The Ford Bomber Plant

What an unbelievable experience it must have been to have the honor to work at such a plant. One B-24 per hour!
 
The video was the product of the war effort, as the bomber itself was. As such, it didn't reveal the problems encountered in the Willow Run plant, how very long it took to get the production up (nicknamed "Will it Run"), the ratio of "Lemons" to airworthy planes nor the number of planes that literally fell out of the sky before reaching enemy territory (nickname "Flying Coffin"). The video and the Ford produced B24 were more valuable as propaganda than they were to actual fighting machines. The problems were limited to the Ford produced Liberater. Ford thought the plane could be mass produced as an automobile would be, and was wrong. The plane was developed and produced by Consolidated in San Diego and Fort Worth. Douglas produced planes in Tulsa, and North American Aviation built them in Dallas utilizing Ford sub assemblies from Willow Run. Willow run produced almost half the total production, but unfortunately most with major problems. No Ford produced B24 survives today.
 
CC33 said:
You hit it in the head, "used to be".
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We still are an amazing country. However, if you haven't spent a lot of time around the men and women that serve in our armed forces right now, I could see how you might think we aren't anymore.

I have spent a lot of time around these folks. In fact, I've been working with an amazing group the last nine or ten months while planning our Hot Rod Revolution event that is going down this coming weekend. I've worked with a lot of different members of the US Army including a number of members in the Special Forces... They've are incredible people that sacrifice just as much as their brothers and sisters did in WWII.

It's funny... I've gotten to know so many of these guys because as one group rotates out to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, another rotates in to fill their shoes at the base. I've talked to a lot of these guys that were headed to some pretty dangerous theaters and they treat it like it's no big deal.

"Good luck with the show. I'll give you a call when I'm on leave in 12 months or so..."

Anyway, it's fashionable to say that this country isn't what it used to be. I get that. However, it's far from the truth if you take the time to get to know the people that are sacrificing so much to protect it.

The United States Of America is still the greatest country in the world. Period.
 
Ryan well put. As a vet during the viet nam war I get emotional when I see footage of our young men and women in uniform. You got to love em they are ours. Even with our flaws, we are still the best country in the world.
 
ford38v8 said:
The video was the product of the war effort, as the bomber itself was. As such, it didn't reveal the problems encountered in the Willow Run plant, how very long it took to get the production up (nicknamed "Will it Run"), the ratio of "Lemons" to airworthy planes nor the number of planes that literally fell out of the sky before reaching enemy territory (nickname "Flying Coffin"). The video and the Ford produced B24 were more valuable as propaganda than they were to actual fighting machines. The problems were limited to the Ford produced Liberater. Ford thought the plane could be mass produced as an automobile would be, and was wrong. The plane was developed and produced by Consolidated in San Diego and Fort Worth. Douglas produced planes in Tulsa, and North American Aviation built them in Dallas utilizing Ford sub assemblies from Willow Run. Willow run produced almost half the total production, but unfortunately most with major problems. No Ford produced B24 survives today.
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You've made some pretty remarkable statements regarding the WWII history of B-24s, especially in view of the dwindling number of honorable old war heros that loved and fought with the Liberator that are still with us today. You reference that NO Ford-built B-24s survive today. Kinda makes it sound, to the un-knowing, that out of all the B-24s left in flyable condition today, NONE are "Fords". In actuality, ONLY 2 (two) variants / examples of B-24 are currently airworthy, one of which was actually configured as a YB-30 until recently. Just trying very hard to understand your point. DD
 
The ford and GM plants were I grew up in New Zealand also made heaps of stuff for the war effort,like Bren gun carriers trucks etc. they also reconditioned a lot of stuff damaged and sent back from the pacific.
Lawrie
 
V8 Times had a great article on this a few months ago. The thing I did NOT know was that all this was done prior to Dec 7th, 1941. FDR realized (or was informed by Ford engineers) it would take months if not years to get this production running. Still freakin amazing.

I thought it was the B-26s made by Martin in Omaha that were "flying coffins"...
 
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ford38v8 said:
The video was the product of the war effort, as the bomber itself was. As such, it didn't reveal the problems encountered in the Willow Run plant, how very long it took to get the production up (nicknamed "Will it Run"), the ratio of "Lemons" to airworthy planes nor the number of planes that literally fell out of the sky before reaching enemy territory (nickname "Flying Coffin"). The video and the Ford produced B24 were more valuable as propaganda than they were to actual fighting machines. The problems were limited to the Ford produced Liberater. Ford thought the plane could be mass produced as an automobile would be, and was wrong. The plane was developed and produced by Consolidated in San Diego and Fort Worth. Douglas produced planes in Tulsa, and North American Aviation built them in Dallas utilizing Ford sub assemblies from Willow Run. Willow run produced almost half the total production, but unfortunately most with major problems. No Ford produced B24 survives today.
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The B24 was nicknamed the "Flying Boxcar" because of the shape of the fuselage. I'd like to see you back up your statements with reference and then for comparison show us the production records of the other companies. Boeing is about 3 or 4 years late with the new 787 Dreamliner due to difficulties. They are not producing those planes to win a war effort. Even the best of `em have problems.
 
The B-24 was a true Heavy Bomber, everyone thinks of the B-17 but the B-24 had a much larger payload. The B-17 also had many more years for development since it first flew in 1936 and went through numerous improvements. Still a very neat film, thanks for sharing with us!
 
Watching this clip is an insperation without any doubt. Good or bad points, to get such feats in manufacturing is truly amazing by today's standards. Being a manufacturer, my present goal is to get back in having our products totally "Made in America" through design and innovation. Enough of the mass produced import products....we can do this right here at home with equal prices and better quality. This is not the first video I have seen from the 30's and 40's, and I will replay them over and over again.....to keep reminding us of what we have to do to reclaim the American Dream.......Robert
 
To Henry & Coopman, my post was made not to disparage Ford, I only repeated what I've learned from more than one reliable source. If you doubt it, fine, do your own research and post what you find. Please.
 
I did just that. The plane did get nicknamed by some as the flying coffin, but that was because the only entrance or exit from the plane was at the rear. Because of the tight constraints of the fuselage it was nearly impossible for the flight crew to get to the rear with their parachutes on. Maybe you ought to do a little research before you post and as stated there are 2 airworthy planes and a number fuselages in existence. In fact I saw one fly here at the EAA convention years ago.
 
thanks for the vid this was one hell of a building i work there building trans for gm in 2002 -2006 lots of history now it sit empty and closed up to bad
 
My dad worked over there during the war as a plumber in the factory. Used to take the ferry across Lake Michigan. He'd come home on weeekends.
 
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