Frank, my brother was a waist gunner on one of the "TRAPS" during WWII in the Pacific War Theatre serving 36 bombing missions.
Willow Run Air Port is STILL in operation today, (Not the B24 assembly plant, though). This is the home of the Yankee Air Force, and Museum, and the home of the B17, 'Yankee Lady'. Seen it several times. Sweeeeeeeeet! haven't seen a B24 though, but, I'm sure it is impressive.
Very informative. It's a damn shame that they were mostly destroyed, or sold for scrap with only a few remaining.
Thank you for posting. I passed the video on via social media.
My Mom worked at Consolidated in San Diego. She worked on B-24s I am told.
My father also didn't fly after the war. He flew in these out of Venosa Italy as a ball turret gunner. Right on about those WWII vets.
!TJ Dozer: Thank-you for the upload, great historical information. I just completed reading the book "UNBROKEN" about the life of "Louie Zamperini" former Olympic medalist and WW2 B24 Navigator and his experience as B24 crew member and POW in Japan....I highly recommend this book Authored by Laura Hillenbrand...a most excellent read.
A time when industry wasn't hampered by large amounts of red tape & regulations resulting in things like this being achived with excellence for it's time...
Back when America could do things other than feel good about their feelings.
I used to work at the old Willow Run Plant for GM Hydramatic. The hangar doors were still there, 15 years ago anyway. I'm interested in why the former B-24 Pilot felt Libs made at Willow Run were not as high quality as those made elsewhere. They made M-16 assault rifles at Willow Run during the Vietnam War and they were higher quality than those made at Colt.
Hi,
Charley Sorensen proved he wasn't much of an engineer when he bought aluminum much thicker than specified, and was surprised the planes were to heavy to be accepted.
His stupid solution was to take the main wing spar out!
So a Ford (Charley Sorensen) built B-24 wing's drooped on the ground and flopped up and down 18' in flight, over 30% of their length, just like Dumbo; which is where the Air-Sea rescue panes got their nicknames, because they couldn't be used in combat or even for training.
Fantastic
Touché par la DCA un libérator a attéri dans les champs en 43/44 à Willem (59) . Incliné sur un coté, la sentinelle allemande nous a laissé monter à l'intérieur par une aile touchant le sol. Souvenir des mitrailleuses dont celle sur le toit commandée par une chaîne de vélo. La mairie de Willem doit certainement avoir gardé une archive !
David; This was interesting.
Who's "David"???
Going to get tattoo of B-24
@chaghar
The aircraft were combat ready when the exited the factory door.
Whenever possible, newly formed aircrews delivered the new aircraft,
the remaining aircraft were flown by ferry crews to England from the US.
My dad flew a bomber in WWII for the Navy. He was in the Philippines. He never talked about his military service, so I don't know any more than that.
Funny (and sad) how there are 302 dislikes on a Ford video.
349...two yrs later! Not bad, not bad!
cranium2001 i
cranium2001 They're probably communists who don't like capitalism and the rewards it brings if you're a hard working person.
Tribute to American knowhow, determination and prowess. This is good historical root of what American Exceptionalism is all about.
The Ford-built B-24s were superbly crafted; any issues regarding this plane had to do with its DESIGN not its MANUFACTURE.
Not one of these planes ever crashed or even malfunctioned because Ford put in some cheap, junky part or the men and women on the line did a bad job, if anything the B-24s made at Willow Run (and also at their other factories) were precisely the sort of thing that showed American greatness at its best especially under the pressure of wartime deadlines.
The crews hated these planes
More guys died in non combat mission in these than in combat.
They didn't call it the Lib they called it the flying box car
rbspider
Furniture vans
Not true. My Dad flew them in WWII and was very happy to be at the controls of one. They weren’t “hated” at all.
I applaud you’re enthusiasm but you are inaccurate with a couple statements. 1.Of the pilots that flew both the 24 and the 17, most said it was more maneuverable and much faster than the B-17. Jimmy Stewart for one. The B-24 does look boxy, but the “flying Boxcar” was and is the Fairchild C-119, also affectionately known to aircrew as “the dollar nineteen”.
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
Because you are reading this in English, thank a soldier.
Richard Lead Amen, Brother 🇺🇸
We went to Republic Fields, L.I. from England to fly on Witchraft in 2009 - FANTASTIC PLANE!! See my B24 Liberator Beast of Bourbon Memorial 36 BS "The Gremlins" 7/5/11 England
Amazing, isn't it?
Union labor and government running a war and war effort and it was actually all rather well done!!!
I've always thought that the B-24 is a beautiful plane. Much more than the B-17, even though my dad help build the 17s.
Yankee Air Museum is attempting to save part of the Willow Run bomber plant. It's hoped that they can purchase a portion and save this piece of history from the wrecking ball. Please check their website or contact them directly.
All for a heck bent rush to scrap em all after the war as fast as possible.
I challenge America to do something like this today!
They never managed to achieve build rates of one hour from start to finish -- what they actually achieved was an output of one per hour. That is a new plane came out the doors every 55 minutes or so, but the plane might have been on the production line for a week or more. I have never actually been able to find out the length of time taken to build either the B-17 or B-24. Anybody out there have any realistic figures ??????????????
