Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Ford’s farm to bomber factory
Fly over and you’ll see the outlines of a vast aircraft plant that assembled B–24 Liberator bombers during World War II. Land, and you can visit a museum dedicated to Willow Run and the home-front war effort. What you won’t find are the bucolic farm fields once owned by pioneering automaker Henry Ford; those have disappeared under the airport’s runways, ramps, roads, and buildings.
In the 1930s, the land that would become Willow Run Airport—in the countryside east of Ypsilanti, between Ann Arbor and Detroit—was owned by Ford. There, he operated a farm that brought inner-city boys to the country to teach them about agriculture and the rural way of life. The boys planted and harvested crops and sold the produce at a farm stand. Ford thought this would teach them the value of honest work and provide an experience they’d not find in the city.
When America mobilized for World War II, Ford responded by turning from building cars to building bombers. Ford commenced construction of the Willow Run manufacturing plant and airport in 1940 and it was turning out aircraft components the next year. In 1942, the factory began assembling complete bombers.
Through 1945, workers riveted together 8,685 B–24 Liberator bombers, building more B–24s than Consolidated Aircraft—the California aircraft company that designed the airplane.
Willow Run claimed to be the largest single factory building ever built, with 2.8 million square feet of space and an assembly line so long it required a 90-degree turn midway, with bombers rotating on a turntable to continue to completion. After rolling from the factory, the bombers were outfitted with specialized equipment for various theatres of operation by the Army, while still at Willow Run. While the airplanes were being outfitted, crews were assigned to each aircraft and readied for deployment.
After the war, the vast bomber factory was parceled out to various manufacturers, including General Motors, which made auto transmissions there until 2010. Most of the historic factory has been razed, except for one building that is being preserved by the Yankee Air Museum.
Today, Willow Run Airport (YIP) is a civil airport serving freight, corporate, and general aviation operations. The only bombers that fly here anymore are the B–17 Yankee Lady and the B–25 Yankee Warrior, two restored bombers owned by the museum.
Dennis K. Johnson is an aviation writer living in New York City.
