BUILDING THE B-24 BOMBER DURING WWII " STORY OF WILLOW RUN " 74182
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Made by the Ford Motor Company during WWII, "The Story of Willow Run" explains the company's role in producing the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Narrated by Harry Wismer, the film explains how Ford manufactured and built B-24 Liberators under license from Consolidated Aircraft Company. Production rates were so great at the plant that a new B-24 rolled off the production line every 55 minutes.
The plant began production in summer 1941; the dedication plaque is dated June 16. The plant initially built components; Douglas Aircraft and the plane's designer Consolidated Aircraft assembled the finished aircraft. Remote assembly proved problematic, and by October 1941 Ford received permission to produce complete Liberators. Willow Run's Liberator assembly line ran through May 1945, building almost half of all the Liberators produced.
In early 1941 the Federal government established the Liberator Production Pool Program to meet the projected demand for the B-24, and the Ford company, joined the program shortly thereafter. Ford Motor would not only build the bombers, it would supply the airfield as well; the farm at Willow Run was an ideal location for the airfield's runways.
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 aircraft assembly line over a mile long. It was thought to be the largest factory under one roof anywhere in the world. The Willow Run plant featured a large turntable two-thirds of the way along the assembly line, allowing the B-24 production line to make a 90° turn before continuing to final assembly.
Despite intensive design efforts led by Ford production executive Charles E. Sorensen, the opening of the plant still saw some mismanagement and bungling, and quality was uneven for some time. Although the Ford Trimotor had been a success in the 1920s, the company had since shied away from aviation, and initially, Ford was assigned to provide B-24 components with final assembly performed by Consolidated at its Fort Worth plant, or by fellow licensee Douglas Aircraft at its Tulsa, Oklahoma plant. However, in October 1941 Ford received permission from Consolidated and the Army to assemble complete Liberators on its own at its new Willow Run facility. Even then it would take nearly a year before finished Liberators left the factory.
A 1943 committee authorized by Congress to examine problems at the plant issued a highly critical report; the Ford Motor Company had created a production line that too closely resembled an automobile assembly line "despite the warning of many experienced aircraftmen."
Although the jumping of an automotive company into aircraft production posed these quality problems, it also brought remarkable production rates. The plant held the distinction of being the world's largest enclosed "room." The first Ford-built Liberator rolled off the Willow Run line in September 1942; the first series of Willow Run Liberators was the B-24E.Henry Ford was cantankerous and rigid in his ways. He was violently anti-union and there were serious labor difficulties, including a massive strike. In addition, Henry Ford refused on principle to hire women. However, he finally relented and did employ "Rosie the Riveters" on his assembly lines, probably more because so many of his potential male workers had been drafted into the military than due to any sudden development of a social conscience on his part
At the request of the government, Ford began to decentralize operations and many parts were assembled at other Ford plants as well as by the company's sub-contractors, with the Willow Run plant concentrating on final aircraft assembly. The bugs were eventually worked out of the manufacturing processes, and by 1944, Ford was rolling a Liberator off the Willow Run production line every 63 minutes, 24 hours a day,7 days a week.At its peak, Willow Run produced 650 B-24s per month. By 1945, Ford produced 70% of the B-24s in two 9-hour shifts. Ford produced half of the 18,000 total B-24s at Willow Run, and the B-24 holds the distinction of being the most produced heavy bomber in history. A total of 6,972 Liberators were built at Ford, and 1,893 knock-down parts were provided for other manufacturers.
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My Father was a ball-turret gunner on a B-17. Even though the B-17 was built by Boeing, he talked a lot about the miracle of Willow Run. He was shot down and captured in April, 1944. After the war he became a designer and was impressed by the assembly line method of production. He passed away in 2004. I just wish he could have seen this video.
We thank your dad for his brave service
I hoped that your dad recoded his advantural war life.
@@MohamedMohamed-li5jx He did. He kept a journal which detailed his experience as a P.O.W. and his forced march to freedom.
@@druegillis1744 Great. Can you upload it???
God bless your father and that he got back home to make you
Holy cow!!! The girl at 11:05 was my grandmother!!! My mom passed that broach to my sister. I remember when as a kid Grams use to joke and say she was famous during the war and in a movie. She also use to say she was a polished actress. I didn't know what that meant I was a kid but here she is polishing parts. I did recall she said she met gram pa at the plant and got married. I found out later he died in a accident at the plant when Grams was pregnant with mom. She was a red head but cant tell here its all in black and white
Sure kid
My Great Grandfather assembled 50 cals at the Tucson AZ plant!
Her whole career was a measly 3 seconds. Super famous.
I was an FAA air traffic controller at Willow Rum from 1978 until 1981. The history of the site was inescapable. When I was there working in the original control tower, the wooden moving compass rose platform was still visible on the field apron near where aircraft would have come off the assembly line in the '40s. This platform was used to finely calibrate the avionic instruments. Seeing this film brings back lots of memories for me.
Anyway -- I have fond memories of Willow Run. I lived not too far from there in the early 1990s. I took my dad to the old "Yankee Air Force" museum there, and they let him get in the cockpit of their B-25. He flew B-25s in the war. He said it was "like yesterday" -- his muscle memory knew where every knob and lever was. I had a nice chat with one of the volunteers. He was a tail gunner who, for some reason, had to land at a Soviet air strip, and he had a (more than) nice encounter with a female tank commander.
