| Willow Run Airport (YIP) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 March 1999 | |||
| IATA: YIP – ICAO: KYIP | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Wayne County Airport Authority | ||
| Location | Van Buren Charter Township and Ypsilanti Township | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 716 ft / 218 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 5L/23R | 6,653 | 2,028 | Paved |
| 5R/23L | 7,526 | 2,294 | Paved |
| 9/27 | 7,293 | 2,223 | Paved |
| 14/32 | 6,912 | 2,107 | Paved |
Willow Run Airport (IATA: YIP, ICAO: KYIP) is an airport located in Van Buren Charter Township and in Ypsilanti Township,[1][2] near Ypsilanti, Michigan, that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation clients. No commercial passenger services are available at the airport.
Opened in 1942, Willow Run Airport was synonymous with the American industrial effort that contributed so much to the Allied victory in World War II. Operated by the Ford Motor Company, the Ford Willow Run manufacturing plant produced 8,685 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers upon its closure in April 1945, the largest number at any B-24 facility in the country.
Today, the Yankee Air Museum has a large collection of vintage aircraft.
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The airport has four runways (the fifth runway, 9R/27L, was recently closed and redesignated taxiway H), a continuously staffed FAA control tower, and US Customs operations. Willow Run Airport is one of two facilities operated by Wayne County Airport Authority, the other being Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which replaced Willow Run as the major commercial airport for the region during the late 1950s and 1960s. Major worldwide cargo airlines Kalitta Air and National Airlines are based at Willow Run Airport.
Willow Run Airport was named for a small stream that meandered through pastureland and woods until the late-1930s. Automobile pioneer Henry Ford bought the property that became the airport, and used it as farmland for a “social engineering” experiment that brought inner-city boys to Willow Run Farm to learn about nature, farming tasks, and the rural way of life. The residents at Willow Run Farm planted, tended, and harvested crops as well as running a maple syrup operation, and sold their products at the farm market on the property. In the process, the boys learned self-discipline and the values of hard work, and benefited from the fresh air that they had not been able to experience while growing up in congested cities.[3]
The coming of World War II to Europe and the Fall of France in 1940 alarmed many in the United States. In spite of official American neutrality, a number of government officials began preparing for what they feared was United States involvement in the growing global conflict.
Henry Ford, himself an "isolationist" (opposed to entering the war), was prevailed upon in the Spring of 1941 to accept a Federal contract to build B-24 Liberator heavy bombers to help prepare the Army Air Forces. He chose as the site of this activity his Willow Run Farm, and commenced building a massive industrial plant that became the Willow Run manufacturing complex. Architect Albert Kahn designed the main structure, 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.[3]
In order to meet the projected demand for the B-24, in early 1941 the Federal Government established the Liberator Production Pool Program. Shortly thereafter, the Ford Motor Company joined the Pool Program. Initially, Ford was assigned the task of providing components for final assembly of B-24s by Consolidated Aircraft at its Fort Worth, Texas plant and Douglas Aircraft at its Tulsa, Oklahoma plant. However, in October 1941 Ford received permission from Consolidated and the Army to assemble complete Liberators on its own at its new Willow Run facility.[4][5]
The Willow Run plant was truly gigantic. It consisted of 65 acres (260,000 m2) and was almost a quarter of a mile wide and a half-mile long. It had a 90-degree bend in the middle of its length. This bend had supposedly been put there at the insistence of Henry Ford himself. According to local legend, the length of the plant had been miscalculated by the architects during the initial design work, and the bend had to be introduced in order to prevent the plant from extending into the next county where the taxes were higher. This bend came to be known as the "tax turn", and Liberators had to take a rather awkward 90-degree turn as they progressed down the assembly line.[4][5] The Army Air Forces maintained a support unit there with personnel to coordinate with Ford Motor Company production managers, the 484th Base Headquarters and Base Squadron.[6]
The first Ford-built Liberator rolled off the Willow Run line in September 1942. The Ford-built Liberator was designated B-24E. The Willow Run Plant had many initial startup problems, due primarily to the fact that Ford employees were used to automobile mass production and found it difficult to adapt these techniques to aircraft production. The plant at Willow Run was also beset with labor difficulties, high absentee rates, and rapid employee turnover. The factory was nearly an hour's drive from Detroit, and the imposition of wartime gasoline and tire rationing had made the daily commute difficult. In only one month, Ford had hired 2900 workers but had lost 3100.[4][5]
Also, Henry Ford was cantankerous and rigid in his ways. He was violently anti-union and there were serious labor difficulties, including a massive strike. In addition, Henry Ford refused on principle to hire women. However, he finally relented and did employ "Rosie the Riveters" on his assembly lines, probably more because so many of his potential male workers had been drafted into the military than due to any sudden development of a social conscience on his part.[4][5]
