B-24 Fuselage Assembly Line, Willow Run Bomber Plant, 1942

THF93730 / B-24 Fuselage Assembly Line, Willow Run Bomber Plant, 1942
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Artifact Overview

At Willow Run, Ford Motor Company built B-24 bomber planes for World War II using automobile mass production techniques. Airplanes were much more complex than cars. They required constant design changes poorly suited to a standardized assembly line. Ford overcame these difficulties and, at the plant's peak, Willow Run crews produced an average of one bomber every 63 minutes.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

27 October 1942

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

64.167.833.P.77071.B

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Ford Motor Company.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Linen (Material)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.25 in
Width: 11 in

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  • B-24 Bombers on Assembly Line at Ford Motor Company Willow Run Bomber Plant, January 1943
    Set

    Willow Run Bomber Plant

    • 33 Artifacts
    Every American automaker turned its workforce and facilities to military production during World War II. 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.