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12-05-2011, 12:23 PM | #1 |
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The Ford Bomber Plant
We've talked about Willow Run Airport before, but I've never seen video coverage of the plant Ford used to contribute to the war effort. This one was sent to me and while sort of o... To read the rest of this blog entry from The Ford Barn, click here.
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12-05-2011, 01:06 PM | #2 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Cool
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12-05-2011, 01:13 PM | #3 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
This video really reinforces what an amazing country we used to be. Absolutely amazing.
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12-05-2011, 01:19 PM | #4 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
What an unbelievable experience it must have been to have the honor to work at such a plant. One B-24 per hour!
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12-05-2011, 01:20 PM | #5 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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12-05-2011, 01:35 PM | #6 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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12-05-2011, 04:48 PM | #7 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
We still are an amazing country. However, if you haven't spent a lot of time around the men and women that serve in our armed forces right now, I could see how you might think we aren't anymore.
I have spent a lot of time around these folks. In fact, I've been working with an amazing group the last nine or ten months while planning our Hot Rod Revolution event that is going down this coming weekend. I've worked with a lot of different members of the US Army including a number of members in the Special Forces... They've are incredible people that sacrifice just as much as their brothers and sisters did in WWII. It's funny... I've gotten to know so many of these guys because as one group rotates out to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, another rotates in to fill their shoes at the base. I've talked to a lot of these guys that were headed to some pretty dangerous theaters and they treat it like it's no big deal. "Good luck with the show. I'll give you a call when I'm on leave in 12 months or so..." Anyway, it's fashionable to say that this country isn't what it used to be. I get that. However, it's far from the truth if you take the time to get to know the people that are sacrificing so much to protect it. The United States Of America is still the greatest country in the world. Period. |
12-05-2011, 05:49 PM | #8 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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12-05-2011, 06:04 PM | #9 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Ryan well put. As a vet during the viet nam war I get emotional when I see footage of our young men and women in uniform. You got to love em they are ours. Even with our flaws, we are still the best country in the world.
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12-05-2011, 06:15 PM | #10 | |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Quote:
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12-05-2011, 08:28 PM | #11 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
The ford and GM plants were I grew up in New Zealand also made heaps of stuff for the war effort,like Bren gun carriers trucks etc. they also reconditioned a lot of stuff damaged and sent back from the pacific.
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12-05-2011, 08:50 PM | #12 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
V8 Times had a great article on this a few months ago. The thing I did NOT know was that all this was done prior to Dec 7th, 1941. FDR realized (or was informed by Ford engineers) it would take months if not years to get this production running. Still freakin amazing.
I thought it was the B-26s made by Martin in Omaha that were "flying coffins"... Last edited by 41Fordor; 12-05-2011 at 08:59 PM. |
12-05-2011, 09:25 PM | #13 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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12-05-2011, 09:36 PM | #14 | |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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12-05-2011, 09:48 PM | #15 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
The B-24 was a true Heavy Bomber, everyone thinks of the B-17 but the B-24 had a much larger payload. The B-17 also had many more years for development since it first flew in 1936 and went through numerous improvements. Still a very neat film, thanks for sharing with us!
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12-05-2011, 09:51 PM | #16 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Watching this clip is an insperation without any doubt. Good or bad points, to get such feats in manufacturing is truly amazing by today's standards. Being a manufacturer, my present goal is to get back in having our products totally "Made in America" through design and innovation. Enough of the mass produced import products....we can do this right here at home with equal prices and better quality. This is not the first video I have seen from the 30's and 40's, and I will replay them over and over again.....to keep reminding us of what we have to do to reclaim the American Dream.......Robert
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12-05-2011, 10:09 PM | #17 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
To Henry & Coopman, my post was made not to disparage Ford, I only repeated what I've learned from more than one reliable source. If you doubt it, fine, do your own research and post what you find. Please.
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12-05-2011, 10:16 PM | #18 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
I did just that. The plane did get nicknamed by some as the flying coffin, but that was because the only entrance or exit from the plane was at the rear. Because of the tight constraints of the fuselage it was nearly impossible for the flight crew to get to the rear with their parachutes on. Maybe you ought to do a little research before you post and as stated there are 2 airworthy planes and a number fuselages in existence. In fact I saw one fly here at the EAA convention years ago.
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12-05-2011, 10:36 PM | #19 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
thanks for the vid this was one hell of a building i work there building trans for gm in 2002 -2006 lots of history now it sit empty and closed up to bad
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12-05-2011, 10:45 PM | #20 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
My dad worked over there during the war as a plumber in the factory. Used to take the ferry across Lake Michigan. He'd come home on weeekends.
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12-05-2011, 10:52 PM | #21 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Ryan,
That was fantastic, thanks. Makes me proud. The Greatest Generation I guess. My mom worked in a defense plant in Kansas City when she met my dad who was in the army. Wow! |
12-05-2011, 11:00 PM | #22 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Awesome film! if you can find one, pick up the book "Willow Run" by Warren Kidder, great read and goes into detail some of the things Ford & Co. were up against. Allan Nevins most excellent book "Ford Decline & Rebirth" has some great info too.