At the request of the government, Ford began to decentralize operations and many parts were assembled at other Ford plants as well as by the company's sub-contractors, with the Willow Run plant concentrating on final aircraft assembly. The bugs were eventually worked out of the manufacturing processes, and by 1944, Ford was rolling a Liberator off the Willow Run production line every 63 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A total of 6,972 Liberators were built at Ford, and 1,893 knock-down parts were provided for other manufacturers.[4][5]
After their manufacture, the next step in the process was the delivery of the aircraft to the operational squadrons. This was done at Willow Run by 1st Concentration Command (1st CC). The 1st CC was responsible for completing the organization and equipment of tactical and combat bombardment squadrons prior to their deployment to the overseas combat theaters. It also provided a final inspection of the aircraft and make any appropriate final changes; i.e., install long-range fuel tanks, remove unnecessary equipment, and give it a final flight safety test.[7][8]
While the planes were being serviced and made ready for overseas movement, personnel for these planes were also being processed. Pilots, co-pilots, navigators and crew chiefs were assigned as a crew for each aircraft. Paperwork was handled, necessary specific B-24 life support equipment was issued and some technical training for supporting the aircraft accomplished.[7][9]
Once production began, it became difficult to introduce changes dictated by field experience in the various overseas theaters onto the production line in a timely fashion. Consequently, newly constructed Liberators needed modifications for the specific geographic areas they were to be flown in combat. For this reason, a series of Air Technical Service Command modification centers were established for the incorporation of these required theater changes into new Liberators following their manufacture and assignments. There were seven known modification centers: Consolidated/Fort Worth; Oklahoma City Air Materiel Center at Tinker Field, Tucson Modification Center at Davis-Monthan Field; the Birmingham Depot in Alabama; the Northwest Airlines Depot in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the, Martin-Omaha manufacturing plant, and the Hawaiian Air Depot at Hickam Field.[4][5]
The B-24E was the first version of the B-24 that underwent primary manufacture by Ford at Willow Run. Not only did Ford build complete planes, but it also supplied components of B-24Es for final assembly at the Tulsa and Fort Worth plants.[4]
B-24Es built and fully assembled at Ford were designated B-24E-FO, but those assembled at Tulsa and Fort Worth out of parts supplied by Ford were designated B-24E-DT and B-24E-CF respectively. Because of production delays encountered at Willow Run as a result of the inevitable difficulties and snags involved in the adaptation of automobile manufacturing techniques to aircraft, the B-24Es produced at Willow Run was largely obsolescent by the time that it began to roll off the production lines, and most were relegated to training roles in the United States and few ever saw combat.[4][10]
The B-24H was the first model produced by Ford at Willow Run in large numbers that went into combat. The B-24H differed from earlier models by having a second rear turret planed in the nose of the aircraft to increase defensive firepower. Because of the many structural changes required to accommodate the nose turret, the first B-24Hs were delivered slightly behind schedule, with the first machines rolling off the production lines at Ford in late June 1943. Production for the B-24H was 1,780 at Willow Run.[4]
With the introduction of the B-24J, all three of the Liberator manufacturing plants converted to the production of this version. The B-24J incorporated a hydraulically-driven tail turret and other defensive armament modifications in the nose of the aircraft. Willow Run produced its first B-24J in April 1944. 1587 were built at Willow Run.[4][10]
During June 1944, the Army determined that San Diego and Willow Run plants would be capable of meeting all future requirements for Liberator production. The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was taking over the long-range bombing mission in the Pacific Theater and no new B-24 units were programmed for deployment in the other combat theaters in Europe, the Mediterranean or in the CBI.[10]
The B-24L was the first product of the new, downsized Liberator Production Pool. It was an attempt to reverse the trend toward ever-increasing weight of the Liberator as more and more armament, equipment, and armor had been added, with no corresponding increase in engine power. With the weight reduction and more powerful engines, it also had a much longer range than earlier models. A total of 1250 aircraft were built at Willow Run.[4][10]
The B-24M was the last large-scale production version of the Liberator. Apart from a new tail turret, the B-24M differed little from the earlier version. The first B-24Ms were delivered in October 1944, and Willow Run built 1677.[4][10]
The end of the war in Europe in May 1945 brought a rapid end to Liberator production. The Liberator contract with Ford was officially terminated on 31 May 1945. Ford had switched over to the single-tailed B-24N in May 1945. with 124 Ford-built B-24Ms being cancelled before delivery. At this time, orders for 5168 Ford-built B-24N-FO bombers were also cancelled. The delivery of seven YB-24Ns by Ford brought the production of the Liberators at Willow Run to an end.[4][11]
After the war, the airfield at Willow run was converted into a passenger terminal. Commercial passenger traffic was moved from Detroit City Airport, making Willow Run Detroit's primary airport. In 1946 Warren Avis founded Avis Airlines Rent a Car Systems at Willow Run Airport. It was the first rental car operation at an airport location.
