Willow Run, also known as Air Force Plant 31, was a factory in Michigan, United States. It was located between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville. The Ford Motor Company built it to make airplanes, such as the Consolidated B-24 Liberator large bomber. Construction began in 1940 and was finished in 1942.
Defense plant
The plant started production in summer 1942; the dedication plaque is dated June 16. At first, the plant made parts for airplanes. The aircraft company Douglas Aircraft and the B-24's designer, Consolidated Aircraft, put the finished planes together. However, building planes from parts far away was difficult, and by October 1941, Ford was allowed to make complete Liberators. The Liberator assembly line at Willow Run operated until May 1945, producing nearly half of all Liberators made.
- Employees: 42,500
- Military draft losses: Each month, 8,200 workers were sent to military service
- Training: The Aircraft Apprentice School trained up to 8,000 students each week to prepare for work
- Size: 3.5 million square feet
- Dimensions: More than 3,200 feet long and 1,279 feet wide at its widest point
- Building: Construction began on April 18, 1941
- Aircraft: B-24 production started in the last weeks of 1942
- Subassemblies: Parts and subassemblies were made at nearly 1,000 Ford factories and independent suppliers
Airport
Willow Run Airport was built as part of a bomber plant. After World War II, the airfield was transferred to civilian control and is now managed by the Wayne County Airport Authority. At different times, parts of the airport were used as a research facility connected to the University of Michigan and as a secondary Air Force base. The airport has stayed active as a place for cargo and general aviation flights. Since 1992, the airport has been the home of the former Yankee Air Museum and the National Museum of Aviation and Technology at Historic Willow Run, which is now called the Michigan Flight Museum.
Camp Willow Run
Willow Run is named after a small stream that flowed through open fields and forests near the border of Wayne and Washtenaw counties until the late 1930s. By the mid-1920s, a local family known as Quirk Farms had purchased the land in Van Buren Township, which later became an airport. In 1931, Quirk Farms was bought by Henry Ford, a car inventor who believed in the benefits of country living. Ford used the land as farmland for a special program that brought young men from cities to Willow Run Camp to learn about farming, nature, and rural life.
At Willow Run Camp, the residents planted crops, cared for them, and collected maple syrup. They sold these items at a farm market on the property. Through these activities, the boys learned self-discipline, the importance of hard work, and the value of fresh air and outdoor life. The camp was for young men aged 17 to 19, many of whom were sons of soldiers who had died or been injured during World War I or were helping their families survive financially.
According to the Benson Ford Research Center, the camp provided opportunities for these young men to grow and learn. Henry and Clara Bryant Ford built seven chapels named after their mothers, Mary Ford and Martha Bryant. The first chapel was completed in 1929 at Greenfield Village, Michigan. Others were built in the 1930s in locations such as Dearborn, Michigan; Sudbury, Massachusetts; Richmond Hill, Georgia; Macon, Michigan; and Willow Run.
The Willow Run Chapel was originally built for Camp Willow Run. After the war, Ford sold the chapel to Kaiser-Frazer, who later sold it to General Motors as part of a deal to buy the Willow Run bomber plant. General Motors stored files in the building for some time before selling it to the Cherry Hill Baptist Church. When Cherry Hill needed more space, it sold the chapel to the Belleville Presbyterian Church for one dollar in July 1978.
Today, the Willow Run Chapel of Martha and Mary is located a few miles from where it was first built, on land once owned by Henry Ford’s Quirk Farms. Of the seven chapels, this is the only one still used regularly for worship. It retains its original pews and furnishings, just like the chapel at Greenfield Village.
Factory construction
During World War II, Ford Motor Company, led by Henry Ford's son Edsel, focused on producing items needed for the war effort, just like many other American businesses. In early 1941, the U.S. government created the Liberator Production Pool Program to meet the need for B-24 bombers. Ford joined this program and was responsible for both building the bombers and creating an airfield. The Willow Run farm, owned by Henry Ford, was chosen for the airfield because it was located near major roads and rail lines connecting Detroit to Ann Arbor and other areas. Land near Ypsilanti Township was also acquired for the Liberator plant and later the airport terminal.
Although Henry Ford was officially retired, he still influenced company decisions. He refused government funding for Willow Run and insisted that Ford build the factory and sell it to the government, which would then lease it back to Ford during the war. Ford had the right to buy the plant after the war ended but did not use this option. A rumor suggested Ford planned to use the site as a tractor factory after the war, but this never happened. In July 1944, Ford sold the land to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation’s Defense Plant Corporation after the company gained ownership of the Ford farms.
