Warbirds and Airshows
By David D Jackson

    Home   Indiana Museums   Indiana Tanks on Outside Display   The Beginning    Revisions   First Flight of P-38F Glacier Girl  
USS Theodore Roosevelt    WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites    Gateguards
 2007 Airshows   2008 Airshows  22009 Airshows   2010 Airshows    2011 Airshows    2012 Airshows   2013 Airshows   2014 Airshows   2015 Airshows   2016 Airshows   2017 Airshow 2018 Airshows   2019 Airshows   2020 Airshows   2021 Airshows   2022 Airshows   2023 Airshows   2024 Airshows
Aviation Museums of the Pacific Northwest
   Display Helicopter Locations   CAL FIRE   PV-2 Harpoon Photos     F6F Hellcat Photos
   Warbird Sightings   WWII US Air-Air Victories   Guest Photos    Indiana Warbirds   Featured Photos  Other Items   Links

Historic Sites   Historic Forts   Historic Texas Independence Sites   Pre-Historic Sites   Historic Manhattan Project Sites   GM Heritage Center
 

 

 

 

  WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites-Home   Canada Aircraft  US Aircraft   US Cross Reference  US Airships  US Engines   USA Gliders   Propellers  Plant Photos  US WWII Aircraft Costs   WWII Aircraft Manufacturers' Literature   US Aircraft Assembly Plant Numbers   US Aircraft Modification Centers

U.S. WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Locations by Manufacturer
To Convert WWII Dollars to 2009 present value use the following:
1941 Cost X 14.72; 1942 Cost X 13.27; 1943 Cost X 12.5; 1944 Cost X 12.29; 1945 Cost X 12.02.

Several of the plants below are described or indentified as being government or Navy plants.  In order to have the capacity to build the huge amounts of aircraft needed in the short time to meet the needs of the country to win the war yet not burden a company with unneeded capacity at the end of hostilities, the Federal Defense Plant Corp. loaned money to aircraft manufacturers and others to build new plants and equipment.  The government them made payments on the loans and after five years the buildings reverted back to the government.  In some cases the company would buy it back from the government or another company might also purchase it.

Company Location Aircraft Types Employees USAAF Code Navy Code Remarks
Aeronca Middletown, OH (995) PT-19, PT-23; (1,439) L-3

(432) PT-19A
(143) PT-19B
(375) PT-23


 

  AE R Aeronca moved to its present location at Hook Field in Middletown, OH from Lunken Airport in Cincinnati in 1940 after the Ohio River flooded the airport in 1937 (hence the moniker "Sunken Lunken"), and at the same time changed to name to Aeronca from Aeronautical Corporation of America in 1941.  Magellan Aeronca exists today on a 18 acres of land with 200,000 square feet of manufacturing, aircraft repair and office facilities, where it makes subcomponents for the aerospace industry and still services its previous products.
Beech Aircraft Corp. Wichita, KS (1,771) C-45; (5,175) AT-7, (1,771) AT-10, AT-11   BH B
 
