Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run

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Yankee Lady B-17
Yankee Lady B-17 prepares for take off at Willow Run, Michigan. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer

In the depths of WWII, Ford Motor Corporation opened the Willow Run Bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1942 on the outskirts of Detroit. Under the direction of Edsel Ford, Willow Run produced B-24 aircraft in a 5 million square-foot facility—one mile long, by a quarter mile wide—the largest factory in the world. At the height of production, more than 42,000 workers, including legendary cadres of Rosie the Riveters, rolled out a B-24 every 59 minutes, producing a total of more than 8,600 aircraft before the conclusion of the war. The Willow Run plant is revered as a critical factor in the effort to win the war. In 1981, a group of military aviation enthusiasts formed the Yankee Air Museum at the Willow Run property to pay homage the Greatest Generation. Today the Yankee Air Museum Collections and Exhibits building contains 47,000 square-feet of permanent exhibits, in addition to flyable WWII aircraft, including a B-25, C-47, and the B-17 “Yankee Lady” housed in one of the vintage Willow Run maintenance structures, mammoth Hanger One. Join Correspondent, Tom Wilmer at Willow Run for a conversation with Kevin Walsh, Executive Director of the Yankee Air Museum.  

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Yankee Lady B-17
B-17 Yankee Lady at Willow Run, Michigan. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer
Yankee Lady B-17 cockpit
Up front onboard the Yankee Lady B-17 flying over Ann Arbor, Michigan
50cal onboard B-17 Yankee Lady
50cal Waist Gunner position on B-17 Yankee Lady flying over Ann Arbor, Michigan. Photo Credit Tom Wilmer

 

 

cockpit of B-17
Yankee Lady B-17 over Ann Arbor, Michigan. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer
Yankee Lady B-17 ground crew
Ground Crew prepares the B-17 bomber, Yankee Lady for flight. Willow Run, Michigan. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer
Old B-24 plant Willow Run
Old Willow Run B-24 plant– future home of National Museum of Aviation and Technology at Historic Willow Run. Photo Credit: Tom Wilmer
Old Willow Run B-24 plant
old B-24 Willow Run plant– Future home of National Museum of Aviation & Technology at Historic Willow Run. Photo Tom Wilmer