Architect Albert Kahn designed the main structure of the Willow Run bomber plant, which covered 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m²) of space and had an aircraft assembly line over a mile (1,600 m) long. This was considered the largest factory under one roof in the world. The plant included four large turntables along the assembly lines, allowing B-24 production lines to make a 90° turn before final assembly. It was said that this layout helped Ford pay lower taxes to Washtenaw County instead of Wayne County, where the airfield was located. Overhead views also suggested that avoiding interference with the airfield’s taxiways was another reason for the design.
Because so many workers moved to the area for jobs at Willow Run, there was a shortage of housing. To solve this, the Federal Public Housing Administration built temporary homes. These included Willow Run Lodge, a series of dormitories for single workers, built on land north of Michigan Avenue and south of Geddes Road. This area covered 2,641 acres (1,069 ha) across 90 parcels of land.
Willow Run Lodge opened in February 1943 and had 15 buildings with 1,900 rooms, enough space for 3,000 people. Between June and December 1943, temporary "flat-top" buildings were built to house 2,500 families. This area was called Willow Run Village and included four-, six-, or eight-unit apartments with one, two, or three bedrooms. West Court, another part of Willow Run Village, had peaked rooftops and apartments for couples or three adults. Some apartments had no bedrooms and were called "zero bedroom" units. West Lodge, another dormitory project with 1,960 rooms, was also completed in 1943.
By the end of 1943, six temporary housing projects were built near Willow Run: two dormitory projects, two trailer projects (one for rented trailers and one for privately owned trailers, each with shared laundry, shower, and toilet facilities), and two apartment projects—West Court and Willow Run Village. Together, these projects provided shelter for more than 15,000 people, roughly the same number of people living in Ypsilanti at the time.
In 1943, Parkridge Homes was built to house African-American workers at Willow Run. Efforts to integrate Willow Run Lodge and Village were rejected by the Detroit Housing Commission and the National Housing Agency, so African-American architect Hilyard Robinson was hired to design an 80-unit community for African-American workers. Parkridge Homes remained in use as public housing until 2016, when it was demolished and replaced with modern units. In May 2017, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office honored Parkridge Homes with three historic markers to recognize its importance to Ypsilanti’s history.
At the same time, the Parkridge Community Center was also built.
In 1952, sociologist Lowell Juilliard Carr and James Edson Stermer of the University of Michigan studied the social conditions at Willow Run in their book. They discussed "cultural inadequacy theory," explaining that it was difficult to determine whether a company should use its own money or rely on others to provide housing and community services during times of rapid population growth.
Liberator production
Despite efforts by Ford production leader Charles E. Sorensen, the opening of the plant had some problems, and the quality of the planes was not always good at first. The Ford Trimotor had been successful in the 1920s, but Ford had not worked on airplanes since then. At first, Ford was asked to make parts for the B-24 bomber, which would be put together later by Consolidated in Fort Worth, Texas, or Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, in October 1941, Ford was allowed to build complete B-24s at its new Willow Run facility. Within a year, finished planes left the factory. This was a major achievement for building and starting up the factory.
According to Max Wallace, Air Corps Chief General "Hap" Arnold told Charles Lindbergh, a consultant at the plant, that "combat squadrons preferred the B-17 bomber over the B-24 because 'most of the 17s return from missions, but most of the 24s do not.'"
A 1943 group set up by Congress to study problems at the plant released a report that criticized Ford. The company had created a production line that looked too much like an automobile assembly line, even though many experienced airplane workers had warned against this.
Although Ford’s move into airplane production caused quality issues, it also led to very fast production rates. The Willow Run plant was the largest enclosed "room" in the world. The first Ford-built B-24 rolled off the Willow Run line in September 1942. The first series of Willow Run Liberators was the B-24E model.
The Willow Run Plant had many problems at the start because Ford workers were used to making cars and had trouble adjusting to airplane production. The plant also faced labor issues, high rates of workers not showing up, and many employees leaving quickly. The factory was about an hour away from Detroit, and wartime rules on gasoline and tires made commuting hard. In just one month, Ford hired 2,900 workers but lost 3,100.
Henry Ford was stubborn and did not like unions. There were serious labor problems, including a large strike. He also refused to hire women at first. However, he eventually allowed women to work on the assembly lines, likely because many men had been drafted into the military rather than because he changed his mind.
By autumn 1943, leadership at Willow Run passed from Charles Sorensen to Mead L. Bricker.