@@pulpmysteryfan it's nice that the female tankers took the time to make him feel welcome.
Was Kalitta Air there when you were?
im a FFA MEMBER hates off to you
@@stevenjones2371hate off to you too.
I am amazed by the sheer scale of the production line, commitment of its workers and the hard work everyone put in. These workers put the workforce of today to shame. What a beautiful Aircraft they produced in a short time.
My Pop, who passed 6 years ago just shy of 92, was on a B24 Liberator in WW11. His crew, which has a plaque in the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia where I reside flew missions out of England. Such a great and brave generation of warriors! I miss him very much! Thanks for this interesting video!
My father-in-law was a B-24 pilot as a very young man (early 20s) in WW2. He said they were a handful to fly, especially heavily loaded and in thin air at high altitude. It wanted to wander all over the sky, which made it especially challenging to fly in formation. He said it was like flying a dump truck. Like most of the WW2 generation he's gone now, having passed away in the 1990s. My generation's parents were the WW2 generation and I was honored to know many veterans of that war and heard some of their stories.
Thank you for sharing your memories of your dad! Truly the Greatest Generation!
@@Alanc419 What? The greatest generation? How so? Because they fought in war? Literally every generation has had wars fought.
Today we live in a golden age where things are only getting better.
To be so stupid as to think that the ways of the past somehow ensure "greatness" is short sighted.
Truly a sign of your great ignorance to the world around you.
A B-24 pilot once told me it was "a turd."
@@pulpmysteryfanHe made it home to tell you this. Not a turd I guess.
You can look at it and tell that it would be a handful. But they built them in vast numbers, so plenty of crews managed to make them work. The B-17 gets the glory, while the 24 was the workhorse. I salute those who took them up.
Find a copy of Charles Lindbergh's Wartime Journals. He was a consultant to Ford during the ramp up of B-24 manufacturing. One of the big things he had to do was convince Ford that building aircraft was not just like building cars. He also had to convince Ford that they should not deliver the B-24s with regular gasoline instead of aviation gasoline. The engines didn't run well on regular and the tanks had to be drained upon delivery so that the regular gasoline and the aviation gasoline wouldn't be mixed. Beyond that, he provided an interesting account of the initial visit to Consolidated to decide whether Ford would bid on the manufacturing contract. Consolidated was hand crafting the aircraft. Ford's chief industrial engineer was on the visit and he went back to the hotel room and essentially designed the Willow Run plant overnight. The film doesn't mention why the final assembly line included a right angle turn. If the line had remained straight it would have crossed into another county and the property tax bill would have been higher.
My dad flew 101 missions in a B24 during WW2 .. Thanks for the video..
I was a kid on a farm west of Willow Run during the war. We would see literally hundreds of these aircraft as well as many, many P-38s and C-119s as they were ferried to combat. I recently (2018) visited the Yankee Air Museum located on a portion of that site. Amazing story.
Once again, the greatest generation, God bless these people's who still bless us with their gifts.
Nah.
@@ML-xx9kc you're just jealous you wasn't part of it or a son or a daughter of someone that was part of it we had the best life that you will never understand nag
@@ML-xx9kc 777⁷⅞55 TY yp7qqft Cree
@@ML-xx9kc Probably one of the greatest periods in human history so yes
@@ML-xx9kcfrom the greatest to the 2 most useless millenials and gen. Z
My dad worked at Willow Run. 95 now, still tough as ever.
Very cool video! My Dad was a Navigator for the B-24 and B-29. My Mom installed oxygen lines in the B-24 before and during the war. Some 30 years ago I took my parents to an air show where there was a restored, flying B-24, and was able to go inside it. It was amazing.
These were rugged machines......I came across the B-24 Liberator museum at Werribee, Victoria Australia. Werribee is situated approximately 40 minutes from Melbourne. It is a fantastic project dedicated to these old birds. This project has been going on by dedicated people since 1994. The aircraft is housed in an original WWII hangar. The aircraft is almost complete. The 4 engines have been re built and tested and are ready to be installed on the aircraft. What an effort by the volunteers of this project. I can't speak highly enough of their dedication.
This was an incredible feat! My dad fought in WWII as an infantryman and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. I have always said this was The Greatest Generation. The folks like Henry Ford and all of those who used their skills and incredible ingenuity to build the machines and parts that supported the war effort were just as importantly members of The Greatest Generation!
Just AMAZING!... A completed B-24 coming off the assembly line at the rate of one every 55 minutes. All without computers or robotics...back when people had a different work ethic. So amazing. I had the privilege of working out at Willow Run Airport in the '80s on airfreight aircraft and had heard stories of the B-24 being built there but had no idea of the facts! When properly motivated people can do amazing things...Thank you for sharing!
I was there about that time to see the Yankee Air Force's new B-52 static display before I knew the full story of Willow Run. Wish I had toured THAT as well.
Most versatile bomber of the war anywhere!
Did you work for Kalitta Air?
