Help the Yankee Air Museum Save the Willow Run Bomber Plant!

Fitting the tail of a transport plane to the wing center section in the fuselage mating fixture at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. (photo by Howard R. Hollem)

Bud Blast in Orchids
Bud Blast in Orchids

Fitting the tail of a transport plane to the wing center section in the fuselage mating fixture at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. (photo by Howard R. Hollem)
Fitting the tail of a transport plane to the wing center section in the fuselage mating fixture at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. (photo by Howard R. Hollem)

As many WarbirdsNews readers will know from our previous articles ( click HERE), the Yankee Air Museum is hard at work raising the funds to help save part of the Willow Run Bomber Plant to become their permanent home. The Ford Motor Company license-built Consolidated B-24 Liberators in this factory by the thousand during WWII, so it will be a fitting location for the museum. However, they are in a race against time. The museum has already collected US$6.5Million towards the US$8Million acquisition price, but must raise the difference before the final deadline of May 1st, 2014 otherwise the plant will be lost to the wrecking ball.

Riveters at work on fuselage of Liberator Bomber, Consolidated Aircraft Corp., Fort Worth, Texas. (photo by Howard R. Hollem)
Riveters at work on fuselage of Liberator Bomber, Consolidated Aircraft Corp., Fort Worth, Texas. (photo by Howard R. Hollem)

Demolition of the massive plant has already begun, although the museum’s proposed section has yet to be affected. The museum has earned a reprieve due to their significant fund-raising so far, but they really need our help now. If enough small donations can be made by the general public, the chances are that more well-healed donors will feel emboldened to make larger contributions and push the campaign over the finish line in time. Just $50 will be enough to save one square foot of the old factory.

According to the Yankee Air Museum, “The vast majority of the funds needed are for “separation” costs to make the remaining portion of the building viable after the rest of the plant goes, taking one wall and all utilities with it. The purchase price of the building is generously low, but we must show that we have the support… and the funds… to make our dream a reality.”

So please, let’s do our part in helping save the Willow Run Bomber Plant. Click HERE to find out how.

Women workers installing an engine on a B-24 at the Willow Run plant in 1944. (photo by Alfred T. Palmer)
Women workers installing an engine on a B-24 at the Willow Run plant in 1944. (photo by Alfred T. Palmer)

B-24s on the assembly line at Willow Run. (wikipedia photo)
B-24s on the assembly line at Willow Run. (wikipedia photo)

 

A mating operation on a transport plane just before it comes to the pre-assembly line at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. (Howard R. Hollem photo)
A mating operation on a transport plane just before it comes to the pre-assembly line at the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation plant, Fort Worth, Texas. (Howard R. Hollem photo)

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2 Comments

  1. I have a WWII-era item that I would like to donate to the museum. It could be sold to raise money to save the bomber plant or possibly used as a museum exhibit. The item is a generator made by GE that is marked “Heated Suit”. This item was manufactured in 1945 and had been salvaged from the Erie Army Depot in Port Clinton, OH.

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