Inside the 1943 Willow Run Factory: How Ford Built a B-24 Bomber Every Hour

One building in Michigan built a four engine bomber every 63 minutes. This is how. In 1941, Ford production chief Charles Sorensen watched B-24 Liberators being fitted together largely by hand in San Diego, went back to his hotel, and sketched a factory that would build them like cars. The promise: a bomber an hour. The industry laughed. Then Willow Run rose out of Ford farmland near Ypsilanti: 3.5 million square feet under one roof, an assembly line nearly a mile long with a 90 degree turn, and more aircraft floor space than Consolidated, Douglas, and Boeing combined. This documentary follows the whole journey: the disastrous first year the press called "Will It Run," the 42,000 workers who turned it around, Rose Will Monroe becoming the face of Rosie the Riveter, and the April 1944 peak of 453 Liberators in 468 working hours. By June 1945, 8,685 bombers had rolled out of this one plant. Subscribe to Assembly Era for a new factory story from America's toughest era every week. This documentary uses restored archival footage and dramatized period recreation for educational storytelling. #WillowRun #B24Liberator #WWII #Ford #AssemblyEra