| Working inside the fuselage of a B-24 Liberator Bomber at Consolidated Aircraft Corporation at Army Air Force Plant 4. Photo by Howard R. Hollem (July 12, 1902 – October 20, 1949). He also visited the Ford Willow Run Aircraft Factory near Ypsilanti, Michigan. There were 5 manufacturers of Consolidated’s design of the B-24 Liberator bomber and the C-87 Liberator Express transport. Consolidated itself ran production at San Diego and Fort Worth; Douglas built B-24s in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Ford operated a gigantic plant in Willow Run, Michigan; and North American built B-24s at their Dallas plant. Army Air Force airfields were constructed directly next to the factories to fly the newly built aircraft to 1 of 7 modification centers, where they were brought up to the latest combat standards. Standardization was not only a nightmare between brands of B-24s; often, B-24s from the same factory lacked the ability to interchange parts. So many B-24s came off the assembly lines that subcontractors were using any supplies they could source, leading to significant differences between components and equipment. Not only would different production blocks of Liberators have interchangability concerns, but even Liberators from the same production block could not swap parts. Even the 2 Consolidated plants suffered from this problem and could not exchange parts. and components sometimes. Regardless, the production run of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator was immense – 18,188 examples were produced from 1939 to 1945, making the it the most produced American military aircraft in history. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2182.jpg |
| Image Size | 454.62 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2340 x 3000 |
| Photographer | Howard R. Hollem |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 1, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Fort Worth |
| State or Province | Texas |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | Library of Congress |
| Record Number | LC-USW36-24 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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