Draftsmen Working in the Lofting Division for B-24 Assembly, 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

06 October 1942

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

64.167.435.P.189.17502

Credit

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

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 6.625 in
Width: 9 in

Inscriptions

Text under image on page 48 in Willow Run Bomber Plant Record of War Effort Vol. 2: Lofting Divisions in Willow Run Engineering Department, showing white flat tables containing full size layouts of fuselage and main wing structures.
Draftsmen Working in the Lofting Division for B-24 Assembly, Willow Run Bomber Plant, 1942