There is at least one surviving Ford built B-24, it's at Barkesdale AFB in Louisana on static display. |
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12-05-2011, 11:00 PM | #23 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
It aint a B17 but I'd take one.
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12-05-2011, 11:23 PM | #24 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Jack, the planes you saw were not built by Ford.
Edit.... Jack, the planes you saw FLY were not built by Ford.
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12-06-2011, 09:16 AM | #25 | |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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Some things that just get people upset with the way things are today, is the way our young people are educated in our history. A recent high school history book allotted ONE paragraph about the Viet Nam war. DISGUSTING. December 7th is coming up, how many newspapers will bury the history of this date in Section B. It should be on the front page every year! Sorry to get so political on an antique car forum. Let's all enjoy these proud American made cars and preserve them as long as we can. |
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12-06-2011, 10:02 AM | #26 |
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12-06-2011, 12:09 PM | #27 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Another one of many GREAT films produced back in the era to support the war effort. Thanks to Ryan for posting.
It could be called public relations. Or propoganda. Does it really make a difference? I call it patriotism - the very stuff needed in order to defeat a common national enemy. Without it, we fail. Films such as this helped to assure we did NOT fail. Configuration and production revisions were and still are part of these complex systems as they evolve and are added to this great nation's Arsenal for Democracy. Patriotism is the glue that holds it all together. |
12-06-2011, 12:35 PM | #28 | |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
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Very well said, and you're exactly correct. Sometimes I just need a little reminder is all. Thanks for that!
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12-06-2011, 12:35 PM | #29 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
The Willow Run/B-24 story is actually a bigger deal than most people realize... The rest of the story:
Prior to the actual start of WWII the US Government asked Ford to take the project on to build the planes because the other airplane manufactures had declined the contract because of the production demands that the government had placed within the contract. Ford at first declined because they had not been in the air craft manufacturing business since they shut down the Ford Tri-Motor operation. Ford finally relented and took on the contract. Ford had one large problem to overcome, they did not have a plant big enough, or the staff to build the the planes. Ford hired a company called the Austin Company, this company was a very large design and construction firm.. The Austin Company designed the factory and related facilities, starting construction as the plans were being drawn. Six months from the time Ford entered into the contract with the Austin Company the plant was operational and one B-24 per hour exited the building ready for flight testing. On the subject of patriotism and the American way... I am very proud of my service in the U.S. Army during the "Cold War".('57-58).. I spent 18 months in northern/eastern Germany, supporting the armored units that pulled border patrol on the "Eastern Front" between East and West Germany on a 7/24 basis. The crack Soviet Armored Divisions were stationed just across the border from us, just waiting for the U.S. to falter on our resolve to keep the communists at bay.. Sure America has some problems, however, we are still the greatest country in the world... Maybe some of the protesters, "99%'s,the occupiers" and the rest of the free loaders that think the government should take care of them, should pack their bags and try living in one of the Middle Eastern, Mexico, etc, countries for awhile..
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12-06-2011, 01:53 PM | #30 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Thanks for the great video. It brings back many memories of my childhood. I, being born and raised (16) miles from Willow Run in the 30's and 40's recall a lot about the plant, the jobs it provided and even the people that worked there. Obviously, there was a lot of patriotism in the workers and our community surrounding Willow Run years. Yes, we heard stories of "things gone wrong" but, any operation as complexed as building a bomber as big as the Lib and as fast as (1) per hour,there's bound to be some 'awe sh-ts". Remember, we have "recalls" even today. But during the duration of production, the only thing talked about at the local gas station was occasionaly engine failure where the crew had to sit the 24 down on the expressway (I-94) and tow it back to the plant. No injuries, just local eecitement! The employees and crews were finominal as they were at their best 24/7. My father-in-law, supervisor on wing assembly, told the stories of dedicated workers working as much as they wanted, going to there cars for a short nap and retuning back to work for another shift. I'm not sure with all the union and plant regulations today, that would happen. Ford preformed a gigantic feat and contribution to WWII efforts and it should be recognized in a positive manner until the end of time. Sorry for the lenthy response to the thread but, I could go on and on. My favorite WWII aircraft!
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12-06-2011, 03:20 PM | #31 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Boy, we sure do like to argue. I like this one:
"The plane did get nicknamed by some as the flying coffin, but that was because the only entrance or exit from the plane was at the rear. Because of the tight constraints of the fuselage it was nearly impossible for the flight crew to get to the rear with their parachutes on. .... Maybe you ought to do a little research before you post " Well, a little research would turn up the bailout protocol for the crew of a B-24 ...as chronicled in the B-24 pilots manual, calls for the crew to prepare for bail out by opening the bomb bay doors, the nose wheel hatch, and the rear escape door, located on the underside near the tail of the plane. The first to exit are to be the bombardier, and then the navigator through the nose wheel hatch. Then the tail gunner and the left waist gunner are to leave through the rear escape hatch. Then the right waist gunner, followed by the flight engineer and the radio operator are to jump through the open bomb bay doors. Finally, the co-pilot and pilot through the bomb bay doors as well. Where the "coffin" part came in was if the plane made a wheels up, "belly landing." The best places to exit were blocked by ... the ground. Parachutes at that point were not a consideration. Further and to put everything in better perspective, do some research on Ford Werke A.G. and claims that concentration camp slave labor was used in this Ford subsidiary owned mostly by ... Henry. Also check the claims filed by Ford, USA, for damages to their factories in Germany, Austria, Romania, etc. http://media.ford.com/events/pdf/2l-...ndings_S11.pdf Ironic that Ford was paid to build the bombers that bombed his factories that supported Germany's war effort ... then received reparations for the bombing. One slick dude. (Sometimes it's pretty complicated.)
