Willow Run Airport, Michigan

Willow Run is a former military airport that now serves as charter and civil aviation airport, near Detroit’s main airport. Its periphery still houses some interesting structures and activities, including some remains from the World War II production plant, run by Ford, and designed by Albert Kahn, which produced more than 8,500 B-24 bombers (fully assembled and in kit form), more than any other wartime plant. With 3,500,000 square feet, it was said to be the largest factory, under one roof, in America. Most of the buildings are gone, and there is a historic museum on site. After the War, some of the airport was transferred to University of Michigan, to operate as a research center, and some was used for civilian aviation. The University research at Willow Run Labs became the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center, then the Environmental Research Institute in 1972, institutions known for doing pioneering defense work in antiballistic technology like the BOMARC missile, as well as in remote sensing, and geospatial intelligence. The lab was eventually split into other entities, one of which was acquired by General Dynamics, in 2003. The bomber plant was sold to Kaiser-Frazer car company in 1947, and then to General Motors, which made vehicle sub-assemblies there over the years, until 2010, and which tore down much of the plant over the years. Portions of the old plant site have been turned into an autonomous vehicle research facility.