At the government’s request, Ford spread out its operations, with parts made at other Ford plants and by subcontractors. The Willow Run plant focused on final assembly of the planes. Over time, production problems were fixed, and by 1944, Ford could build a B-24 every 63 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
At its peak in April 1944, Willow Run produced 428 B-24s in one month, with 100 bombers completed in just three days. By 1945, Ford made 70% of all B-24s in two 9-hour shifts. Ford built 6,972 of the 18,482 total B-24s and provided parts for 1,893 more to be assembled by Consolidated and Douglas. The B-24 was the most-produced heavy bomber in history.
After production, planes were sent to operational squadrons at Willow Run by the 1st Concentration Command. This group organized and equipped squadrons before sending them overseas. It also inspected planes, made final changes, and tested them for safety.
While planes were being prepared for overseas use, crews were assigned to each aircraft. Pilots, co-pilots, navigators, and crew chiefs slept on 1,300 cots while waiting for planes to be completed. Paperwork was handled, equipment was issued, and training was provided.
Once production started, it was hard to quickly change designs based on feedback from soldiers overseas. New Liberators often needed adjustments for the areas they would be used in. For this, seven modification centers were set up to update planes after they were built. These included places in Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Hawaii. The Birmingham Air Depot in Alabama mainly worked on planes from Willow Run.
The B-24E was the first model made at Willow Run. Ford built 490 complete planes and sent parts to Consolidated and Douglas for final assembly. Planes fully built at Ford were labeled B-24E-FO, while those assembled elsewhere were labeled B-24E-DT and B-24E-CF. Many B-24Es made at Willow Run were outdated by the time they were finished and were used for training instead of combat.
The B-24H was the first model made in large numbers at Willow Run that saw combat. It had a new nose turret for better defense. Production started in late 1943, and 1,780 B-24Hs were built.
When the B-24J was introduced, all three Liberator plants switched to making this version. It had a hydraulically operated tail turret and other improvements. Willow Run produced 1,587 B-24Js starting in April 1944.
By June 1944, the Army decided that the San Diego and Willow Run plants could meet all future needs for B-24 production. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was taking over long-range bombing in the Pacific, and no new B-24 units were planned for Europe, the Mediterranean, or the China-Burma-India theater.
The B-24L was the first model made after production was scaled back. It aimed to reduce the weight of the B-24, which had grown due to added weapons and armor without better engines.
Post-war conversion
Although Ford had the chance to buy the plant after it was no longer needed for wartime production, the company chose not to purchase it and ended its connection with Willow Run.
After Ford refused to buy the plant, it was sold to the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, a partnership between construction and shipbuilding leader Henry J. Kaiser and Graham-Paige executive Joseph W. Frazer. The plant made both Kaiser and Frazer car models, including the compact Henry J, which was also sold as the Allstate through Sears-Roebuck with small changes.
From 1947 to 1953, Willow Run produced 739,000 cars for Kaiser-Frazer and Kaiser Motors. After years of financial losses, the company, now called Kaiser Motors after Frazer left the partnership, bought Willys-Overland and moved its production from Willow Run to a Willys plant in Toledo, Ohio.
During the Korean War, the U.S. Air Force needed more airlift capacity, so Kaiser-Frazer built C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo planes at Willow Run under a license from Fairchild Aircraft. Between 1951 and 1953, about 88 C-119s were made there. To access a military contract for the C-123 Provider transport plane, Kaiser bought half of Chase Aircraft. Senate investigations found that Kaiser’s C-119 planes cost much more than Fairchild’s. The C-123 contracts were canceled by the U.S. Air Force, and no completed C-123 planes were used.
Near the airport, a group of World War II hangars was sold to the University of Michigan in 1946. The university operated the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (MARC), later called Willow Run Laboratories (WRL), from 1946 to 1972. MARC and WRL developed important innovations, such as the first ruby laser, the ruby maser, and early research on antiballistic missile defense and advanced remote sensing.
In 1972, the university separated WRL into the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, which later moved to offices in Ann Arbor.
In 1953, a fire on August 12 destroyed General Motors’ Detroit Transmission factory in Livonia, Michigan. Willow Run was first leased and then sold to GM. The salvaged Hydramatic transmission tools and machines were moved to Willow Run and returned to production in just nine weeks after the fire.
Over time, GM expanded the bomber plant by about half, turning it into a nearly 5,000,000-square-foot (460,000 m²) GM Powertrain factory and engineering center. A section of land south of Powertrain was used for assembly operations starting in 1959, with a Fisher Body plant that built car bodies for Chevrolet models, including the Corvair and Nova. In 1968, General Motors reorganized its body and assembly operations into the GM Assembly Division (GMAD). It took 16 years for GMAD to fully take over Fisher Body’s operations, and Fisher Body continued making car bodies at Willow Run Assembly until the 1970s. Vehicles were produced there until 1992.