My mother worked in the control tower as a flight controller at Willow Run and my dad had just come back from flying B-24's in the pacific, time was 1943, my dad was one of the pilots that tested the planes after they came of the assembly line. This is how he and my mother meant. 1-28-22, I just did some research on my dad during WW ll, he was shot down 3 time while flying in a B-24.
All those departures and no arrivals other than test flights!!
My Dad was a B-24 bomber test pilot for 2 years at Willow Run. He had been a Captain for Chicago and Southern ( later Delta) but quit to join the war effort in 1942 although he was a bit older than most at age 36. After that he went into the Air Transport Command for the duration of the war. He flew the wounded home from the European theater. He had tried to join the Army Air Corps but was deemed too short and too light to be a pilot, although he had been flying since 1926 and had more experience than most.
Though frustrating, still contributed to the war effort. My Dad wanted to join the newly formed USAF in 1947, but, due to a farming injury (punctured ear drum from a corn kernel), failed the flight physical, and enlisted in the Army, instead.
Carol Mills
I thought my Dad was old? 25 when he hit North Africa.. By younger guy's was Dad or Gramps. To 18,19 year olds? Your old!!..
Your grammar is terrible
My mom worked here building gryocompass's, She was a farm girl from the thumb. Same time she met my dad who worked for Chrysler. Truly hero's in my book like the rest of their generation perhaps never duplicated again.
Never duplicated again.
My step-dad was a famous bomber pilot in WW2. He flew the B-24 Liberators in the Ploesti Raid over Romania. He and his crew were very brave; staying on the job even when their fuel to get home was very low.
My Grandfather Eddie Mills flew on Liberators well - Pacific Theater- awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. His story was almost identical to that of Louis Zamparini except that he was not captured by the Japanese. As in that it was just a great guy from Southern California I was happy to be home at the end of the war and see his wife and daughter.
That is where the Nazis had their V2 rocket sites!
@@mikewhite9717 where?
@@mikewhite9717 You mean "V2 rocket sites!" were located at Willow Run?
@@WAL_DC-6B Wrong country!
My Dad was a Second Lieutenant, lead Bombardier in the 8th AAF. Flying out of England. I am proud of the risks he took. God rest his soul.
Never has the fate of so many depended upon the actions of so few ...
Genius! My Uncle was a Marine Corps Pilot and flew the B-24. He is 95 years old and still drives a stick shift Saab on the expressway and is usually wearing a brown leather bomber jacket. He dropped bombs on Tokyo!
What a champion he is!
The backbone that made America at its best!
My Uncle was a right gunner on B-29's out of North Field, spot K, Guam over to Tokyo also. I have his bombers mission reports. City of Spokan was the B-29's name.
Ed Dunne history of the men who made America victorious ! That’s a legacy!
Thanks for your service Uncle!
I didn’t think B24s bombed Tokyo?
My dad's brother Jule Reubens worked at Willow Run out in the gas house where the bomber's were fueled up for the first time. He & his wife Eva lived in a Detroit area trailer park for the duration of the war while he worked at Willow Run. When the war ended he said he went home hooked the trailer on to the 39 Ford he had & drove home to Gladstone in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There where my dad's family was from they raised 8 children after the war & he worked at the paper mill in Escanaba Mich. until his retirement . He enjoyed life & was a cool guy & had a lot of stories to tell always, he's passed on now & may he rest in piece forever.
my corvairs were made at willow run
Thanks for sharing, I find history fascinating when you can actually relate to the particular place and time through relatives and friends.
Greatest Generation. The Americans seen in this film were the embodiment of this title. Most are gone now. May God bless each and all of them and may we never forget their contributions to our nation.
Thanks for sharing!
Great information!
That's really cool. My dad was from Gladstone. Riased on a farm. I'll ask him if he knew any Reuben's.
In the late seventies I took Aeroscience in high school, the teacher was a retired USAF pilot who flew B-24's in the Pacific theater, the following is one of his many stories and sadly the only one I really remember.
Mr Roberts was stationed at an Army air corp base in Australia when the local tribe of Aboriginal peoples approached him asking if there was anything they could do to help , Mr Roberts not wanting to offend these folks replied they could wax his plane which had the standard rough camo paint, the next day just before they were to take off on their mission the base commander spotted his B-24 all shiny and pretty when it should have been drab & he was not happy but could scrubbed the mission so the shiny bomber took off, when they returned from the mission the CO proceeded to rip them a new ass and demand the wax be stripped from the plane, that is until the crew chief came in asking why they still had 20% of their fuel left, the only conclusion they could come up with was that the wax had increased the aerodynamic efficiency of the plane, the CO promptly had the entire wing waxed increasing the speed and fuel efficiency of the B-24's in his wing.
Mr Roberts taught science at Woodland CA high school during the seventies and early eighties.
Thanks for sharing.. How is you teacher now?
Flubs Dubz dead
I call aerobullshit.
MrFixitNow or later . Wax filled in all the little pits!
Wow awesome story thanks for sharing 😎 It is a proven fact that cleaning and waxing a surface increases aerodynamics. Some tests done on a dirty vs clean car, the clean car got 2 extra mpg. So not only did his plane look nice, it also increased distance, speed, handling and saved the government who knows how many thousands of dollars.
Interesting to see how far safety practices have come. Very few safety glasses were used back then. Only the Welders wore safety glasses. What an amazingly hard working generation!