Bell Aircraft Corp. Buffalo, NY (9,588) P-39, (Production split between this location and Wheatfield Plant), (?) C-46   BE L Bell had two plants in the Buffalo, NY area during WWI.  The original plant was located at 2050 Elmwood in Buffalo and was originally constructed in 1917 to produce flying boats for the US Navy in WWI.  Consolidated Aircraft occupied it between 1924 and 1935 when it left for San Diego.  Bell then took over the facility and produced some of the P-39s in this building along with some Curtiss C-46s under subcontract for Curtiss.  Most of the building still stands in a combination residential and industrial area.  There is no remaining trace of it at the Buffalo airport.  Bell employed a total of 28,000 during in the Buffalo/Wheatfield area in WWII.
Bell Aircraft Corp. Wheatfield, NY (9,588) P-39, (Production split between this location and Buffalo Plant), (3,273) P-63   BE L This 600,000 square foot aircraft manufacturing plant was built on the site of the current Niagara Falls, NY Airport in 1941 produced the bulk of the P-39s and all of the P-63s, along with the post war jet aircraft, rockets, and helicopters.  In 1951 the helicopter division moved to Ft. Worth, TX.  Today what is known to the local residents as the former Bell Aerospace Building is occupied by Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors.  This appears to be a continuation of work Bell did on hovercrafts did in the 1960's.
Bell Aircraft Corp. Marietta, GA (652) B-29 28,000 BA L This 4.2 million square foot government built facility included four buildings and cost $73 million in 1943 dollars, which would be about $730 million today. Building B-1, the main assembly building, had two parallel lines and is 2,000 feet long by 1024 feet wide, which means it covers 3.2 million square feet by itself.  The ceiling is four and half stories high.  Due to the fact it would operate 24 hours a day it and had no windows due to blackout conditions, it was one of the first facilities in the south that was air conditioned. Construction began on March 30, 1942 and was completed on April 15, 1943.  At the end of the war it was producing (2) B-29s per day, and assuming each of the 28,000 persons in the plant was working an eight hour shift, it took 112,000 person hours or 14,000 person days to build a B-29. This only includes the work that was done at The Bell Bomber Plant itself and not all of the parts and raw materials that were manufactured elsewhere and shipped in.  The average wage in the plant during WWII was $0.60 per hour so the cost to assemble a Bell B-29 was $67,000 in 1945 dollars.  Again this is labor cost only and does not include cost of parts or material.  The entire B-29 program cost $3 billion in WWII dollars, which was the most expensive weapons system built during the war, exceeding the Manhattan project to build the atomic bombs by a half of a billion WWII dollars.  The Bell Bomber Plant was closed after the production of B-29s ended in 1945.  However, it was reopened by Lockheed in 1951 to refurbish B-29s for service in the Korean War.  Since then it has been operated by Lockheed and now Lockheed Martin and in this almost 60 year time span there have been (386) B-47s, (285) C-141's, (81) C-5's, (50) C-5B's and over (2,000) C-130's produced at this site. It still continues to build C-130s today and is also now the F-22 Raptor final assembly point.  For more on this fascinating story refer to:  The Bell Bomber Plant, written by Joe Kirby and published by Arcadia Publishing in in 2008.
Bellanca New Castle, DE (39) AT-21   BL    
Boeing Aircraft Corp. Seattle, WA (Plant 2) (3) B-29; (6,981) B-17; (320) DB-7 (A-20);(1) XPBB-1   BO B Plant 2 started production in 1936 and in April of 1944 in one day built 16 B-17s with peak monthly production reaching 362 of the bombers per month.  Boeing employed upwards of 50,000 in it's Washington plants with Plant 2 reaching a peak of almost 30,000 workers.  After WWII the facility went on to produce the Model 307 Stratoliner, the 377 Stratocruiser, B-47, B-50 and B-52. 
Boeing announced it will tear down this historic structure in 2010.  A farewell plant closing party was held for the plant on July 25, 2010.

Boeing in June of 1943 was taking 24,947 hours to build a B-17 at this plant.
Jet City Report

Seattle Times - Plant 2 Farewell

Boeing Aircraft Corp. Renton, WA (998) B-29A; (2) C-97) . BN B This was originally a US Navy plant with the intention of building the Boeing PBB-1 Sea Ranger seaplane.  This project was canceled after a re-evaluation of the need and usefulness of seaplanes after the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.  Also, land based aircraft such as the PB4Y and PV-1/PV-2 gave the US Navy adequate patrol and anti-submarine capability.  Only one XPBB-1 was built, which became known as the "Lone Ranger" and was the last seaplane built by Boeing.  At this point the US Navy traded the Renton Plant to the US Army for another plant.  See our section below on the North American Kansas City, KS plant for our thoughts on this trade.

The plant was built on the south shore of Lake Washington and as originally built could only launch seaplanes down the ramp into the lake just outside of the door of the final assembly building.  When the first B-29As came off the assembly line they had to be barged a hundred yards or so to the west to the just extended runway of what is now the Renton Municipal Airport.  This was because the Cedar River runs between the plant and the airport and the runway extension was finished and B-29As were coming off the assembly line before a bridge could be built.  A bridge was quickly built so the aircraft could be tugged across the river to the runway rather than barged.

