Willow Run, also called Air Force Plant 31, was a factory in Michigan, United States, situated between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville. It was built by the Ford Motor Company to make airplanes, especially the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber. Construction of the Willow Run Bomber Plant started in 1940 and was finished in 1942.

Defense plant

The plant started production in the summer of 1942, and the dedication plaque is dated June 16. At first, the plant built parts for airplanes. The aircraft company Douglas Aircraft and the B-24’s designer, Consolidated Aircraft, put together the finished planes. However, building planes from parts far away had problems, so 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 drafted into the military.
• 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 during World War II. After the war ended, the airfield became a civilian airport and is now managed by the Wayne County Airport Authority. At different times, part of the airport was used as a research facility that worked with the University of Michigan and as a location for the U.S. Air Force. Willow Run Airport continues to be used for cargo and general aviation flights. Since 1992, the airport has hosted the former Yankee Air Museum and the National Museum of Aviation and Technology at Historic Willow Run, now called the Michigan Flight Museum.

Camp Willow Run

Willow Run is named after a small stream that flowed through fields and forests near the Wayne–Washtenaw county line until the late 1930s. By the mid-1920s, a local family called Quirk Farms had purchased land in Van Buren Township, which later became an airport. In 1931, Henry Ford, a famous car inventor, bought Quirk Farms. Ford believed in the benefits of rural living and used the land as part of an experiment to teach young men from the city about farming, nature, and life in the countryside.

The boys at Camp Willow Run helped grow crops, collect maple syrup, and sell these items at a market on the farm. Through this work, they learned self-discipline, the value of hard work, and the benefits of living in the country. The camp was for boys aged 17 to 19, many of whom were sons of soldiers who had died or been injured during World War I or were helping support their families.

According to the Benson Ford Research Center, Camp Willow Run offered:

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. Other chapels were built in the 1930s and located in Dearborn, Michigan (near the Fords’ home); Sudbury, Massachusetts; two in Richmond Hill, Georgia (the Fords’ winter home); Macon, Michigan; and Willow Run.

The Willow Run Chapel was originally built for Camp Willow Run. In 1979, it became the place of worship for the Belleville Presbyterian Church after several changes in ownership. After World War II, 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. GM used the building to store files for a 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 stands on land that was once part of 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. The Greenfield Village chapel is the only other chapel with original furnishings still in use.

Factory construction

During World War II, Ford Motor Company, which was led by Henry Ford’s son Edsel, focused its manufacturing efforts on producing items needed by the Allied forces. In early 1941, the U.S. government created the Liberator Production Pool Program to meet the need for B-24 bombers, and Ford joined the program soon after. Ford not only built the bombers but also helped create an airfield at Willow Run. This location was chosen because Henry Ford owned the land, which avoided problems with buying land, and it was near roads and rail lines connecting Detroit to Ann Arbor and other areas. Land agreements were made with people living in Ypsilanti Township, where the Liberator plant and later the airport terminal would be built.

Although Henry Ford was officially retired, he still influenced company decisions. He refused government money to build Willow Run and instead wanted Ford to construct the factory and sell it to the government. The government would then rent it back to Ford during the war. Ford had the first chance to buy the plant after the war ended, but it 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 Ford farms were transferred to the company’s ownership.

Architect Albert Kahn designed the main building of the Willow Run bomber plant. The plant had 3,500,000 square feet of space and an aircraft assembly line over a mile long. It was considered the largest factory under one roof in the world. The plant included four large turntables along the assembly line, which allowed the B-24 production lines to turn 90 degrees before continuing to final assembly. Some people believed this helped the company save money on taxes by keeping the plant in Washtenaw County instead of Wayne County, where the airfield was located. Views from above suggest avoiding the airfield’s taxiways was also a reason.

Because so many people moved to the area for jobs at Willow Run, there was a shortage of housing. The Federal Public Housing Administration built temporary homes to help. These homes were built in several areas. Willow Run Lodge was a series of dormitories for single people, built on land north of Michigan Avenue and south of Geddes Road. This area covered 2,641 acres.

In February 1943, Willow Run Lodge opened. It had 15 buildings with 1,900 rooms, some for single people and others for two people, and could house 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. The flat-tops had four, six, or eight apartments with one, two, or three bedrooms.

In Willow Run Village, there were also West Court buildings with peaked roofs, designed for couples or three adults. Of the 1,000 apartments in West Court, some had no bedrooms and were called "zero bedroom" apartments, while others had one bedroom. The first of these apartments were ready for use in August 1943. Another dormitory, West Lodge, with 1,960 rooms, was also ready for tenants at that time.

By the end of 1943, there were six temporary housing projects 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, about the same number of people living in Ypsilanti at the time.