In addition to making automatic transmissions, Willow Run Transmission also produced the M16A1 rifle and the M39A1 20mm autocannon for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
By 2009, when General Motors entered bankruptcy, manufacturing and assembly operations at Willow Run had nearly stopped. The GM Powertrain plant closed in December 2010, and the complex was handed over to the RACER Trust, which is responsible for cleaning up the site, preparing it for redevelopment, and eventually selling the land.
Postwar
Ford built the factory and sold it to the government. Then, Ford rented it back for the time of the war. After the war, Ford did not buy the factory, so the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation took ownership. In 1953, Ford’s competitor, General Motors, bought the factory and used it as Willow Run Transmission until 2010. Willow Run Assembly operated from 1959 to 1992 on land near the airport. The Fisher Body division also worked at Willow Run Assembly until the 1970s, when its operations were taken over by the GM Assembly Division. In 2009, General Motors said it would close all operations at the GM Powertrain plant and engineering center the next year.
After Willow Run Transmission closed in 2010, the RACER Trust managed the factory complex. This group controls properties that were once owned by General Motors. In 2011, A.E. Equities Group Holdings offered to buy the old Powertrain plant from the RACER Trust. In April 2013, a redevelopment manager for the RACER Trust said parts of the Powertrain plant not in use would likely be torn down as part of redevelopment plans. Most of the plant was torn down in late 2013 and early 2014. In 2014, the Yankee Air Museum moved into the bomber factory.
In November 2016, the RACER Trust sold Willow Run to a group created by the State of Michigan. This group now rents the property to the American Center for Mobility (AMC).
The Willow Run complex is also the name of a community on the east side of Ypsilanti. This area is roughly defined by the old boundaries of the Willow Run Community School District.
Redevelopment efforts and the Yankee Air Museum
The airfield, owned by the Wayne County Airport Authority since 2004, continues to operate as Willow Run Airport and is mainly used for cargo and small plane flights. The Yankee Air Museum is located on the airport grounds and, as of April 2013, occupies a 47,000-square-foot (4,400 m²) hangar and other buildings.
Before the Willow Run Assembly building was demolished, some parts were used as a warehouse. About a quarter of this area was rented by GM to store and distribute car parts.
In April 2013, the Detroit Free Press reported that the current owner of the facility, RACER Trust, was working with the Yankee Air Museum to preserve a small section of the original bomber plant as a new museum location. The museum was originally given until August 2013 (later extended) to raise money to buy and separate a portion of the approximately 5,000,000-square-foot building, which later became the GM Powertrain facility. This move would bring the museum’s operations together on one site, and the Trust planned to clear the rest of the plant for future development. The 175,000-square-foot (16,300 m²) section the museum wants to preserve is less than 5% of the entire facility. It is located at the far eastern edge of the property and includes the two large doors through which B-24 bombers were sent out during World War II.
The effort to save part of Willow Run for the museum was called SaveTheBomberPlant.org and centered on a fundraising website with the same name. The campaign received attention from many U.S. newspapers, National Public Radio, The History Channel magazine, National Geographic TV, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail, which are British publications.
RACER Trust extended the original fundraising deadline (August 1, 2013) three times after the museum launched its campaign. The first two extensions were to October 1, 2013, and then to November 1, 2013. On October 26, 2013, RACER Trust and the museum agreed to a third and final deadline extension, giving the museum until May 1, 2014, to raise $8 million to secure and preserve a part of the original Willow Run plant. Most of the $8 million goal covers the costs to separate the preserved section of the building so it can stand alone. RACER Trust supported the campaign and adjusted engineering and demolition plans to save money for the museum.
By May 1, 2014, the museum had raised over $7 million of its $8 million goal, which was enough to allow the building’s owners to sign a Purchase Agreement with the museum. The actual purchase was expected to be completed in late summer or fall of 2014.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Willow Run property, which includes more than 95% of the original bomber plant building, was given to Walbridge, Inc., for redevelopment as a connected car research and test facility. However, the option for Walbridge has since expired, and the property remains available for purchase and redevelopment.
Decommission and demolition
In early 2013, Michigan Live reporter Amy Biolchini visited the abandoned Willow Run facility and noted:
During the tour, the group discovered a concealed room inside the building:
Demolition of most of the Willow Run facility started in December 2013. The Yankee Air Museum took control of about 144,900 square feet of the site and plans to create a permanent location for the museum. By mid-2014, most of the facility had been demolished and cleared.