The federal government sold the airport to the University of Michigan in 1947 for $1.00. Terms of the sale required that the university operate the airport as a research facility, and the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (later renamed Willow Run Research Center) was founded. For a time, the university housed part of its student population in the apartments previously used by plant workers. Many of the buildings at the airport were used by University of Michigan physicists and engineers engaged in research for national defense, including advanced remote sensing capabilities, at a facility which would become The Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM).[3]
The bomber plant was sold to the Kaiser-Frazer automobile company which, combined with the Graham-Paige Motor Company, used it to produce 739,000 cars from 1947 through 1953. Kaiser-Fraser also built the C-119 Flying Boxcar at Willow Run under license from Fairchild Aircraft. An estimated 88 C-119s were built there between 1951 and 1953. Kaiser-Fraser also built C-123 Providers, the last aircraft built at Willow Run.[3]
When Kaiser-Frazier moved its manufacturing operations to Ohio and Argentina (in 1953), the General Motors Corporation bought the former bomber plant and began producing automobile transmissions there, under the division name of “Hydramatic.” The entire facility was finally shuttered, and the few remaining personnel re-assigned, in 2010.
In 2011 Michigan State University planted 3 acres of canola and mustard seed on airport property to genreate biofeuls for aircraft use. The airport has 1700 acres available to future crop production.[12]
In 1951, the United States Air Force exercised a right of return to Willow Run and established Willow Run Air Force Station to the east of the airport runway. On 7 April 1952 the site became operational with the establishment of Headquarters, 30th Air Division at the site, which was designated P-23 by ADC. In addition to the headquarters facility, Air Defense Command established a Manual Air-Defense Control Center (ADCC) at Willow Run AFS, for the tracking and control of aircraft as part of the air defense mission in the United States. Willow Run operated until April 1959, when the 30th AD was reassigned to Truax Field, Wisconsin. The facility was then sold to the University of Michigan. Today, many of the former Air Force buildings, which still exist on the site today, are used by various organizations.[13][14]
In 1956 there were seven commercial passenger carriers operating out of Willow Run. Airlines began to shift to the nearby Detroit Metro Airport in 1958, and by 1967 all passenger airlines had moved. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 68 weekday departures on Capitol, 45 American, 23 Eastern, 17 Northwest, 14 United, 13 North Central, 13 TWA, 8 Delta, 5 Allegheny and 3 Mohawk. American's only westward non-stops were to Chicago; United had a nonstop DC-7 to Los Angeles; come summer TWA would resume its weekly Constellation flight to Paris via Gander and Shannon (BOAC and Pan American flew out of DTW).
In 1977, the University of Michigan sold the airport to Wayne County for $1.00[3]
The Yankee Air Museum opened on the airport grounds in 1981. A fire in October 2004 destroyed the museum's building and most of its artifacts. The static display aircraft like the B-52 and other aircraft that were too large to be on display inside the hangar were undamaged. In 2005 the museum moved to the other side of the airport where they are rebuilding their displays and gathering more World War II memorabilia.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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