The Richmond Hill Historical Society welcomes guest speaker, Dennis Norton, founder of the Yankee Air Museum and president of the Yankee Air Museum Foundation in Belleville, Michigan. Mr. Norton will share the history of the Willow Run Bomber Plant.

The story of the Yankee Air Museum began in 1941 when Willow Run Airport was built by the Ford Motor Company to serve as an airfield for their B-24 Bomber Plant. This was the first aircraft manufacturing complex to use Ford’s automotive mass production technique, a leading technological innovation of the time.

Following the events leading up to the selection of Willow Run to produce the most important aircraft of World War II, the B-24 “Liberator” bomber, Mr. Norton takes us through the decision process in both Washington DC and Detroit using the year prior to the United States entering World War II. That decision process led to Detroit and the automobile industry and in the case of Willow Run, Ford Motor Company being singled out as the lead in bringing American industrial might to bear on the Axis powers, eventually resulting in their defeat in 1945.

For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit richmondhillhistoricalsociety.com