No Win No Fee didn't exist.
I have the pleasure of still having my Dads logbook from WW11. He flew in Burma and was the Squadron Leader of an Air Sea Rescue crew of B-24's. My youngest daughter now has her Grandpa's logbook as she is now training to be a commercial Airline Pilot and Mount Royal University in Calgary. She never got to meet her Grandpa and we both would have love to have taken him for a flight. But Dad had some great stories of B-24 that he flew always said it was a great aircraft. He carried life rafts for downed flyers and gas to fill the wings. They stayed in the air for up to 16 hours on there missions. God Bless to all that flew and flew in this great aircraft and to the wonderful people at the Ford Plant spectacular assembly plant.
Sandy Mackenzie God bless you father , The Maple Leaf forever from Montreal
Hello from Edmonton - my Dad was in the Canadian army for Korean war
My mother and father both met at Willow run while working at the bomber plant, my father was involved with hooking up the gun turrets, and my mother was hooking up the wiring harnesses.
so your mother and father hooked up while hooking up? hehehe
Then they got hooked up to each other. Lol sorry I couldn't resist everyone is posting this response lol
"Hey, you 2 in the gun turret, stop hooking up!" Hook-up Foreman.
Certain it is a common story- but no less cute and joyous. Thanks for sharing.
Destroy the enemy.
WOW...An Absolutely amazing film.I am so incredibly thankful films like this have been preserved and digitized to last forever for future generations.This Assembly plant is an absolute Modern Marvel yet it is over 80 years ago.The ability to build one an hour,all those years ago is a truly amazing feat.I get a real pleasure from films like this.Thank you Periscope films..
Thank you Periscope Films for reminding people today about how it was yesterday.
This is very cool. My mother as well worked on the b24 liberator. She joined the women’s auxiliary core (WAC). She took the train and had to go somewhere in Kansas for boot camp. Then off to the assembly line. She said she put the splice in the aileron. I believe she also said that she was stationed in San Diego assembly line. Her inspiration to join was because of peal harbor. Her birthday was on December 7. You can imagine the impact that was. Thank you for sharing! By the way if someone out there has a roster of workers, my mother name was Elaine Ramsey at that time.
Absolutely amazing level of skill from American Engineers. I admire them hugely.
Very impressed with all the engineering expertise that went into producing the B-24. They made it look easy.
My Dad worked at the super charger plant in Milwaukee that no doubt were shipped to Willow Run 18:33.
My Father-in-law flew the Navy photo-recon version. Aerial photos of the Iwo Jima invasion were from planes in his squadron. Great film thanks for posting.
Navy Version of the B-24 was
the “ PB 4 Y2 “ only one large
vertical tail and rudder assembly.
A big thank you from the United Kingdom...my father flew in these during WW2, RAF Coastal Command chasing U Boats. Brought him safe home every trip.
Totally awesome,they were a great workhorse of a plane,just known to be difficult to fly. My mom riveted the wings onto the fuselage at the Willow RUN PLANT in Michigan, U S . Those were some brave souls who flew in these planes. Your grandfather helped to save your country,now you need to save it again and get away from the EVIL E. U . Same bad people,just a different angle .# MUKGA . WWG1WGA ! 😁👍✌
keegan?773
A big "You are welcome" from America. My father spent the 5 most exciting months of his life in East Anglia, flying 29 missions over Germany as a waist gunner.
Thanks to all our fathers, we live in a basically free world.
@@kentamitchell where was he based? I live in Norfolk, East Anglia.
Regardless of what people think , from a engineering perspective one B 24 every hour is nothing short of incredible .
Was it really one completely made from scratch an hour or just one assembled an hour by already made parts? Even the video said a wing took several hours.
One completed plane was produced every 55 minutes. Some of the sub-assemblies were put together off site.
@@oakpineranch on average, one bomber rolled out of the factory every 55 minutes. Now, there was a map of 100 bombers being built concurrently, so that shows an average of roughly 100 hours to build one plane, with 22,000 workers working in the plant.
A Mack truck rolls off the line every eight minutes. It takes about ten hours from start to finish.
@Aluminum Chicken, yeah, they did! But remember they started it.
Dad was a pilot and flew the B-24 in WWII out of Sudbury England, 486th Bg. The aircraft was named “Superstitious Aloysious” sn# 42-52673. Mar 1944 - Oct 1944, thirty missions.
My uncle was a tail gunner on a B-24 out of Grattaglie, Italy, 15th USAAF,449th BG. The plane was also "Superstitious-Aloysious" lost on 4/2/1944 over Steyer Austria, 26th mission.
I was at a huge fund raiser to save the Willow Run plant a while back. They had a huge gathering of “Rosie the Riviters” . Crawling around inside those B-17’s and 24’s really brings home how small it was for them to operate in there.
Glad they were able to save a small portion of it.
An absolutely fascinating documentary, seeing mass production techniques from the 40’s that could rival today’s methods. Thank you for the upload very interesting and informative.
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Thank you for videos like this. I am reminded of the men and women behind the scenes who have been forgotten for their roles in winning the war. We remember those heroes on the frontline who gave their blood, we must not forget those heroes on the assembly line who gave their sweat. Those who could fight, fought; and those who couldn't, they carried the bullets. A big salute to all the men and women who were equally heroes in defeating Axism whether in Normandy or from Willow Run. Thank you.
