The Ford Barn

deuce lover · 07-28-2013, 11:04 AM

Interesting I think to us Ford guys.Ford building B-24 Bombers in 1941.1 every 55 min.Click on the link.Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iKlt6rNciTo?rel=0

Dave Mc · 07-28-2013, 11:24 AM

Excellent !

Rowdy · 07-28-2013, 11:34 AM

Ford was heavily invested in the war effort even producing jeeps. The local dealership here was contracted by Pratt and Whitney to assemble R-2800 engines for various aircraft during the war. A local elderly lady here in town was employed by the dealership and I have spent countless hours visiting with her about various things over the years. Her passing 3 years ago is a great loss to the knowledge of local history. Rod

rosenkranswa · 07-28-2013, 11:56 AM

Actually, the B-24 was placed into production in 1941 at several plants. Willow Run was originally to only produce components, but mainly produced whole airplanes. Your figure of 8000 is for all production through 1945. The story of how Ford applied auto production methods to a complex, essentially hand built aircraft is fascinating, and a real tribute to Charles Sorensen. Ford built GPW Jeeps, GPA Seeps (amphibious jeeps), Sherman tanks, CG4A gliders, and much more for the war effort.

TonyM · 07-28-2013, 12:36 PM

First Ford built B-24 did not come off the Willow Run production line until September 10, 1942.
Ford received permission from Consolidated Aircraft Company to manufacture the B-24 in October 1941.

Read this link:

http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Pages...low%20Run.aspx

40a-760 · 07-28-2013, 02:54 PM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

To all,

As a follow-up to this thread, there is an excellent book written by and available from V8'er Timothy J. O' Callaghan titled 'FORD in the Service of America', covering Ford's contribution to the war effort. A very worthwhile read.

Walt K. in PA

ford38v8 · 07-28-2013, 03:01 PM

Don't base your knowledge of Willow Run on a propaganda film. There are a number of good books on the subject that not only debunk the propaganda, but go into great detail on every aspect of the plant and the plane, from initial design of the plant to the Government's post war transfer of the facility to Kaiser Fraser, a Ford competitor.

One such publicity film, for instance, showed Ford's employing "many" Dwarfs specifically to crawl inside the wings of the bomber, installing wiring circuits. The publicity of this stunt was of course worth more than gold at a time when Little People were thought of only as Munchkins in the 1939 movie Wizard of Oz.

Another detail, on why the assembly line was designed in a large L shape... The property sprawled across two Counties, the L shape to keep the building within the County having the lowest tax rate.

Details that Ford considered none of his concern... The plant was miles from any town, no housing being provided for the plant workers meant that most every farmhouse for miles around took on boarders.

On the sub-assemblies built at Willow Run, large twin engine (Ford Flathead) highway transport trucks were built to ferry these assemblies to Texas for final assembly. To my knowledge, there are no details or photos of these trucks available to us today.

bigvince · 07-28-2013, 07:34 PM

You're half right on the L-shaped plant. Yes, Wastenaw County had a lower tax rate than Wayne County. Henry Ford wanted nothing to do with Wayne County democrats as well (Think Detroit).

ford38v8 · 07-28-2013, 08:02 PM

Ha Ha! Yes, old Henry must have laughed out loud over his brilliant way of beating Wayne County out of a share of Ford tax money! He had to have planned that move before buying the property!

Lawrie · 07-29-2013, 02:13 AM

There is one of the FORD build B24 that crashed in the hills in the war near me,
Lawrie

Barry-ct · 07-29-2013, 07:28 AM

The Yankee Air Museum is trying to raise 8 million to save part of the Willow Run plant. They have a deadline of this Thursday. Otherwise the buildings are going to be torn down.

Speedy Canuck · 07-29-2013, 09:28 AM

Very neat little video!

TonyM · 07-29-2013, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lawrie

There is one of the FORD build B24 that crashed in the hills in the war near me,
Lawrie

A Ford Built B-24E crashed into a 490-foot tall 20,000,000 cubic foot Natural Gas Holding tank about 13 miles from my house on May 20, 1943.

http://www.arizonawrecks.com/wrecksf...s/b24tony.html

1932BB · 07-29-2013, 10:47 AM

Alan. Regarding the "large twin engine transport trucks". There is a picture of one and some info on page 198 of "Ford Trucks Since 1905" By James K. Wagner. Quite a machine!

Bob C · 07-29-2013, 11:06 AM

Here is one of the twin engine trucks, the link is to the story.
http://georgedennis.blogspot.com/200...in-engine.html

Bob

Karl Wescott · 07-29-2013, 11:38 AM

There were also some dual engine trucks with the more conventianal COE cab that iirc were used in Canada. John Jaeger showed them in a very good multi part article on cabovers that appeared in the V8 Times in the 1980's or 1990's.

ford38v8 · 07-29-2013, 11:43 AM

1932BB & Bob C, Thank you! I had never seen pictures or anything written on those trucks other than one or two sentences here and there.
The restored one in Texas... I wonder if there is a chance this one could ever make an appearance at a V8 Club Concourse?