In 1943, another community called Parkridge Homes was built to house African-American workers at Willow Run. Attempts to allow African-American workers to live in Willow Run Lodge and Village or build integrated housing were refused by the Detroit Housing Commission and the National Housing Agency. Because of this, African-American architect Hilyard Robinson was asked 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 in 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 companies and government officials cannot always predict when a manufacturer should build housing and other services themselves or rely on others to provide them.

Liberator production

Even though Ford's production executive, Charles E. Sorensen, worked hard on the design, 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 a success in the 1920s, but Ford had not focused on making airplanes since then. At first, Ford was asked to make parts for the B-24 bomber, with the final assembly done by Consolidated in Fort Worth, Texas, or Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. However, in October 1941, Ford was allowed to build complete Liberators at its new Willow Run facility. Within one year, finished Liberators were leaving the factory. This was a surprising achievement in building and starting up the factory.

According to Max Wallace, the Air Corps Chief, General "Hap" Arnold told Charles Lindbergh, who was a consultant at the plant, that "combat squadrons preferred the B-17 bomber to the B-24 because 'when we send the 17's out on a mission, most of them return. But when we send the 24's out, most of them don't.'"

A 1943 committee set up by Congress to study problems at the plant wrote a report that criticized Ford. The company had created a production line that was too similar to an automobile assembly line, even though many experienced aircraft workers had warned against this.

Although moving into airplane production caused quality issues, it also led to very high production rates. The Willow Run plant was the largest enclosed space in the world. The first Ford-built Liberator was made 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 adapting to airplane production. The plant also faced labor issues, high rates of workers not showing up, and many workers leaving quickly. The factory was almost an hour away from Detroit, and wartime gasoline and tire limits made commuting difficult. In one month, Ford hired 2,900 workers but lost 3,100.

Henry Ford was stubborn and strict in his approach. He strongly opposed unions and had serious labor problems, including a large strike. He refused to hire women at first. However, he eventually allowed women, called "Rosie the Riveters," to work on his assembly lines, probably because many men had been drafted into the military rather than because he changed his mind.

By autumn 1943, leadership at Willow Run changed from Charles Sorensen to Mead L. Bricker.

At the government's request, Ford spread out operations, with many parts made at other Ford plants and by subcontractors. The Willow Run plant focused on final assembly of the planes. Over time, the production process improved, and by 1944, Ford was building a Liberator every 63 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

At its highest production rate in April 1944, Willow Run made 428 B-24s in one month, with 100 bombers completed and sent away between April 24 and 26, 1944. By 1945, Ford produced 70% of all B-24s in two 9-hour shifts. Ford built 6,972 of the 18,482 total B-24s and made "knock down" kits for 1,893 more to be assembled by Consolidated in Fort Worth, Texas, and Douglas Aircraft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The B-24 was the most produced heavy bomber in history.

After the planes were made, they were delivered to military squadrons at Willow Run by the 1st Concentration Command. This group organized and equipped squadrons before sending them overseas. It also checked the planes for final changes, such as adding fuel tanks, removing unnecessary equipment, and testing for safety.

At the same time, workers for the planes were assigned to crews. Pilots, co-pilots, navigators, and crew chiefs slept on 1,300 cots while waiting for planes to be built. Paperwork was completed, life support equipment was given to crews, and some training was provided.

Once production began, it was hard to make changes based on experiences from overseas quickly. So, new Liberators needed adjustments for the areas they would fly in. For this reason, seven modification centers were set up to update planes after they were made. These centers included places like the Birmingham Air Depot in Alabama, Consolidated's Fort Worth plant, and others. The Birmingham Air Depot's main job was to modify Liberators from Willow Run.

The B-24E was the first version made mainly at Willow Run. Ford built 490 complete planes and sent parts as kits to Consolidated in Fort Worth and Douglas in Tulsa for final assembly. Planes fully built at Ford were labeled B-24E-FO, while those assembled in Tulsa and Fort Worth were labeled B-24E-DT and B-24E-CF. Because of delays, many B-24Es built at Willow Run became outdated and were used for training in the United States, so few saw combat.

The B-24H was the first large number of B-24s made at Willow Run that were used in combat. The B-24H had a nose turret, the Emerson Electric A-15, to improve defense. Because of changes needed, the first B-24Hs were delivered slightly late, with the first ones made in late June 1943. Willow Run produced 1,780 B-24Hs.

When the B-24J was introduced, all three Liberator manufacturing plants switched to making this version. The B-24J had a hydraulically driven tail turret and other defensive changes. Willow Run made its first B-24J in April 1944, producing 1

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 do so and ended its connection with Willow Run.

After Ford refused to purchase 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 cars, including the compact Henry J model, which was also sold as the Allstate through Sears-Roebuck with small changes.

