PEGATRON CORPORATION Company Profile | Taipei City, Taiwan Ford had no say in the matter; production chaos ensued. Despite intensive design efforts led by Ford production executive Charles E. Sorensen,[30] the opening of the plant still saw some mismanagement and bungling, and quality was uneven for some time. 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. 7:00 PM. Another large dormitory project, containing 1,960 rooms and known as West Lodge, was also ready for tenants at that time. >> the willow run plant is in the process now of being demolished. [8] In 2014, the Yankee Air Museum moved into the bomber factory. Few new hires had ever been in a factory, so Ford built the Aircraft Apprentice School on the grounds to familiarize these industrial novices with tools and techniques of high-precision aeronautical manufacturing. [7] The 175,000-square-foot (16,300m2) portion of the original bomber plant that Yankee seeks to preserve is less than 5% of the massive facility, comprises the end of the former B-24 assembly line at the far eastern edge of the property, and contains the two iconic bay doors from which the finished Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers exited the plant during World War II. But just when that milestone seemed possible, the government drastically cut its order for B-24s. Managing the utilities and slowly shutting them off has been Lewis' biggest challenge, as the building is hard-pressed to give up its secrets. With so many young men drafted into the armed forces, Willow Run's workforce was unusually diverse for its time: African Americans, whites, older people, younger men unable to serve in the military, and -- most notably -- women. Paper (Fiber product) UAW Local 898, 8975 Textile Rd, Ypsilanti, MI 48197. wrbpipms@gmail.com. [15] Ford Motor was to have first option on the plant after war production ended, an option it ultimately chose not to exercise, although a rumor in Drew Pearson's syndicated column had Ford planning a postwar use as a tractor factory,[16] but that never came to pass. New housing, better roads and professional training alleviated Willow Runs employee retention dilemma, but didnt solve it. When Cherry Hill outgrew the little chapel and decided to build a new church, it sold the chapel to the Belleville Presbyterian Church for one dollar in July 1978. [36][37], While the planes were being serviced and made ready for overseas movement, personnel for these planes were also being processed. Click the drop-down menu below and make your selection. Engineering Photographic Department, United States, Michigan, Charter Township of Ypsilanti, Ford Motor Company. More than 18,000 were built. Willow Run ran two nine-hour shifts. 1250 B-24L aircraft were built at Willow Run. Summary. The delivery of seven YB-24Ns by Ford in June 1945 marked the end of Liberator production at Willow Run.[3][42]. How Detroit Factories Retooled During WWII to Defeat Hitler - History The worksite Sorensen chose was a 1,875-acre Ford-owned tract that had been a farm camp for boys whose fathers were killed or disabled in World War I. Kahn had designed the Rouge and hundreds of other manufacturing facilities over a long and storied career. The company resumed automobile production within a week. Established aircraft manufacturers, used to a much slower rate, considered the claim preposterous. The museum would consolidate operations scattered on various parcels at Willow Run, and the Trust expects to clear the remainder of the plant for redevelopment. [47], Building owner RACER Trust extended the original fundraising deadline (August 1, 2013) a total of three times since the Yankee Air Museum launched its SaveTheBomberPlant.org campaign. The automaker had . sniffed Dutch Kindelberger, president of North American Aviation. From historic images to vivid descriptions, a record of rich detail is bundled inside a single card. Baseball games at the on-site recreation field took away some of the strain during off-duty hours. Simply moving workers to and from the plant was a major logistical challenge. Ford recruited workers throughout the Midwest and South. 34,533 employees at peak; most enormous room in the history of man.. A thousand-member tool design group worked around the clock seven days a week for almost a year to create three-dimensional schematics of the planes 30,000 separate components, generating five million square feet of blueprints in the process. [49] The majority of the $8 million goal reflects separation costs to make the preserved portion of the plant viable as a standalone structure. [27] In May 2017, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office recognized Parkridge Homes with the unveiling three historic markers signifying the importance to Ypsilanti history.