The Ford Barn

JoeCB · 11-04-2021, 08:30 PM

I hope not to get too far off the topic... The story of the Ford Willow Run bomber plant is a truly remarkable feat of industrialization. The time line from concept to production is astonishing, some 16 months from the time that Edsel Ford and his team of manufacturing wizards visited Consolidated in San Diego to "see how an airplane is built" to the first "Ford assembled B-24" ... all this from corn field to 4,734,617 s.f. factory, all this in a year and a half. You couldn't even get permits approved these days in that time frame.
The definitive book on the subject is "Willow Run, Colossus of American Industry" by Warren B. Kidder. It's an amazing read!
To add a personal note, my father a Ford Motor journeyman tool and die maker worked at Willow Run through the war building and repairing the many tools, jigs and fixtures that enabled Ford to employ assembly line techniques to the massive airplane.

11-04-2021, 08:30 PM	#19
JoeCB Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Farmington MI Posts: 366	Re: Edsel Ford I hope not to get too far off the topic... The story of the Ford Willow Run bomber plant is a truly remarkable feat of industrialization. The time line from concept to production is astonishing, some 16 months from the time that Edsel Ford and his team of manufacturing wizards visited Consolidated in San Diego to "see how an airplane is built" to the first "Ford assembled B-24" ... all this from corn field to 4,734,617 s.f. factory, all this in a year and a half. You couldn't even get permits approved these days in that time frame. The definitive book on the subject is "Willow Run, Colossus of American Industry" by Warren B. Kidder. It's an amazing read! To add a personal note, my father a Ford Motor journeyman tool and die maker worked at Willow Run through the war building and repairing the many tools, jigs and fixtures that enabled Ford to employ assembly line techniques to the massive airplane.