"An Homage to the Aircraft Assembly LIne"

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Some fascinating WWII photos here--U. S., Canadian, British and German.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... ctory.aspx

[The Inspector]

The Willow Run FORD plant became a GM transmission plant after the war making OLDSMOBILE HYDRAMATIC 4 speed automatic transmissions (some of which wound up in LINCOLNS when FORDS tranny plant burned down) the HYDRAMATIC became popular with gasser drag racers when modified into B&M HYDRAMATICS.

Every CHEVROLET CORVAIR was built in WILLOW RUN, now YAM(I think) is trying to obtain the facility.
The shot of B-17's where speculation is it's DOUGLAS LONG BEACH is probably correct as those are A-20 noses siting on the floor in the foreground long after BOEING ended their contracts to build DB-7's.

Plant 2 is now gone and the site of a massive environmental cleanup/restoration (a 70+ year old asphalt plant across the Duwamish River went under the 'claw' just yesterday). Note the vertical fins from KENWORTH just up the street already painted O.D. as well as the outer wing panels from another sub assembly facility elsewhere on the field, all the paint supplied by PRESERVATIVE PAINT Co. across the field, even with the prepainted sub assemblies, it took almost 18 hours to paint a B-17.

The shot inside Renton of B-29A-35-BN 4461535 is interesting in a number of ways. The shot must have been taken @ break time or lunch as no one is on the aircraft and a wider copy of the shot shows folks sitting on crates and at work desks. The picture is taken looking West from the NE corner of the 4-20/4-21 buildings (later the birthplace of all the 707's and KC-135's & AWACS). In the extreme upper edge of the frame you can just make out the first two short tailed XC-97's in the far West line in the 4-21 building. Lake Washington is out the right edge of the picture and Renton Muni is out the top to the West as was the cable fab shop and the tubing shop, and 'pots and pans' small subassemblies came from the balcony (also known as 'the retirement home) at the left, or South end of the building.

[Malo83]

Nice shots of the CONSOLIDATED Factory in San Diego, 1940's.
http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sti/visualme ... tc40s.html