# BUILDING THE B-24 BOMBER DURING WWII " STORY OF WILLOW RUN " 74182

Made by the Ford Motor Company during WWII, "The Story of Willow Run" explains the company's role in producing the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Narrated by Harry Wismer, the film explains how Ford manufactured and built B-24 Liberators under license from Consolidated Aircraft Company. Production rates were so great at the plant that a new B-24 rolled off the production line every 55 minutes. The plant began production in summer 1941; the dedication plaque is dated June 16. The plant initially built components; Douglas Aircraft and the plane's designer Consolidated Aircraft assembled the finished aircraft. Remote assembly proved problematic, and by October 1941 Ford received permission to produce complete Liberators. Willow Run's Liberator assembly line ran through May 1945, building almost half of all the Liberators produced. In early 1941 the Federal government established the Liberator Production Pool Program to meet the projected demand for the B-24, and the Ford company, joined the program shortly thereafter. Ford Motor would not only build the bombers, it would supply the airfield as well; the farm at Willow Run was an ideal location for the airfield's runways. Architect Albert Kahn designed the main structure of the Willow Run bomber plant, which had 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m2) of factory space, and an aircraft assembly line over a mile long. It was thought to be the largest factory under one roof anywhere in the world. The Willow Run plant…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: War, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/74182StoryOfWillowRun)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/74182StoryOfWillowRun?play=1)