Thank you for the film. Early on, they showcased the training building where the employees learned some of the processes in which to do their job. All in all, to roll out a fully assembled flyable bomber in under an hour is completely amazing. Everybody in the plant definitely worked as a team.
There is a difference in producing a complete bomber in under an hour and completing production of a bomber in under an hour after the previous completion. From start to finish, there were many aircraft from initial assembly to completion all under one roof.
I have up most respect for our fellow Americans working together building these babies. Without having to shut down the line because of mistakes. Today such workmanships now is a joke and has been for long time. That's the main reason we have lost our competitivenes and the lose of millions of job. The unions had become baby sitters of to much incompetent labor. Industries were paying very good wages and benefits. To many losses and not being able to be competitive...
@@alanpotter4264 I read a book about Potter's shipbuilding of a big Clipper
ship. Now that fuel cost us increasing ,
2022, small passenger boats , sail with
solar electric propulsion might be part
of ecology in transport. My Dad , George Knowles worked with Patent
Office at Wright Patterson. We had 2 AL
riveted boats; Aero Craft and a longer
Alumacraft. Dad pointed out a Ford
TRIMOTOR as it flew along Lake Erie
Coast a ways, 'bout. 1961.
I get your first sentence: Education and training is the key.
Can we find this in the U.S. , today? Everyone sez skilled labor has openings. Who is willing to spend the money to train the people???
My late uncle a navigator on the B-24 was given a plant tour during WW-2, treated like a rock star by employees! He was so grateful for the opportunity to see them built. A masterpiece of mass production and automation by Ford.
Just think: That amazing production engineering without the use of computers. Henry Ford was a genius.
In that era a "Computer" was also a persons job title in Engineering in Lens Design, Ball Bearing design and Mechanical cam designs etc. The math person who cranked out the numbers.
Henry Ford was Not a genius, but rather an "ignoramus" who had been close friends with Adolph Hitler and had a book written praising Adolf Hitler, and an anti-Semitic newspaper. However the design team members were loyal Americans & awesome engineers, but Henry Ford was a Treasonous Idiot...
allthatsinteresting.com/henry-ford-nazi
Yes an obnoxious, evil and twisted man.
It was his son Edsel Ford who dreamed and built Willow Run. Edsel was the genius in that family. Henry killed him with constant derision.
@@fritzcooper1601 100% True, Edsel gave his life to US by doing this. He died from Stomach Ulcers and GI problems due to the stress and I assume alcohol (don't know that to be true). Henry Ford was very creative, after all he is the father of the automobile, but he was nothing but an obstructionist to Edsel's vision of this plant. Henry WAS NOT a businessman, his son was however. Henry always told his son how bad his son was. Edsel against all odds built this Willow Run miracle of a facility. The entire Country laughed at him saying no way can he pull this off. The whole story is mind-blowingly incredible. Not one person writing any of these comments could measure up to Edel's ankles, he was such an accomplished and incredible person. None of this could be done today in my mind. I employee people and white workers are horrible when it comes to labor like this that was needed to build this incredible plant. Henry Ford WAS NOT close friends to Hitler, that's a fallacy. He hated the overtaxing government though. He hated Rosevelt as Rosevelt was a HORRIBLE over taxer. He taxed the crap out of these industries that saved us during the war.
OMG. The blond girl at 6:28 is my mom. She worked there just before and during the war.Her name was Velna Eldred.
Boy! That is great.
That is so cool Mr. Smith! To know that, have you informed your family?
My aunt worked there, too. Her name was Thelma Chapman.
@@Matthew_Eitzman what a pos.
We're delighted Ralph Smith that you spotted your mother in the film -- believe it or not we get 1-2 people every year who find relatives in the movies we post -- it's awesome!
I am a construction carpenter and cannot imagine working in the same spot all day,doing the same task.But these folks did,and KUDOS to them!
There were some woman that flew the plans out of willow run
I think when you look at it like you need to crank out the most numbers because the most numbers means the most planes in the air the most planes in the air means winning the war.... That's damn good inspiration for me to do the same thing over and over if I know that's just making one more plane in the air... Idk you know what I mean?
Gives you respect for the cashier that stands there all day long pushing cart after cart of groceries, and has to keep a smile on their face all day long. On top of that they need to deal with the grouch complaining over the price discrepancy of a can of peas.
I grew up in Dearborn, right down the freeway (I 94) from Willow run...we would watch the Blue Angles fly there...
It's amazing all of the presses, forming machines, dies, etc, that were made in short time.
I am also amazed at all of the pilots that were trained in such short time. Not just for B-24's, but for all of the planes built.
My father in law serviced a B-24j in England as a crew chief. His plane "Dombo" flew 25 missions without a major breakdown.
D Wynn long live the British Empire from Canada " The Maple Leaf forever " 😉
as much as i love the film, i always look through the postings and read all that have historical merit..it is amazing the connections and stories that shine through..thank you to all that post and for the videos..that we never forget those who sacrificed and did their duty during this crucial period in history...