Bruce Lancaster · 07-29-2013, 02:44 PM

Funny, I once read an opposite take on the midgets...I'm no expert, but it sounds much more like Ford:
The regulars like Boeing and Consolidated (Consolidated was the B-24 designer) had a very hard time adjusting from pre-1940 thinking with airplanes being built in very small numbers by experienced craftsmen to the exponentially larger numbers of wartime; they built airframes, then sent in the plumbers and electricians to finish things. These companies were said to have small armies of midgets (Many of them previously employed in The Wizard of Oz) to drag wiring into wingtips and rudders and plumb wing tanks.
Ford attacked the whole problem with its assembly expertise based on the huge production numbers expected, and wired and plumbed airframe parts as they went together.
I've got a book entitled "Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory" written by two young women schoolteachers who spent the summer vacation of 1943 building B-24's at Consolidated in San Diego. Although no midgets appear in the book, it certainly seems that access problems were dealt with by the line workers rather than by intelligent planning...
I would love to find an account of the same procedures as handled in the Ford B-24 plant to see!

Fordors · 07-29-2013, 03:00 PM

I must agree with you Bruce. There is no way the Willow Run plant sent a plane out the door every hour employing archaic and inefficient methods. I did get a laugh at the commentator in the news reel when he said they could build a plane in an hour. Sending one out the door every hour and building one in an hour are two different things.

Bruce Lancaster · 07-29-2013, 03:38 PM

Ford built a LOT of different things during the war...an interesting extra aeronautical effort was building wooden assault gliders at Iron Mountain, the station wagon plant. I've got a video showing a lot of that somewhere.
By the way...the book I mentioned is VERY easy to find, as it has been reprinted recently. It is an absolutely fascinating look at a time when teenagers, housewives, and geriatric veterans were busy cranking out some of the most complex weapons we had...at ten times the rate experts had been doing it before Pearl Harbor.
Kinda makes you wonder...could we hack it now?

07-28-2013, 11:04 AM	#1
deuce lover Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Southern France Posts: 5,327	B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Interesting I think to us Ford guys.Ford building B-24 Bombers in 1941.1 every 55 min.Click on the link.Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/embed/iKlt6rNciTo?rel=0 Last edited by deuce lover; 07-28-2013 at 12:38 PM.

07-28-2013, 11:24 AM	#2
Dave Mc Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Indian Hills,Nevada Posts: 358	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Excellent ! __________________ Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him, better take a closer look at the American Indian!" - Henry Ford

07-28-2013, 11:34 AM	#3
Rowdy BANNED Join Date: May 2010 Location: Gothenburg Nebraska Just off I-80 Posts: 4,893	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Ford was heavily invested in the war effort even producing jeeps. The local dealership here was contracted by Pratt and Whitney to assemble R-2800 engines for various aircraft during the war. A local elderly lady here in town was employed by the dealership and I have spent countless hours visiting with her about various things over the years. Her passing 3 years ago is a great loss to the knowledge of local history. Rod __________________ Do the RIGHT thing - Support the H.A.M.B. Alliance!!!!

07-28-2013, 11:56 AM	#4
rosenkranswa Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Malvern, PA Posts: 361	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Actually, the B-24 was placed into production in 1941 at several plants. Willow Run was originally to only produce components, but mainly produced whole airplanes. Your figure of 8000 is for all production through 1945. The story of how Ford applied auto production methods to a complex, essentially hand built aircraft is fascinating, and a real tribute to Charles Sorensen. Ford built GPW Jeeps, GPA Seeps (amphibious jeeps), Sherman tanks, CG4A gliders, and much more for the war effort. __________________ Wayne @ Barb Malvern '19 T Speedster '26 T Touring '29 A Roadster '30 AA Stakebed '30 A Pickup '30 A Town Sedan '31 A Station Wagon '38 Columbia Girls bike (WWII) '40 Elgin Boys bike (WWII) '42 Super Deluxe Tudor '42 Willys MB Jeep '43 Willys MBT Trailer '43 M3A4 Hand Cart '43 Harley Davidson 42WLA with sidecar

07-28-2013, 12:36 PM	#5
TonyM Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: West Hammond, Illinois Posts: 2,802	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 First Ford built B-24 did not come off the Willow Run production line until September 10, 1942. Ford received permission from Consolidated Aircraft Company to manufacture the B-24 in October 1941. Read this link: http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Pages...low%20Run.aspx

07-28-2013, 02:54 PM	#6
40a-760 Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Strasburg,PA Posts: 111	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) To all, As a follow-up to this thread, there is an excellent book written by and available from V8'er Timothy J. O' Callaghan titled 'FORD in the Service of America', covering Ford's contribution to the war effort. A very worthwhile read. Walt K. in PA