Willow Run produced 739,000 cars for Kaiser-Frazer and Kaiser Motors from 1947 to 1953. After years of financial losses, the company (now named 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 planes to transport supplies. Kaiser-Frazer built C-119 Flying Boxcar cargo planes at Willow Run under a license from Fairchild Aircraft, making about 88 planes between 1951 and 1953. To get a military contract for the C-123 Provider transport plane, Kaiser bought half of Chase Aircraft. Senate investigations found that Kaiser’s planes cost more than Fairchild’s. The C-123 contracts were canceled by the U.S. Air Force, and the only planes built were destroyed.

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 inventions, 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 destroyed General Motors’ Detroit Transmission factory in Livonia, Michigan. The Willow Run complex was first rented and then sold to GM. Machinery and tools for automatic transmissions from the fire-damaged factory were moved to Willow Run and returned to production within nine weeks.

Over time, GM expanded the former bomber plant by about half, turning it into a nearly 5,000,000-square-foot 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 like 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. Fisher Body continued making car bodies at Willow Run Assembly until the 1970s, and vehicles were produced there until 1992.

In addition to making automatic transmissions, Willow Run Transmission also made the M16A1 rifle and the M39A1 20mm autocannon for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

By 2009, when General Motors went bankrupt, most manufacturing and assembly work at Willow Run had nearly stopped. The GM Powertrain plant closed in December 2010, and the complex was handed over to the RACER Trust. The trust is responsible for cleaning up the site, preparing it for future development, and eventually selling the property.

Postwar

Ford built the factory and sold it to the government. After selling it, Ford rented it back from the government during the war. When Ford did not buy the factory after the war ended, the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation took ownership. In 1953, Ford’s competitor, General Motors, bought the factory and operated it as Willow Run Transmission until 2010. Willow Run Assembly was active 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 announced it would close all operations at the GM Powertrain plant and engineering center the following year.

After Willow Run Transmission closed in 2010, the RACER Trust, which manages properties once owned by General Motors, took control of the factory complex. In 2011, A.E. Equities Group Holdings proposed buying the former Powertrain plant from the RACER Trust. In April 2013, a redevelopment manager for the RACER Trust stated that unused parts of the Powertrain plant would likely be demolished 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 former 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 former boundaries of the Willow Run Community School District.

Redevelopment efforts and the Yankee Air Museum

The airfield has been owned by the Wayne County Airport Authority since 2004. It continues to operate as Willow Run Airport and is mainly used for cargo and general aviation flights. The Yankee Air Museum is located on the airport grounds. As of April 2013, the museum used a 47,000-square-foot (4,400 m²) hangar and other properties.

Before the demolition of Willow Run Assembly, parts of the facility were used as a warehouse. About a quarter of this warehouse was leased by General Motors (GM) for parts distribution.

In April 2013, the Detroit Free Press reported that the current owner of the facility, RACER Trust, was negotiating with the Yankee Air Museum to preserve a small section of the original bomber plant as a new home for the museum. The museum was originally given until August 2013 to raise funds to buy and separate a portion of the approximately 5,000,000-square-foot building, which later became the GM Powertrain facility. This would allow the museum to combine its operations currently spread across different areas of Willow Run. RACER Trust plans to clear the rest of the plant for new development. The 175,000-square-foot (16,300 m²) section of the original bomber plant that the museum wants to preserve is less than 5% of the entire facility. It is located at the far eastern edge of the property, near the end of the former B-24 assembly line, and includes the two large doors through which B-24 Liberator bombers were sent out during World War II.

The campaign to save part of Willow Run for the Yankee Air Museum was called SaveTheBomberPlant.org. It was promoted through a fundraising website with the same name. The campaign received attention from media outlets in the United States and internationally, including National Public Radio, The History Channel, National Geographic TV, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail.

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 extension, giving the museum until May 1, 2014, to raise $8 million. Most of this amount would cover costs to separate the preserved section of the plant so it could function as a separate building. RACER Trust supported the campaign and adjusted engineering and demolition plans to reduce costs for the museum.

By May 1, 2014, the museum had raised over $7 million of its $8 million goal. This amount was enough for the building’s owners to sign a Purchase Agreement with the museum, with the actual purchase expected to be completed in late summer or fall of 2014.

Meanwhile, the remaining part of the Willow Run property, which includes more than 95% of the original bomber plant building, was offered to Walbridge, Inc., for redevelopment as a connected car research and test facility. 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 empty Willow Run facility and noted:

During the tour, the group discovered a hidden room inside the building:

Demolition of most of the Willow Run facility began in December 2013. The Yankee Air Museum secured control of about 144,900 square feet of the site and plans to create a permanent home for the museum. By mid-2014, most of the facility had been demolished and cleared.