I always have such a vivid memory(as 6 year old) of the B-24 “Liberator” built by Ford (Consolidated) as some of its crews trained from our local airfield, “William Northern Field” in Tullahoma TN.
I remember well, practicing, on their final leg to land, they’d rumble over our home with such vibrations that our home’s main chimney cracked from its top to the basement, three floors
below, another WWII contribution ... with gratitude! A great film of its manufacture by Ford!
My grandfather, Robert Edward Houston, was given the job of designing the Willow Run plant. To reduce cost, he refurbished existing infrastructure rather than demolish it. Well done grandpa!
Later, my teenage uncle Bob was working on the B24 line when grandpa, who was “#4” at the plant, stopped by to chat. Afterwards, the line supervisor was very angry with him for his tone of conversation with grandpa. “How dare you speak to him like that! Do you not know who that man is?” Said he. “Yes I do sir!” Uncle Bob replied “He’s my dad!” I love that story!
Dad was B24 pilot in the Pacific. One sturdy plane, but that "Davis Wing" design was a problem. It brought my dad home, and many others,as well. Hero's all.
My dad was a B24 navigator...he said "that Davis wing probably killed more guys than the Japs."
Visiting the willow run airshow every year we can is an awsome time. Love watching all these planes still fly
Me too. Makes for a long day though.
Grandfather worked at the Kelvinator plant in Lansing Michigan making the propeller blades.
Absolutely amazing what man can engineer and build.
Thank you for this. My father was only 21 when he become the pilot of a B-24. I can’t even imagine.
In 1998 and 1999 i was in Plymouth, MI working in our american facility. Engine- and transmission test beds and powertrain development for the local automobile industry.
Because I had already my PPL , I drove down to Willow Run one day asking for the possibility of renting a plane and was sucessful. I flew out of Willow Run for almost 2 years with a Piper Arrow and I am still in contact with my flight instructor, who owned that Piper.
At that time I was not aware of the great history of this airport, absolutely amazing.
Best Regards from Austria.
Hope, there are not to many errors, english is not my "mother tongue".
The greatest Generation. Saved us.
Saved who? From what? Neither Germany nor Japan could ever hope to invade the USA. We firebombed Europe and Japan and gave Stalin everything he wanted. We gave up our possessions and territories in order to look different from our enemies. And now we are losing to an invasion which is more destructive than any war because it permanently erases our people. How would we be any worse off if we had let Hitler and Stalin fight it out instead of saving the USSR and letting it own half of Europe for 50 years?
Yeah, but it was the same generation who voted Hitler in ;-)
@@ChernobylPizza if we didnt go after it... we would have lost our freedom for sure,, you're quoting the things we did.to preserve our freedom.
My grandmother Martha Miklosky worked there. She lived to 98.
soo cool, my Grandma worked there! It is so wonderful to see thisvideo of what she did so many years ago! Thankyou thankyou thankyou
My Dad was the crew chief on the 26th B-24 produced at Willow Run.
The Liberator was a beast to fly. Heavy on the controls, it took constant attention to keep it just straight and level. For drastic maneuvering, two pilots needed.
If ever there was a plane that transformed itself by the mere act of taking to the air, it was the Lib. Ugly and dumpy looking on the ground. In the air, with that Davis wing, rather graceful looking.
Had a uncle who flew 51 missions in a 24, 15th air force. It's strength was it's ability to be massed produced but it was easy to bring down due to it's propensity to catch on fire. But it hauled heavier loads than the 17 over longer distances at faster speeds and among many tasks it performed included sub hunting in the North Atlantic and the British were happy to get them
My Dad also flew 24s in the 15th air force.
Robert Long Actually the B24 was only slightly faster, carried a little more a little further, but it could NOT match the service ceiling of the B17 !!!! They went with a Davis wing on the B24 for speed and sacrificed lift and the ability to climb as high !!! B17 had a higher service ceiling due to its larger wing !!!!
@@wilburfinnigan2142 True but the loss rate was almost identical (24 was actually slightly lower loss) so the few thousand feet ceiling didn't amount to any real advantage.
As well my father,was a pilot in WWII The greatest generation!!!
My father was Emperor of the Universe during the Big War. He later resigned to become president. Everyone has a story, don't they!
Dig the “hot rivet toss” at 2:00! It took many years to get production up to speed, but speedy build they did!
THAT was amazing!! One helluva long toss and right on target.
My father flew missions in this aircraft as a flight engineer/side gunner in the early part of ww2 over Japanese occupied countries in southeast Asia. I'm thankful he survived for my existence. If you look up images for Alfred Purvere you will find a photo of him with others starting recruitment duty in Pennsylvania where he would meet my mother.
Absolutely awesome concept, design and construction. True American "can do" attitude.
All I can say is WOW, what an eye opener that film was. It shows you what man/ woman can do when he/ she put's his/her mind to it. So why can't a cure for cancer be found? Or all live in peace and harmony?....God bless our friends across the pond, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in "Our darkest hour".
I asked why Cancer still had not been eradicated by now, because they've had at least
85 years to exterminate it, since it all starts from one cell, my mother flat out told me that,
"It's too big of a money
maker for them"!
That is the real reason they don't want to cure cancer, and prefer to still continue to
let people die from it. That is DOWN RIGHT EVIL in my opinion!! I will never ever contribute one cent to Cancer Research!! It's a Scam, and they know it!!