Ford's B-24 Bomber Plant at WillowRun, Mich. Wonder if you knew that Ford had its own pilots to test the B-24 Liberators it was building for the ARMY at the rate of one every 55 MINUTES.
Here's a little bit of history for you aviation buffs.
This was BEFORE Pearl Harbor! Henry Ford was determined that he could mass produce bombers, just as he had done with cars. He built the WillowRun assembly plant and proved it. It was the world's largest building under one roof.
This film will blow you away - one B-24 every 55 minutes!
soaringtractor
Narrator says B-24 produced every 55 minutes. One came out of assembly every 55 minutes, but how long did it take for one B-24 to be built, start to finish? I think there were several lines.
Much preferred by the British to the B-17 which the RAF thought too slow and with an insufficient bomb-load. The few B-17s sent to the RAF were mostly used for anti-U-boat patrols.
This simply confirms the real "can do" spirit of Americans when they want to achieve something--anything. We need to reclaim our pride in workmanship and our patriotism--even at the risk of being "corny."
so did the liberators fly directly from the us to england or they were assembled i england?
The building and control tower shown at 3:25 is on Google Maps at 42.23712,-83.545544. Copy and paste those coordinates to see it yourself.
i was just there yesterday
@David Lance what?
The B-24 Liberator is not a distance cousin or the B17. The b17 don't even classify with B-24.
To those who can remember the B-24 and all.
As of September 2013, the Willow Run Plant is now slated for demolition! If you would like to help preserve the last part of the plant, the bay and its doors where the bombers rolled out onto the airfield, please visit SAVETHEBOMBERPLANT . org. The plan is to save that part as the new home of the Yankee Air Museum, currently on the opposite side of the runway.
1 every 55 mins = all of the axis are screwed.
The front wheel did not turn they had to adjust the engines to make a turn
Hope we never need these plants again. We will have to ask Japan to build them for us.
Correction....Made in China* and they will be made out of plastic and they will last 6 months. they might even have stickers on them saying "Caution may be hazardous to small children if swallowed. do not leave small parts laying around"
beatles
My grand father was in the willow run and d day
That is the true America!
@FordGTGuy I realised I had used Churchill's inaccurate description just after I wrote it, I would of put constitutional democracy or constitutional Republic which are accurate but not as expansive & accessible to non-Americans. Democracy for Americans has an association with a Tyranny of the Majority, but you do use methods of limited & also local direct democracy within constitutional assertion of rights & rule of law under which there is balance of Liberty & equality based on Govt by consent
Built FORD tough !!!.
Good Day Gents,
Seems most have forgotten the most were Fairied to CA by (WOMAN PILOTS AND CREW)... My Mother work there until 1966
take a close look at 6:04 and on...landing marks in the grass..
Only 500 Characters?
The stories of Charley Soresen's ego are or were infamous in the engineering community for decades, in case anyone's curious.
My father overheard 2 AAF captains vow to each other on behalf of their wives that they would give up their wings rather than fly a Ford B-24.
Reuben H. Fleet knew there were problems before Pearl Harbor because Charley refused to listen, it wasn't until well after Sorensen was fired in August '43 that the problems were fixed and WR produced finally.
For the rest of the world, Willow Run is in Michigan.
This plant is being torn down. The Yankee Air Museum (aviation museum and preservation group that has several WWII aircraft and puts on an annual airshow) is trying to buy and save the final portion of the plant where the planes left the assembly line. They need $8 million and have already raised $6 million. The deadline is coming up. Here's the website for more information (www.savethebomberplant.org/). It would become the new home of the museum......what a perfect use for an historic structure and monument to the Greatest Generation.
@cynsmi These were built by an entirely union workforce, coordinated by the government (which I'm sure you loudly proclaim can't do anything).
No cure for stupid.
ॐ om shanti om
Quem mais veio pelo aviões e músicas?
If we build stuff that breaks their stuff faster than they can replace it - we win?
War sure is good for business, ain't it?
Ford tough... though the B-17 was tougher...
It takes them YEARS to build a plane these days
@FordGTGuy Good comment, calling me up on that. If you are interested in Constitutionalism & a better system for determining money supply ("Unified theory of money; solving Paradox in our conception of money" series is on my channel about organisational economics with a focus on the fractional reserve banking system vs co-operative monetary models i.e on each citizen having a share in monetary system) there are also many videos on constitutionalism if you like any of my videos please subscribe
Escort for B-17's
@infokemp
US the arsenal of the Republic.*
We've never been a Democracy.
@cynsmi: You have it backwards, mate. Strict government airworthiness regulations and skilled union labor are what made U. S. war materiel the best in the world. You don't have to imagine what the U. S. is like now, with de-regulation and union-busting, because you're living in it, bucko, and what trickles down is thin and brown and doesn't smell so good.
Ford Motors had a lot of money. Why didn't the Corporation stash a couple of these away for safe keeping after 1945 as a memorial for ther war contribution?
How can you be so good at building planes and not so good at cars?