Willow Run
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Located between Ypsilanti and Belleville, Michigan, the Willow Run Plant was constructed during World War II by Ford Motor Company for production of the B-24 Liberator aircraft.
Ford Motor Company, like virtually all of the United States' industrial companies, directed its manufacturing output during WWII for Allied war production.
The firm developed the Willow Run site to include an airfield and aircraft assembly facility. The plant held the distinction at the time of being the world's largest enclosed "room"; at its peak, the plant was able to produce as many as one B-24 aircraft per hour of production.
The airfield continues to operate as the Willow Run Airport. After the war, ownership of the assembly plant passed to Kaiser Motors and then to Ford rival General Motors, which still owns and operates part of the facility as Willow Run Transmission. The airfield is primarily used for cargo flights. The Yankee Air Museum is also located on the airport grounds. On October 9, 2004, a fire destroyed the museum's main hangar, H-2041.
The plant has given its name to a community on the east side of Ypsilanti, defined roughly by the boundaries of the Willow Run Community Schools district.
See also
External links
- ["Willow Run and the Arsenal of Democracy"] by Jenny Nolan for The Detroit News
- [Yankee Air Museum]
- [Michigan Aerospace Foundation]
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