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Does the Willow Run plant still exist?

Does the Willow Run plant still exist?

The five-million square foot Willow Run plant was closed in 2010 as part of GM’s bankruptcy proceedings. Most of the plant was demolished in 2014 but a 175,000 foot portion was offered to the Yankee Air Museum, housed in a hangar until a 2004 fire.

How long did it take to build AB 24?

Ford proved them wrong, not easily nor entirely, during a 2.5-year production run in a 3.5-million-square-foot factory built over Willow Run Creek near Ypsilanti, MI. The massive plant turned out 8,645 Liberators vs. 9,808 manufactured by four factories of Consolidated, Douglas Aircraft, and North American Aviation.

Who owns Willowrun?

the Wayne County Airport Authority
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. The Yankee Air Museum resides on the airport grounds, occupying as of April 2013 a 47,000-square-foot (4,400 m2) hangar and other properties.

How many B 24 bombers are left?

Of the 19,256 B-24, PB4Y, LB-30 and other model variants in the Liberator family produced, thirteen complete examples survive today, two of which are airworthy. Eight of the thirteen aircraft reside in the United States.

Who made the B-24 bomber?

Consolidated Aircraft
Consolidated B-24 Liberator/Manufacturers

B-24, also called Liberator, long-range heavy bomber used during World War II by the U.S. and British air forces. It was designed by the Consolidated Aircraft Company (later Consolidated-Vultee) in response to a January 1939 U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) requirement for a four-engined heavy bomber.

Why was the Willow Run bomber plant important?

The plant was the embodiment of America’s “Arsenal of Democracy” — the enormous manufacturing capacity so vital to the Allies’ victory. Designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California, the B-24 Liberator served in every branch of the armed forces during World War II.

How many Ford bombers were made at Willow Run?

Here is his description of the visit and how he conceived the Willow Run bomber plant that eventually manufactured 8,800 of these aircraft. Willow Run was the physical embodiment of the Ford Production system which was later transformed by Toyota into “Just In Time” and Lean manufacturing.

When was the Willow Run Transmission plant built?

Construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant began in 1940 and was completed in 1942. When Ford declined to purchase the facility after the war, Kaiser-Frazer Corporation gained ownership, and in 1953 Ford’s rival General Motors took ownership and operated the factory as Willow Run Transmission until 2010.

How many B-24 Liberator were made at Willow Run?

But no project captured the public’s imagination like Willow Run, where Ford Motor Company built one B-24 Liberator airplane every 63 minutes. The plant was the embodiment of America’s “Arsenal of Democracy” — the enormous manufacturing capacity so vital to the Allies’ victory.