[28]. Crew size was up to ten, and range was up to 3,000 miles. A ghostly, decaying reminder of the industrial and military history echoing within its cavernous expanse, Willow Run was demolished in 2014. Contact Us Foxconn Technology Group The plant was the embodiment of America's "Arsenal of Democracy" -- the enormous manufacturing capacity so vital to the Allies' victory. [23] The flat-tops contained four, six, or eight apartments with one, two, or three bedrooms. Planes were assembled outdoors, exposed to a hot sun that distorted parts out of shape. The housing shortage Sorensen complained about arose from his choice of a sparsely populated rural setting 30 miles west of Detroits labor poolan island in Michigan mud, as one writer viewed it. On October 31, 1945 Ford published a notice that cut its workforce from 1,400 employees down to 100 employees who would finish cataloging remaining parts and finish the records. Willow Run's problems came under a microscope in April 1942 and again in February 1943, when Senator Harry S. Truman visited the plant. Architect Albert Kahn boasted that the Willow Run plant would be the Buses were among the only practical solutions. Because of the urgent need for shelter, the Federal Public Housing Administration took action and built temporary housing. About Us - Yankee Air Museum Kaiser-Frazer moved into Willow Run and built civilian-style Jeeps, Henry J sedans, and C-119 cargo planes until going under in 1953. The team developed the B-24's build sequence from these divisions. May 2023 WRBP Meeting -. The heavies of choice were the B-17 Flying Fortress from Boeing Airplane Co. and the B-24 Liberator from Consolidated Aircraft. The airfield, owned by the Wayne County Airport Authority since 2004, continues to operate as the Willow Run Airport and is primarily used for cargo and general aviation flights. Considerable water was furnished to the Willow Run bomber plant from the Ypsilanti public-supply system during the period from August 1941 through March 1943. Sorensen and his team methodically broke the complex bomber plane into 11 major assemblies, and then further divided these into 69 sub-assemblies. We . Mr. Ford's steadfast leadership helped the company to make good on its promise. The Willow Run bomber plant made aviation, industrial and social historyalong with new B-24s by the hour. plant, each paid the same 85 cents an hour as their Willow Run workers built 1,893 kits over the course of the war. According to Max Wallace, Air Corps Chief General "Hap" Arnold told Charles Lindbergh, then a consultant at the plant, that "combat squadrons greatly preferred the B-17 bomber to the B-24 because 'when we send the 17's out on a mission, most of them return. [41], The B-24L was the first product of the new, downsized Liberator production pool. The plant's kitchen prepared nearly 10,000 rolls each day. Willow Run produced 739,000 cars as part of Kaiser-Frazer and Kaiser Motors, from 1947 through 1953, when after years of losses, the company (now called Kaiser Motors after Frazer's exit from the partnership) purchased Willys-Overland and began moving its production at Willow Run to the Willys plant in Toledo, Ohio. [10] Ford, a keen exponent of the virtues of country living, used it as farmland for a "social engineering" experiment that brought inner-city boys to the Willow Run Camp to learn about farming, nature, and the rural way of life. 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. Some riveted parts were replaced with cast pieces to simplify and speed their manufacture. The plant closed June 28, ending the Liberators brief but epic run, along with Fords presence in the aircraft industry. Cast Iron Charlie had two Liberators flown to Dearborn where they were dismantled piece by piece. Workers on the factory floor could purchase meals from lunch wagons that traveled the facility. The Air Force dictated more performance and safety upgrades for B-24s than any other American warplane. The B-24H differed from earlier B-24s by having a second turret placed in the nose of the aircraft to increase defensive firepower. Warren Avis, a decorated B-24 pilot in the 376th Bombardment Group, opened the nations first airport rental car service in the terminal and grew it into Avis Rent A Car Systems. [3][4] Even then it would take nearly a year before finished Liberators left the factory. Steel dies proved more precise, longer lasting, and perfectly safe. Five main contractors hurried the project along, and parts of the plant began production in September 1941. Willow Run After WWII - Military History of the Upper Great Lakes Willow Run ran two nine hour shifts. For government officials, Ford offered significant advantages. Like many successful technology companies, LITEON outgrew the garage to become a leader of its chosen industry through years of hard work. Although officially retired, Henry Ford still had a say in the company's affairs and refused government financing for Willow Run, preferring to have his company build the factory and sell it to the government, which would lease it back to the company for the duration of the war. The bomber plant adjacent to the airport produced the famed World War II bombers in a plant built by Henry Ford. These highways evolved into present-day Interstate 94. A rough-hewn, hard-charging martinet, Cast Iron Charlie played a principal role in conceiving and designing the worlds first moving assembly line at Fords Highland Park plant bordering Detroit. Sorensen, Edsel Ford and Henry Ford well understood the difficulties in precision mass production. * Carr, Lowell J., and Stermer, James Edison. His sketches embraced the two fundamentals of mass production: standardized, interchangeable parts and continuous, orderly flow punctuated by stops at assembly stations where workers and machines performed repetitive tasks. Linen (Material). Ground-water supplies of the Ypsilanti area, Michigan Skeptics scoffed at the idea that Ford Motor Co. could mass-produce [21], In addition to the Willow Run Lodge and Village housing projects, another community named Parkridge Homes was also built in 1943 to house African-American Willow Run employees.