Renton built the A model of the B-29, which resulted from the manner in which the wings were attached to the fuselage, which was at the side of the fuselage with some sort of internal center section to support the weight of the wings.  Due to this construction the aircraft did not have the fuel capacity and range of the B-29s built at the other plants.  The other B-29s had their wings attach at the center of the fuselage.

The original plant was 1.7 million square feet and built at the cost of $22.5 million.  Another $2.5 million was needed to upgrade and lengthen the runways at the airport next door.  This is still an operating building for assembly of 737s and 757s.

Boeing Aircraft Corp. Wichita, KS (1,595) B-29; (7,839) PT-13,
PT-17, PT-18,
NS2 (E75)
Or (8,428) PT-13,
PT-17, PT-18,
NS2 (E75)
  BW B, S (for  Stearman production E75) Forty thousand were employed in the Wichita area where the last Kaydet was produced in February of 1945 and 4.2 B-29s were being produced per day in 1945.  From 1951-1956 the facility built 1,390 B-47s.  Onex purchased the Boeing non defense portion of this plant in 2005 along with the former portion of the former Air Force Plant 3 in Tulsa, OK , which was formed into Spirit Aero Systems.  Today the Plant II WWII Wichita facility is alive and well, and is home to all of the aluminum fuselage manufacturing.  State of the art automated milling and fastening equipment is everywhere.  The factory was expanded again in 1991 and is probably double the original size.  The total facility currently builds (32) 737 fuselages per month, plus the first 40 feet of the 777 and 787 fuselage along with the cab for the 747, nacelles for the 737 and 777, and pylons for the 787.  The factories in Wichita employ around 10,000
Depending on the source the number of Boeing Stearman aircraft built gives several different numbers.  Some of this may be due to the fact that both the US Army and Navy purchased the aircraft and then used their own designations on them.  All of the Boeing Stearman aircraft were built as Model E75s.  If one looks up a registration with the FAA on a Stearman that is what it is identified as, not a PT-17 or N2S.  The 7,839 figure came from a US Army Air Force source so possibly this represents E75s that went to that service and the 8,428 represents the total to both services.  There is also a third figure that Boeing provides and that is 10,346 which then includes the amount of spare parts built that could have been built up into complete aircraft. 
Brewster Aircraft Corp. Johnsville, PA (770) SB2A;(491) F2A; (735) F3A     A This is also known as Warminster, PA and the plant was seized by the government late in WWII.  The facility was then operated by the US Navy at the Naval Air Development Center and then later as the Naval Air Warfare Center until it was closed in 1996.
The remaining hangars at Warminster were razed in late 2001 to make land available for a retirement community.  Check our Plant Photos Page to view more information on the site history. To date we can only account for 1895 of the 1997 that was published after WWII that Brewster produced.
Brewster Aircraft Corp. Long Island City, NY (2) XA-32     A This may have been Queens rather than Long Island and was the Brewster Corporate Headquarters.  At this location Brewster built Buffalos that were sold to Finland, Belgium, Great Britain, and The Netherlands.  However, the parts had to be trucked to the Newark, NJ airport for final assembly, testing and fly away.
Budd Mfg. Co. Philadelphia, PA (17) RB-1   BU   The first aircraft was delivered in March 1944 and the last in October 1944.
Cessna Aircraft Co. Wichita, KS (3,206) C/UC-78, (673) AT-8, (1,480) AT-17 6,074 CE C Cessna also built parts for both the B-29 and A-26.  Peak employment was 6,074 working in 468,000 square feet of manufacturing and assembly facilities.  The total value of war goods produced was  $191,753,000.  Not bad for a company that in 1939 had $5.03 left in its bank account. 
Columbia Aircraft Valley Stream, NY (330) J2F-6       One source claims 330 J2F-6's were built.  This may include aircraft for the US Coast Guard as well.  The Ducks were built in 1942-45.  Columbia, which was on Long Island with Grumman, took over the production of these aircraft in order that Grumman could concentrate on new projects.
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. San Diego, CA (Plant 1) (? )PBY, (4) B-32 (?)Coronado 45,000 CO Y This was located at Lindberg Field and was the original Consolidated facility in San Diego.  It was razed in 1997 and to date still stands empty. Over 45,000 persons worked for Consolidated in the San Diego area.
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. San Diego, CA (Plant 2) (6,725) B-24 (unknown split with Plant 1) B-24 Museum in Pueblo, CO gives 7,500 B-24s built

