AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2020 - 44

PILOT BRIEFING
AIRPORTS

|

Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Visit this airport
with your Pilot
Passport on the
AOPA app.
aopa.org/travel/
pilot-passport

Ford's farm to bomber factory
BY DENNIS K. JOHNSON

PILOTS WILL FIND nearly
100 years of U.S. history at
Willow Run Airport (YIP)
in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Fly over and you'll see the
outlines of a vast aircraft
plant that assembled B-24
Liberator bombers during
World War II. Land, and
you can visit a museum dedicated to Willow Run and
the home-front war effort.
What you won't find are
the bucolic farm fields once
owned by pioneering automaker Henry Ford; those
have disappeared under the
airport's runways, ramps,
roads, and buildings.
In the 1930s, the land that would
become Willow Run Airport-in the countryside east of Ypsilanti, between Ann Arbor
and Detroit-was owned by Ford. There,
he operated a farm that brought inner-city
boys to the country to teach them about
agriculture and the rural way of life. The
boys planted and harvested crops and sold
the produce at a farm stand. Ford thought
this would teach them the value of honest
work and provide an experience they'd not
find in the city.
When America mobilized for World War
II, Ford responded by turning from building
cars to building bombers. Ford commenced
construction of the Willow Run manufacturing plant and airport in 1940 and it was
turning out aircraft components the next
year. In 1942, the factory began assembling
complete bombers.
Through 1945, workers riveted together
8,685 B-24 Liberator bombers, building
more B-24s than Consolidated Aircraft-the

44 | AOPA PILOT April 2020

bombers that fly here anymore are the B-17 Yankee
Lady and the B-25 Yankee
Warrior, two restored
bombers owned by the
museum.
DENNIS K. JOHNSON is an

aviation writer living in
New York City.

California aircraft company that designed
the airplane.
Willow Run claimed to be the largest
single factory building ever built, with 2.8
million square feet of space and an assembly line so long it required a 90-degree turn
midway, with bombers rotating on a turntable to continue to completion. After rolling
from the factory, the bombers were outfitted with specialized equipment for various
theatres of operation by the Army, while
still at Willow Run. While the airplanes
were being outfitted, crews were assigned
to each aircraft and readied for deployment.
After the war, the vast bomber factory
was parceled out to various manufacturers, including General Motors, which made
auto transmissions there until 2010. Most of
the historic factory has been razed, except
for one building that is being preserved by
the Yankee Air Museum.
Today, Willow Run Airport (YIP) is
a civil airport serving freight, corporate,
and general aviation operations. The only

Willow Run Airport (YIP)
Willow Run Airport offers three
FBOs which offer fuel, deicing,
repairs, catering, hotel reservations,
and car rentals. It has a 24-hour
control tower, ILS, and even a FSDO
if you need to stop in for some FAA
paperwork.
willowrunairport.com
Yankee Air Museum
The Yankee Air Museum exhibits 10
vintage aircraft and offers flights in
five historic aircraft, including a B-17,
B-25, C-47, and Huey helicopter.
Call ahead to view additional aircraft
that are in storage or to tour the
factory.
Each year the museum sponsors
the "Thunder Over Michigan" airshow, which takes place this year on
August 29 and 30, with an appearance by the Navy's Blue Angels. The
museum is closed Mondays, open
Tuesdays to Saturday from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
yankeeairmuseum.org
The Yankee Air Museum is working to preserve what remains of
the historic factory where the B24
bombers were assembled and sent
to war. For more information on
their efforts, see the website.
savethebomberplant.org
http://www.aopa.org/travel/ http://www.willowrunairport.com http://www.yankeeairmuseum.org http://www.savethebomberplant.org
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2020
