Trying My Hand at Forced Perspective

 A couple months ago, I got a model of a B-24 Liberator that had the markings of a plane that was built at the Willow Run Assembly Plant.  I posted pictures of it before but I wanted to do some pictures of it with some landmarks behind it.  With little river traffic today and it being a somewhat miserable day, I figured I would try my hand at some forced perspective.

Willow Run is about 5 miles or so away from Ypsilanti proper.  Henry Ford decided to build his B-24 plant there so that it would be in Washtenaw instead of Wayne County (better taxes at the time).  In 1940, it was determined that the United States would have to switch its production so that it would be on more of a war footing.

The aircraft manufacturers at the time did not have the capacity to increase production to what was needed.  It was also determined that using mass production techniques would increase construction several fold.  As a result, Henry Ford was one of the people asked if his company was up to the task.

Ford had some experience with producing airplanes in the 1930s with the Ford Tri-Motor but Ford really wanted to focus on cars but he said he would look into it.

Ford was selected to produce the B-24 Liberator.  It was not the most famous bomber of the war, but it was probably the workhorse of the war.  It was designed and developed by Consolidated out of San Diego.  Henry Ford visited to the Consolidated plant with his chief engineer to see if it was possible.  They determined it was possible, but some of the parts had to be redesigned to be more mass production friendly.  For instance, the number of parts in the landing gear was reduced from 29 to around 16.  Other changes were made to make the bomber more mass production friendly.

Ford was awarded the contract in 1940 and ground was broken on the Willow Run site later in the same year.  Production was started in 1941, but that was only for B-24 kits that would be assembled elsewhere.  Ford got final approval to assemble bombers later in 1941.

Initially, Ford had a number of issues starting production.  One of them was finding enough workers to work at Willow Run.  He also had some union issues once he got those workers.  He also had issues with the Army Air Force changing requirements as he built the bombers.

Eventually, he solved the labor issues.  He also solved the issues with changing requirements by building standard bombers and if the Army Air Force wanted something different, he would set bombers aside that could be reworked later.  By 1943, the factory was humming.  Eventually, one B-24 would roll off the line per hour.

This particular model is "Libra" and has a serial number of 42-52508, meaning that it was ordered by the US Government in 1942.  It was transferred to the 833rd Bombing Group in July of 1944.  This bombing group operated out of England.  The nose art was developed by a corporal out of Chicago.  He did nose art with other Zodiac signs.  This bomber would serve through the war and was scrapped sometime after.

It's a shame that the Yankee Air Museum couldn't get its hands on the real one.  Oh well.

I would have liked this picture more if it didn't start raining earnest.  But this means I will have to try some other day.

B-24 Liberator - "Libra" - Tail Number 42-52508

I got back into building models in a big way.  One of the things that I discovered is that there are after market decals you can buy that will let you build a certain model.  As a result, I started to look for kits that had relevance to Michigan.

This isn't one of the first kits I built recently but it is one that didn't need to find after market decals.

In 1940, President Roosevelt realized that we would probably be at war sooner than later.  He also realized that the United States would have to greatly increase it's production capacity if it was going to win the war.  To that end, he reached out to various industrialists to see if they could start producing military equipment.

Henry Ford was one of the industrialists that Roosevelt looked to.   Since Ford had some experience building Tri-Motors, he was asked if he could produce B-24 bombers.  Ford visited the Consolidated factory in San Diego and determined that he could do it.

Construction was started at Willow Run in 1940 and production was started in 1941 but that was only for B-24 components.  In October 1941, Ford received permission produce complete bombers.  It would be another year before completed B-24s would leave the factory.  Ford had a number of issues producing the bombers but one of them was the Air Force itself.

After solving many of these problems, one bomber per hour would roll off the Willow Run line.

This particular model has a serial number of 42-52508 meaning that it was ordered by the Government in 1942.  It was transferred to 833rd Bombing Squadron in July of 1944.  The nose art was one of a series painted by a Corporal from Chicago.  The plane would serve through the end of the war. 

 

The Start of a Whirlwind of a Day

 Saturday turned out to be an interesting day.  After taking my mom to the lab for some bloodwork, I headed up to Pontiac to stop at the Oakland County International Airport.  They were supposed to have a B-24 Liberator flying.  I looked up the schedule and saw the times it was flying and had time to catch a flight.

There is a nice little spot off to the side of the runway where you can watch the planes take off.  Unfortunately, it has a fairly high fence that makes some shots difficult.  But still, it's better than what they have at Metro.  Anyway, first up was a Cessna 150.

It was followed by a Piper Cherokee.

The Cessna was doing pattern work and touch and goes.

Another Piper Cherokee.

A Beechcraft Bonanza.

Another angle of that plane.

This is one of the planes that came with the B-24 Liberator.  It is a T-6 Texan and was used as a trainer during World War II.

Our friend the Cessna Returns.

A Beechcraft Super King Air takes off.

This Delta Airlines 717 flew overhead.  It was pretty low too.

This was a Bell Jet Ranger that flew by.

Another angle of that helicopter.

A Diamond DA-20 taking off.

A Beech 76 Duchess.

The T-6 Texan flying by again.

Another Piper Cherokee.

Another Diamond DA-20.

This was a Cirrus SR-22.  It has a parachute and is one of the safest general aviation planes out there.

The plane that I was waiting for.  This is a B-24 Liberator.  This particular one was built by Consolidated Airplane Company.  The design was built by Ford at Willow Run.  I wish the Yankee Air Museum could find one that was built there.

I would love to see one of these flying over Ypsilanti.

A Beech A36.

A P-51 Mustang flying by.

Another angle of it.

It was circling the field to come in for a landing.

The T-6 Texan in the air again.

The P-51 passing by.  Unfortunately, I had too much lens.

The B-24 entering the pattern to land.

A Hawker taking off.

I should go back to Pontiac.  It is a busy little airport and has a nice variety of aircraft.  I guess on Fridays, it gets really busy.