Cancer is a 130 billion dollar a year business no cures allowed.
Great film! Love the early part showing the Ford farm and all those great looking Ford tractors!
My dad was a technician for the B-24 auto-pilot and bombsight. He spent 3 years in England working on the bombers.
Wow, This has to be one of the greatest feats mankind has ever undertaken !
I'm always amazed at the American industrial prowess. They not only makes a difficult assembly easy, but actually fun. Good old American horse sense through and through.
Willow Run was an amazing place, even before the plant was built. They helped sons of dead and injured WW1 veterans. That's who worked the maple trees. To just think about what went on there... How quickly the plant was built. How quickly the bombers were built. It's crazy to even think about. Especially back in 1941
This was a triumph for Henry and Edsel Ford, the Ford Motor company and all its people. A proud heritage given to today's Ford Company. I wish they could regain what ever it takes to build a true quality vehicle , made in America, that Americans want to buy.
@@Faber-cator Mustangs ARE awesome. When will Ford get rid of those junk Chinese transmissions in them that cause so much trouble?
I have a photo of my 63 Corvette with the B24... 1943 & 1963. Lovely* My best photo is on My card now.
It was a marvel in itself to consider the engineering that went into setting up the tooling and thought process in the design and implementation of the production line to build that aircraft. Weren't any computers or calculators. I wonder if the engineering groups we have today could do it again, if we handed them the same tools to work with. That type of mass production wasn't all that old of a trade in 1940.
"I wonder if the engineering groups we have today could do it again, if we handed them the same tools to work with", YES, but they would be Turbo Props if designed on paper today, as no one today could design a radial engine in the time it took them back then, as it is a lost art...
You can thank Charles E. Sorensen for the Willow Run Plant. He drew up the basic plans for the entire facility overnight in his hotel room while reviewing the Consolidated aircraft factory for the Army. He goes into some detail on how he conceived the factory in his autobiography, "My 40 Years with Ford."
Sorenson was one of Henry’s close experts. A member of the cabinet.
No robotics. No computers. A finished bomber every 55 minutes. Nothing short of amazing!
Right. Engineered with slide rules and built with skilled hands. No PC police and diversity quotas
This is amazing. This plant later became the Kaiser Frazer automobile plant following the war and later on, the Hydramatic plant, after the one in Livonia burned to the ground. Sadly all of it is gone save for a few buildings retained for the Yankee Air Museum. Connie Kalitta operates his air cargo operations from that airport now.
My brother is a pilot with Kalitta Air! Now, they only service the aircraft there but Kalitta is still going strong!
Great Comments !! What a time in history. I grew up in Detroit in the 1950-60’s and remember my parents telling stories about Willow Run, and the amazing contribution to the “war effort”
It is hard to communicate with the young people how amazing the war effort was.
Read a couple books on Ford Motor Co, Henry Ford himself, River Rouge plant, and Willow Run. It is an amazing story. Perhaps even miraculous. The B-24 Liberator is a machine, but it was the tool of freedom. It was the physical embodiment of the American Way. And thousands of human people made it happen.
What a fab insight into the making of a well known bomber in WW2. It was great to watch the assembly line and the huge figures of the parts and hours involved.
Production engineering at it's finest!
fantastic - awe-inspiring - even in 2022 when young people think their pocket-sized objects are the centre of their universe - making and assembling 1.25M parts in a complete working airplane every hour is a testament to what humans can achieve even under stress - thank you !
I took a flight in a B-24 called the Witchcraft a couple of years ago. It travels around the country letting people fly in it. It was an awesome experience.
I got some great Pictures of that Aircraft at the Hazelton Airport in Pa. .... My Father was B-24 Crew at RAF Tibbenham,England 445th Bomb Group!
In 2017, my father in law Russ and I went up in a B-25D, flying out of Sparta, Michigan. Because we are both veterans, we got to ride in the seats by the Flight Engineer- a great view. From there it was an easy crawl up to the nose which was an even better view! There is a big .50 cal in the nose and yes, a 58-year-old can still make machine-gun noises if he wants!
My life will never be the same with that incredible back ground music.
thank you for posting this wonderful documentary
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I was privileged to know and count as a friend a bombardier on the B 24 Liberator! He passed 4 yrs ago and there's hardly a day go by I don't miss him. THIS WAS TRULY OUR GREATEST GENERATION! And I hate to say it but I honestly don't think people today would or even could answer the call as this generation did in the name of FREEDOM and all our country stands for! Ralph God bless and keep you along with your family and know you are sorely missed!!
Amazing to see the leap in manufacturing technology, abundance of manpower and materials on such a scale. The rise to number 1
Lovely to hear "Barwick Green" at around 12:12. For Brits, it's better known as the theme music for "The Archers" - the longest-running soap opera.
Nicole K I caught that, spent a solid 2 minutes trying to remember where I’d heard that.
Yes, it seemed quite incongruous to hear it in an industrial setting. Arthur Wood wrote it about Barwick in Elmet in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
My brother in law's uncle was the pilot of 'Hadley's Harem'. Took some flak during the first Ploesti raid and had to ditch in the Med just off the Turkish coast. He and the copilot died on landing. (The Unbroken accurately portrayed a Liberator ditching.) The cockpit section was retrieved in the '90's and is now a display at an Ankara museum.