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12-06-2011, 03:33 PM | #32 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
all i get is a black screen and the progress bar. what am i doing wrong?
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12-06-2011, 05:28 PM | #33 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
I got a black screen too, but I live within 20min of the site so I see it live. Here's a well-known that occupies part of it currently, Kallita. The Yankee Air Museum is there too. Sometimes I drive out there just to look around and see what's up. In Motown, I-94 used to be colloquially known as "Bomber Highway". Do a "Google Earth" and see what's on the ground. There used to be a B-52 sitting there but I haven't been that close in a while.
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12-06-2011, 06:49 PM | #34 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
The B-24 was an aircraft that got little attention during the war. It was a more complex aircraft than the earlier designs like the B-17. It had larger engines and was a good bit faster than the B-17 especially after it had left a little deposit for Adolph. Most of the guys I've known that flew and crewed those old birds actually liked them pretty much. B-17s were known to take more battle damage but they were sitting ducks for the Luftwaffe with their FW 190s and flack. When the B-17s were on a run into a target they had several occasions to wave the middle finger salute at the B-24 crews already on their way back to base. The Navy had a straight tail version called the PBY4-2 Privateer. They would go on long missions looking for subs and had a good service record too. Some served as fire bombers clear up into the early 80s.
Ford had the same problems getting a big complex airplane produced as GM did making the TBF Avengers. Both were trying to do the best they could with what they had to work with. They had to train folks to work on them that had never worked on anything like them before. If people wonder why Edsel died young, this was probably one of the reasons. I can only imagine what that headache of tooling up for the war effort would have been like. The Ford family and factory team had some aviation experience but no where near what they had to gain to get that job done. |
12-06-2011, 08:06 PM | #35 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
You'll have to check these facts, but the US of A had 140 million people in 1940. A great many of them were farm boys and clerks at ht hr local movie theater however in 5 years they built a half dozen battle ships, several dozen aircraft carriers hundreds of support vessels. Others made thousands of trucks, tanks and artillery. when it comes to aircraft, again tens of thousands fighter aircraft, besides a few bombers.
Along with these feats of production they trained 15 million service men to man these ships , tanks and aircraft, yes I'm proud to be an American, and former Navy man. Thanks Ryan, It's good to remember the past. PS We also kicked the crap out of em. |
12-06-2011, 10:26 PM | #36 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Up in the bush from here a B24 crashed during the war on a trip from Cairns to Brisbane.
It lay undisturded until about 1995, my brother had a repair shop and did some work for the US military guys who were here to look for the crew,so we knew before anyone. We spent a lot of time at the crash site,( an 80 klm trip in the model A pickup)it hit a hillside while descending apparently. After the US military guys left they gave us some stuff,coins etc, my shed has a cylinder assy as pride of place. I suppose I should do a bit of research to see if it was a willow run B24 Lawrie |
12-06-2011, 10:41 PM | #37 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
I have looked up the info on the B24 in the hills by us,
It was one of the FORD built B24. any one want to have a look ,search Beautiful betsy. Lawrie |
12-07-2011, 05:26 AM | #38 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Here are couple links to Lawrie's B-24:
http://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/qld89.htm http://kroombit.tripod.com/site.htm One of the most famous B-24's lost in WW2 was the Lady Be Good. The undisturbed crash site was not discovered until 1958 in a remote area of the Libyan desert. Because of the nature of the desert there, not only the aircraft was still in remarkable shape, but the bodies of the crew were also found where they fell while trying to walk back to the coast. As you read the account, appreciate how very rudimentary their navigational aids were. They used ADF which simply homed in on a radio beacon. Many of today's teenagers are walking around with cellphones having GPS "app's" that can pinpoint their position to a couple of feet. I have the deepest respect for the guys who flew in WW2. Regardless of the truly extreme combat later military pilots faced, WW2 defined courage in the air. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Be_Good_(aircraft)) http://www.376hbgva.com/aircraft/ladybegood.html Here is another fantastic site on the B-24: http://www.b24.net/
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12-07-2011, 06:14 AM | #39 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Thanks for the vid. That was awesome footage!
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12-07-2011, 09:44 AM | #40 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Thanks Lawrie and Hoop.
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12-07-2011, 12:31 PM | #41 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
How things change. During WWII, we proudly built the weapons that won the war for us. Now we build the weapons that we are fighting against.
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12-07-2011, 10:04 PM | #42 |
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Re: The Ford Bomber Plant
Great movie, Thanks.
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