(2,415) B-24D, (2,792) B-24J, (417) B-24L, (1) XB-24N, (7) YB-B-24N, (739) PB4Y-2

included in above

 

CO Y Construction began in November of 1940 and the plant was completed in 1941as a government owned facility, which  was specifically built for the production of the B-24 Liberator and was sold as surplus at the end of WWII.  In 1957 the building was repurchased by the government for Atlas missile production and became Air Force Plant 19.  Forty years later In 1997 the US Navy took control and it is now occupied by the U.S. Navy Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) as its headquarters. 
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. Fort Worth, TX (2,743) B-24, (114) B-32, (291) C-87 (1) XB-36

(303) B-24D, (311) B-24E, (738) B-24H, (1,558) B-24J, (898) B-24M

32,000 CF Y Built for production of the B-24 and employing 32,000 workers, the Fort Worth plant also built a total of 385 B-36's including the XB-36, which was rolled out of the hangar on Sept 8, 1945 and flew for the first time on August 8, 1946. Now a Lockheed Plant, it is still operating and building F-16s and F-22 subassemblies.  Currently the JSF F-35 development work is being done there.
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. Downey, CA (Los Angeles Area) (11,537) BT-13, BT-15 - VU V Vultee was at Downey starting in 1936 until it merged with Consolidated in 1942 which Consolidated-Vultee operated until the end of WWII and then sold to North American Aircraft (NAA) in 1948.  NAA did all of the development work in what was in 1953 designated Air Force Plant 16 for the Navaho missile program.  Up through 1999 it would become NAA/Rockwell's main plant for production of equipment for NASA's space program including Saturn S-11, Apollo Skylab Soyuz, and The Space Shuttle.  The plant was torn down after it closed in 1999 and the 200 acre area it covered is now occupied by Downey Landing shopping complex, a Kaiser Permanente hospital, a park, a space museum and Downey Studios(Now Closed-2013).
In 1942 this plant introduced the first powered assembly line in aircraft industry. 
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. Nashville, TN (1,529) A-31, A-35 (113) P-38 (?) L-1 - VN V

Plant operations in Nashville can be traced back to 1939 when it was known as Stinson Aircraft Co. As a division of the Aviation Co., the third-largest producer of war materials during World War II, it was merged with Vultee in 1940 and merged again to form Consolidated Vultee Aircraft in 1943. In 1959, the Aviation Co. became Avco Corp. In 1966, the Nashville division was renamed Avco Aerostructures. In 1985, Avco Aerostructures became part of Textron Inc. as a result of their acquisition of Avco Corporation, and in 1987, the name changed to Textron Aerostructures. The Nashville facility was purchased in September 1996 by The Carlyle Group and renamed The Aerostructures Corp. In 1998, the businesses of Contour Aerospace and The Aerostructures Corp. were merged into a single operating company. In July 2003, The Aerostructures Corp. merged with Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc.

Notable aircraft created by Aerostructures’ legacy companies include the Voyager/L-5 Sentinel, the SR-10 Reliant/UC-81, the Vultee Vengeance dive bomber, and produced under license from Lockheed 133 P-38 Lightnings of a 2,000 plane contract. V-J Day ended the need for the remaining aircraft.  The site has produced wings for the C-141 StarLifter, C-5A/B Galaxy, B-1B long-range combat aircraft, L-1011 TriStar commercial airplane, British Aerospace BAe regional jet, and Gulfstream GII, GIII and GIV business jets In addition, the Nashville facility built the first 62 ship sets of empennages for the V-22 Osprey program. Workers at the site have produced more than 2,400 empennages for the C-130 Hercules program since that program began in the 1950s.  In

The facility as of June 2010 is now owned by Triumph and is the Triumph Aerostructures - Vought Integrated Program Division.

Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. Allentown, PA (174-180) TBY-2     Y Due to the fact that this new government funded production plant was not completed until 1943 the Vought  designed TBU-1 torpedo bomber that was license built by Consolidated as the TBY-2 was never used in service by combat units.  The plant was originally built by Mack Truck as its plant 5C and leased by Consolidated after the War Production Board and the Navy decided the new torpedo bomber was more important than trucks.  As there was no airport at this location one had to be built along with other facilities that delayed production.  First production did not come off the assembly line until September of 1944 by which time the Grumman designed, Eastern Aircraft built TBM was fully established as the torpedo bomber of choice with the US Navy.  This was even though the TBU-1 was faster, more heavily armed and for the most part a better performer than the TBM.  The need for torpedo bombers as a classification by the US Navy was going away in 1944 so there was no need to replace the TBM in service.  The designs were contemporary and both were given experimental contracts in April of 1940.   After the war the plant reverted back to Mack which sold it to GE which made toasters there until 1962.  During WWII the plant was the second largest employer in Allentown. 
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. New Orleans, LA (221) PBY     Y  
Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft Corp. Wayne, MI (500) AT-19, (3,590) L-5   VW V This was the Stinson Division of Consolidated- Vultee.  Stinson and Vultee Merged in 1940.  When Consolidated and Vultee merged in 1943 Stinson then became a division of the new company.  It was sold to Piper in 1948.
Culver Aircraft Corp Wichita, KS (19) LCA and LFA transports export   CL   Culver was known more for the over 2,000 target drones it produced.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. Buffalo, NY (Genesee St.) (10,066) P-40,(354) P-47, (2,711) C-46 (271) SOC  - CU C This location was the main manufacturing site for the P-40s and C-46s in Buffalo.  Constructed in 1941 it covered 1,500,000 square feet and also was where the license built P-47Gs were manufactured in 1942.  These went to stateside training units and two were built up as 2 seaters.  With the demise of Curtiss aircraft after WWI this facility closed in 1945, was eventually purchased by Westinghouse, and torn down in 2000.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. Buffalo, NY (Kenmore & Vulcan Streets) (3,836) P-40   CU C Originally built as an engine plant in 1929, the plant produced some of the 13,902 P-40s built in Buffalo by Curtiss. Due to the fact that it was not intended for aircraft manufacture the P-40s had to take off using the parking lot and proceed to Genesee Plant at the Buffalo Airport for delivery.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. Columbus, OH (5,106) SB2C, (795) SO3C, (562) SC-1, (10) SC-2 13,000   C This plant, which was owned by the US Navy for production of its aircraft in WWII, closed at the cessation of hostilities but was taken over by North American Aviation several years later.  It was at this location the Fury, A-5, T-2 and OV-10 were built.  Parts of the building are still in used today for commercial purposes.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. St. Louis, MO (900) A-25, (29) C-46, (791) AT-9, (505) SNC - CS C This plant was at Lambert field as early as 1929 and both the SNC and AT-9 were designed and produced at this location.  This plant was taken over by McDonnell Aircraft after WWII and was used to build the entire series of it's post WWII navy fighter series.  It is now operated by Boeing Plant is still used for the final assembly of F/A-18s.
Curtiss-Wright Corp. Louisville, KY (458) C-46     C After the war this plant was used for the construction of International Harvester tractors.  It was torn down in the mid 90's and became part of the runway extension.
Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. Santa Monica, CA (6,006) A-20, (60) P-70 (460) C-54 40,000 DO D This was originally known as Clover Field and was the Headquarters for the Douglas Aircraft Company, which during the war employed 160,000 workers in six plants throughout the country.  Forty thousand worked at the Santa Monica facility, which was torn down in the 1980's, and the land it occupied is now an industrial park, the former Museum of Flying, and civilian aircraft hangars. 
Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. Long Beach, CA (1,155) A-26, (999) A-20, (3,000) B-17, (4,285) C-47 - DL D This was the largest plant in the Douglas Company at 1,422,350 square feet and was located on the north side of the Long Beach Airport and was completed in November of 1941 for the production of C-47s.  Construction cost was $12 million.  The plant had not windows and was cooled by a $1 million air conditioning system.  The first C-47 was completed on December 23, 1941.  The A-20s that were assembled in the plant had the component parts fabricated at Santa Monica and shipped to Long Beach for assembly.  Douglas did purchase most of the facility after the war and went on to produce all of its big transport aircraft there along with the A3D Skywarrior.  It was torn down in 2002 although Boeing still has a facility there.