What an amazing operation. I was an engineer and dealt with many manufacturing and assembly operations but the logistics of this were just astounding. Today, it would take 4-5 years and much work to get a plant like this designed, completed and operating. It took a war to get this and many other factories done in record time and it worked. We won.
These days it would require 4-5 years just to get permits.
My grandmother worked at this plant, testing the machine guns as the planes came off the assembly line. So cool!!!
My hat's off to all the women who served their country, exceptionally, during this time of need for humanity!!
That is just so amazing. Inspirational even. God bless america. Thanks for posting.
RevToddBodysnachr py
Both my grandparents worked there. I remember my grandmother, a "Rosie", told of one of the wing midgets being killed when an outside worker drilled through the skin of the wing and into the midget's head. People came from all over the country to work at that plant. It was a prized job if you could afford the gas rations to get back and forth to Detroit, an hour away. They couldn't house 60,000 people in Ypsilanti, where the factory was.
Drilling through a wing midgets head? Pray tell, continue my good man
They used dwarfs to crawl inside the wings and back up the rivets while the riveter on the outside set the river. Once the river was set they drilled the next hole. It must have been hellaciously loud, for one thing. Anyway, yeah the midget's head was in the wrong place at the wrong time or maybe he "didn't know the drill" and then the drill "got inside his head".
Sorry. Bored ya know.
Oooohh? Not good??.. That could hurt??..
Would gladly give up our modern technology for the dedication, pride and love of country that generation displayed. We've wandered so far from that path it's sad.
Don't forget: An airplane cannot be 'good enough'. It really has to be perfect. 100%
God bless all the workers.
That's what trim is for!
Years ago I was wandering round RAF Cosford Aerospace Museum and climbed a wooden platform to look into the port side of the B24 cockpit. There was a little blue Ford symbol in the centre of the control wheel, which amused me at the time, thinking one of the museum staff had been 'avinalaff. "In a Ford!" Got the whole proper picture shortly after. Live and learn.
GM built Wildcats (what you Brits would call Martletts), too. Goodyear built Corsairs, as well. I believe a few Corsairs graced British flat tops back in the day, showing us Yankees how to safely land a Corsair on a flat top (in a shallow turn to overcome "blind spot" issue upon coming back aboard). You folks let Packard build more Merlin engines. Republic was owned by Ford, too. I wonder if there is there is a blue oval in a P-47.
I live near cosford,i go occasionally
How evertonian mate
Wow that is one beautiful airplane and all the work that went into making them is very interesting.
in 2013 i was working under my 57 chevy in Windsor ontario when i heard that distinctive sound. I rolled my creeper out from under to see a Liberator make a pass over Windsor. It was so nice to see.
I was fortunate to see “ Witchcraft “ ,one of only two airworthy B24 left at Executive Airport in Wheeling Illinois last year
Absolutely amazing film even more is the background music, at about 12 minutes in, Barwick Green (a Maypole dance)from a longer piece My Native Heath by a Yorkshire man Arthur Wood . This music was later used for a BBC radio programme The Archers. For those outside the UK this was a radio soap type programme to explain the changing agricultural methods that come into being during the 2nd world war to a general audience.
My dad instructed in B24s. Bad news he was in Kansas on June 6 1944. Later flew the PBY sub chaser off coast of Brazil. But always regretted not helping the D Day effort.
The sub chasers in B-24s helped make D-Day possible, by winning the Battle of the Atlantic by mid-1943 thus allowing convoys to move the mountain of troops and equipment to England for the invasion and to keep all those divisions supplied and moving across France into Germany. Your dad should have been proud of going where he was ordered to go. If it wasn't important, they would have ordered him somewhere else.
Steve, your dad was more needed elsewhere. As a Navy veteran, I used to hear this phrase a lot: "The Needs of the Navy." And he DID help the D Day effort... indirectly.
My Grandfather had a gig job through my Great-Grandfather as a trucker. My Great-Grandfather owned a trucking business and had a contract with the Army to carry Liberator tire assemblies from Willow Run to a landfill outside San Antonio TX. He said it took 3 months to transport the entire stock.
Amazing! The greatness of that generation. No victims no whining. Just get er done!
AWESOME statement!!!!!!!
Keep in mind that half of the men pissed themselves in the landing craft on D-day, as they proceeded to their doom, because they were barely adults, and now half of them would soon be very dead. Remember, they were also human...
@@davidhollenshead4892 A waste beyond words. 69 million souls !
BUT HAY, PRESCOTT BUSH, HENRY FORD, HARRIMAN BROS., ROCKEFELLER & STANDARD OIL , and all that ilk MADE BANK AND I'M OK WITH THAT ! Without those joker's participation none of this horror could have been possible ! ! How Nice............... WOW. Patriots beyond belief !
The teamwork of that generation could probably never be done by the generations of today. Sad. Not to speak of the patriotism garnered by all America to win vs 2 formidable enemies in the WWII‼️
Tough patriotism is the backbone of WWII to win with concerted ettort by mfg., bankers, assorted workers, farmers, all of polulace of USA GOT the JOB DONE‼️