B-24 Liberator Willow Run Assembly Plant

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. I was recently told by a B-24 pilot who flew the Ploesti missions among his 43 combat missions in the B-24, that the B-24's built at Willow Run were not as good as those built elsewhere.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• b-24
• liberator
• heavy
• bomber
• world
• war
• II
• factory
• construction
• consolidated
• willow
• run
• ford
• mtor
• company

[chaghar]

so did the liberators fly directly from the us to england or they were assembled i england?

[TJDOZIER1]

@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.

[Auggie56]

The museum at W R is collecting parts, in hopes to assemble one for display. So far they have a tail section of the fuselage, a cockpit and a bird cage nose section. There was talk of converting the PBY they have, but it's to frail to make it worthy.

My step mom worked at W R, unpacking parts for the assembly line in 42'.

[TJDOZIER1]

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.

[MrFattyfatfatboy]

B-24 the box the B-17 came in

[spfreeman]

@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.

[Pandabonium]

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.

[batfreak1970]

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.

[shadowhunter388]

Amazing to see how these things were put together by man and so many of them as well.

[ignaciojork]

this is my first plasti model kit 1:72 scale that I assemble

[cynsmi]

Imagine what America was before unions and now government regulations.