Douglas in mid 1943 took 35,119 hours to build the B-17.  In order to build the B-17 a $13 million expansion was initiated.  When complete Long Beach as as big as the Douglas plants in Santa Monica and El Segundo combined.

Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. Tulsa, OK (1,291) A-26, (615) A-24, (964) B-24 
B-24 Museum in Pueblo, CO shows 956 B-24s

 

(10) B-24D, (582) B-24H, (205) B-24J

22,000 DT D Ground was broken at the Tulsa airport for what was designated as Air Force Plant No. 3 on May 2, 1941.  The main assembly building was 7/8 of a mile long and 320 feet wide and was originally constructed to assemble B-24s from parts shipped in from Ford's Willow Run facility.  However, the work expanded to construction of Douglas A-26s (average cost of an Invader in 1944 was $192,457) and A-24s, along with the modification of B-25's, C-47s, the conversation of B--17s into YB-40 gunships, and making (47) A-20s into P-70 night fighters.  Some of the modifications were done at both the main building or four separate modification hangars that were built across the runway from the main building.

The last B-24 from Tulsa was built in July of 1944 and named by the employees The Tulsamerican, which retained the name by the crews that flew it in Italy.  When Tulsamerican was lost in combat the plant contributed enough in war bonds to purchase an entire squadron of A-26s.

Twenty-two thousand worked in at Douglas Tulsa, which was closed after WWII.  However, in June of 1946 American Airlines occupied two of the four modification hangars to perform maintenance on DC-6s.  Douglas was back in 1952 to manufacture Boeing B-47s, along with modification of B-47s and Lockheed T-33s.  Concurrent with B-47 production was a second assembly line to build the Douglas RB-66.  Douglas also built Delta rockets at the plant along with later modifying C-135s into EC-134s, A-4s, B-52, DC-8s and C-17s, which saved the problem ridden C-17.  Later as part of McDonnell Douglas, it built F-15 conformable fuel tanks. 

In 1962 North American Aviation facility leased a portion of Plant No. 3 from Douglas that over time built Hound Dog and Minuteman Missiles, Saturn Lander Adaptors and sections of the Space Shuttle.  When all of the above named companies or their derivatives were acquired by Boeing they used the facility to built parts for the international space station.  In 2005 Ones purchased the Boeing (Not Boeing Defense though) Wichita, KS and Tulsa operations, which was then formed into the world's largest tier-one aerospace supplier Spirit AeroSystems.  Only the North American portion of the original plant was included in the purchase while the Douglas portion was razed and replaced by a brand new state of the art school bus plant owned by Navistar International Corporation.

Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. Oklahoma City, OK (5,319) C-47   DK D This plant was originally going to produce C-54s but that production was moved to Chicago, IL.  Construction took place in 1942.  The main assembly building and others still exist at Tinker AFB.  See my Plant Photo Page
Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. El Segundo, CA (3) A-26, (170) A-24, (5,154) SBD - DE D This plant which was located on the south-east corner of Los Angeles Municipal Airport (Mines Field) that eventually became Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) but was located within the city limits of El Segundo was located west of Aviation Way and south of Imperial Highway.  Originally the former Pickwick Motor Coach Plant Jack Northrop purchased the 75 acres and buildings in 1934 for $25,000 for the second of three companies he started.  North American Aviation was just to the north of Imperial Highway but it was located in Inglewood, CA.  Douglas had 51% share in this company in 1938 a.  When Jack Northrop left to start his last company it became the El Segundo Division of Douglas Aircraft.  Previous to WWII this plant built the Northrop BT-1, the Douglas 7A, 7B, DB-7 Boston, A-20 and the DC-5.  After WWII the plant built the AD, D-558-1, D-558-2, F3D, A2D, F4D, F5D, and A4D.  Now under the control Northrop Grumman the plant builds FA-18 fuselages for Boeing's St. Louis final assembly plant (Formerly McDonnell Douglas.) and as of 2010 employed 12,500 employees located at El Segundo and Redondo Beach.   
Douglas Aircraft Co., Inc. Orchard Place, IL (629) C-54 - DC D This was a small farming community known as Orchard Place in 1942, which today it is known as Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The US government acquired 1,325 acres for the Douglas plant and airport.  Cost of the entire project was $40,500,000 which included (4) 5,500 x 150 ft runways, 1,300,000 square ft of paved areas, parking for 6,300 automobiles, and a 2 million square foot assembly building, constructed entirely of wood.  Construction began on main assembly building began in August of 1942 and the first C-54 came off the assembly line in July of 1943.  Production ceased in October of 1945.  In 1949 The National Air Museum under Paul Garber used this facility to to store 97 aircraft and 1,336 artifacts given to the museum by General Hap Arnold after WWII.  In 1951, due to the Korean War, the US Air Force needed the facility for supposed production of Fairchild C-119s and the aircraft and artifacts had to be moved out a year after notification. However, I have not been able to confirm the plant was actually used for C-119 production as Kaiser produced (71) C-119s at the former Ford Willow Run B-24 Plant during 1952-53 and there is no reference to Fairchild using Orchard Place.  I think that the production designated for Orchard Place actually ended up at Willow Run. In the expansion at O'Hare the building was torn down and is now a ramp.  This was Aircraft Assembly Plant 8.
Eastern Aircraft Division (GM) Linden, NJ (1060) FM-1, (4777) FM-2 - - M The General Motors FM-2 was the most numerous Wildcat variant produced. From mid-1943 to the end of the war, General Motors' Eastern Aircraft division built 4,777 FM-2s -- nearly 70% of all Wildcats produced. The FM-2 differed from the original Grumman F4F in a number of ways. The FM-2 had a lighter, yet more powerful Wright R-1820 radial engine. Additionally, the plane carried four rather than six .50 caliber machine guns and was often fitted with HVARs (High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets) for use against ground targets, ships or surfaced submarines. The FM-2 also had a larger tail than the standard F4F to counter the increased torque produced by the Wright engine.  This plant returned to auto production after WWII and closed in 2005.  In 2008 Duke Realty bought the plant for $76.5 million with the intention of turning into a mall and light industrial sites.
Eastern Aircraft Division (GM) Trenton, NJ (7,546)TBM

(550) TBM-1,
(2,332) TBM-1C,
(4) XTBM-3,
(4,657) TBM-3 and TBM-3E,
(3) XTBM-4,
(1) XTBM-5


 