07-28-2013, 03:01 PM	#7
ford38v8 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 6,673	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Don't base your knowledge of Willow Run on a propaganda film. There are a number of good books on the subject that not only debunk the propaganda, but go into great detail on every aspect of the plant and the plane, from initial design of the plant to the Government's post war transfer of the facility to Kaiser Fraser, a Ford competitor. One such publicity film, for instance, showed Ford's employing "many" Dwarfs specifically to crawl inside the wings of the bomber, installing wiring circuits. The publicity of this stunt was of course worth more than gold at a time when Little People were thought of only as Munchkins in the 1939 movie Wizard of Oz. Another detail, on why the assembly line was designed in a large L shape... The property sprawled across two Counties, the L shape to keep the building within the County having the lowest tax rate. Details that Ford considered none of his concern... The plant was miles from any town, no housing being provided for the plant workers meant that most every farmhouse for miles around took on boarders. On the sub-assemblies built at Willow Run, large twin engine (Ford Flathead) highway transport trucks were built to ferry these assemblies to Texas for final assembly. To my knowledge, there are no details or photos of these trucks available to us today. __________________ Alan

07-28-2013, 07:34 PM	#8
bigvince Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 48	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 You're half right on the L-shaped plant. Yes, Wastenaw County had a lower tax rate than Wayne County. Henry Ford wanted nothing to do with Wayne County democrats as well (Think Detroit).

07-28-2013, 08:02 PM	#9
ford38v8 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 6,673	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Ha Ha! Yes, old Henry must have laughed out loud over his brilliant way of beating Wayne County out of a share of Ford tax money! He had to have planned that move before buying the property! __________________ Alan

07-29-2013, 02:13 AM	#10
Lawrie Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Qld, Australia Posts: 4,233	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 There is one of the FORD build B24 that crashed in the hills in the war near me, Lawrie

07-29-2013, 07:28 AM	#11
Barry-ct Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Newington, Connecticut Posts: 1,374	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 The Yankee Air Museum is trying to raise 8 million to save part of the Willow Run plant. They have a deadline of this Thursday. Otherwise the buildings are going to be torn down. __________________ Barry 50 F-1

07-29-2013, 09:28 AM	#12
Speedy Canuck Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Posts: 143	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Very neat little video! __________________ - Speedy "Now you listen to me young man ... There'll be no hopped up jobs around here"

07-29-2013, 10:47 AM	#14
1932BB Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Marquette Mich. Posts: 125	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Alan. Regarding the "large twin engine transport trucks". There is a picture of one and some info on page 198 of "Ford Trucks Since 1905" By James K. Wagner. Quite a machine!

07-29-2013, 11:38 AM	#16
Karl Wescott Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,300	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 There were also some dual engine trucks with the more conventianal COE cab that iirc were used in Canada. John Jaeger showed them in a very good multi part article on cabovers that appeared in the V8 Times in the 1980's or 1990's.

07-29-2013, 11:43 AM	#17
ford38v8 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: SF Bay Area Posts: 6,673	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 1932BB & Bob C, Thank you! I had never seen pictures or anything written on those trucks other than one or two sentences here and there. The restored one in Texas... I wonder if there is a chance this one could ever make an appearance at a V8 Club Concourse? __________________ Alan

07-29-2013, 02:44 PM	#18
Bruce Lancaster Member Emeritus Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, NJ Posts: 5,230	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Funny, I once read an opposite take on the midgets...I'm no expert, but it sounds much more like Ford: The regulars like Boeing and Consolidated (Consolidated was the B-24 designer) had a very hard time adjusting from pre-1940 thinking with airplanes being built in very small numbers by experienced craftsmen to the exponentially larger numbers of wartime; they built airframes, then sent in the plumbers and electricians to finish things. These companies were said to have small armies of midgets (Many of them previously employed in The Wizard of Oz) to drag wiring into wingtips and rudders and plumb wing tanks. Ford attacked the whole problem with its assembly expertise based on the huge production numbers expected, and wired and plumbed airframe parts as they went together. I've got a book entitled "Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory" written by two young women schoolteachers who spent the summer vacation of 1943 building B-24's at Consolidated in San Diego. Although no midgets appear in the book, it certainly seems that access problems were dealt with by the line workers rather than by intelligent planning... I would love to find an account of the same procedures as handled in the Ford B-24 plant to see!

07-29-2013, 03:00 PM	#19
Fordors Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Orland Park,IL Posts: 1,402	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 I must agree with you Bruce. There is no way the Willow Run plant sent a plane out the door every hour employing archaic and inefficient methods. I did get a laugh at the commentator in the news reel when he said they could build a plane in an hour. Sending one out the door every hour and building one in an hour are two different things.

07-29-2013, 03:38 PM	#20
Bruce Lancaster Member Emeritus Join Date: May 2010 Location: Madison, NJ Posts: 5,230	Re: B-24's built by Ford in 1941 Ford built a LOT of different things during the war...an interesting extra aeronautical effort was building wooden assault gliders at Iron Mountain, the station wagon plant. I've got a video showing a lot of that somewhere. By the way...the book I mentioned is VERY easy to find, as it has been reprinted recently. It is an absolutely fascinating look at a time when teenagers, housewives, and geriatric veterans were busy cranking out some of the most complex weapons we had...at ten times the rate experts had been doing it before Pearl Harbor. Kinda makes you wonder...could we hack it now?