    M Eastern Aircraft, General Motor's aircraft division, produced TBMs at an astounding rate, turning out 400 TBMs in March 1945 alone. Eastern built 7,546 TBMs or 77% of all Avengers produced. When the Avenger production lines stopped in 1945, nearly 10,000 Avengers had been built, making the aircraft the most produced naval strike aircraft of all time.  After WWII the plant converted back to auto parts until being closed in 1994 as what was then the GM Inland Fisher Guide Division.
Engineering and Research Corp. Riverside, MD (1) C-55        
Fairchild Hagerstown, MD (5,000+ ) PT-19, (2) XP-23, (670) PT-26, (1,012) UC-61, (2) C-82
(1) AT-21
  FA K Fairchild had in 1939 141 employees that ballooned to 8,117 in May of 1943.  Due to the "Hagerstown System", which utilized 27 of the local businesses and manufacturers to provide subassemblies and components for its aircraft, Fairchild directly or indirectly employed 80% of the populace and 90% of the industrial capacity of the area during WWII.  Fairchild's main final assembly facility, Plant 2, built in 1941 to construct an order of 270 PT-19s, was later expanded in 1944 to be able to manufacture the C-82.  The plant after WWII built 223 C-82s, 1,112 C-119s, 303 C-123s, 207 F-27s and FH-227s and final assembly for 699 A-10s, the last of which rolled off the assembly line on March 20, 1984.  The wings and fuselage were built at Fairchild's Republic Division in Farmingdale, NY and then trucked to Hagerstown for assembly and flight testing.  Cost of a PT-23 that were license built by Aeronca and and Howard Aircraft companies was $9,430.
Fairchild Burlington, North Carolina (105) AT-21   FB K This was a former rayon mill that was converted to aircraft production.
Fisher Body (GM) Cleveland, OH (14) P-75   GC   This Cleveland Fisher Body (General Motors) Plant was originally going to build the B-29.  This work went to the Martin Omaha, NE plant and Fisher Body Cleveland built B-29 subassemblies, the P-75, and did special nacelle modifications on the XB-39 and XB-19.
Fleetwings, Inc (Kaiser-Fleetwings) Bristol, PA (25) BT-12, (1)XBTK   FL K This was located at the old Keystone Aircraft Plant in Bristol and became Kaiser-Fleetwings in 1943.   The XBTK, in competition with what later became the Douglas Skyraider and Martin Mauler, first flew in April of 1945.  Kaiser-Fleetwings existed until 1960 and the plant was torn down in 1962 to make way for a housing development.  One of the last products produced at this location was the launch canister for the Echo 1 balloon satellite.
Ford Willow Run, MI (6,792) B-24

(480) B-24E, (1,780) B-24H, (1,587) B-24J, (1,250) B-24L, (1,695) B-24M

42,000 FO   This is probably the most well publicized aircraft plant of WWII.  One book and part of another have been written on it.  This is where the hand built each aircraft different from another aviation industry met the mass production line of the US Auto Industry.  While in the end it was a success there were some speed bumps in the beginning.  Designed by Architect Albert Kahn it was the largest aviation plant in the world encompassing 3.5 million square feet.  It was built at a cost of $47 million and was a US Government owned plant, although Henry Ford started purchasing land and construction before the government loaned him the funding for the building of the facility.

Not included in the production numbers to the left are the Knock-Downs that it Ford Willow Run built for assembly at other B-24 assembly points.  955 went to Douglas in Tulsa, OK and 939 to Consolidated in Ft. Worth TX.  This gives a sub total of 8,686 B-24s built.  Also to be added to the are enough spare parts to make another 452 B-24s which brings the totla to 9138.  All three numbers get used at times and one needs to understand what makes up the total.

The 6,792 number to the left only represents the number of aircraft that came of the end of the assembly line at Willow Run and were able to fly off under their own power.

In 1945 Kaiser-Frazier took over the plant and built automobiles there until 1953.  Also from 1952-1953 there were (71) C-119s built under license from Fairchild.  Fairchild was not at all enthused about this as it wanted all the production and profits for itself.  However, the US Air Force needed them for Korea and made it happen.  Kaiser wanted to then produce the follow on C-123 at the plant but Fairchild was able to prevent this.  At that same time, GM's Livonia, MI transmission plant burned down and production was moved to Willow Run after General Motors purchased the plant from Kaiser.  The Hydramatic Division (later Powertrain Division) operated the plant building transmissions until December 24, 2010 when it moved out its operations during the great US Automotive Meltdown and its bankruptcy. 

New tenants are trying to be found to utilize the empty space.  Also starting in 1969 during the Vietnam War Hydramatic produced 469,217 M16A1s rifles in this facility for the war effort.  My Guard unit in Lansing, MI was issued these rifles during the 1970's.  Most if not all of the Chevrolet Corvairs were built here along with Chevrolet Novas.  Fisher Body also occupied space in the plant and built the bodies for the Corvairs and Novas produced there.

As of August 2013 the plant is scheduled for demolition starting in October of 2013.

G&A Aircraft Corp. Willow Grove, PA (7) Rotary Aircraft   GA    
Globe Aircraft Corp. Fort Worth / Saginaw, TX (600) AT-10 2,300     Globe originally started as the Bennett Aircraft Corporation in October, 1939 with the introduction of the BTC-1 twin engine wood aircraft designed for executive transport.  This was produced at a facility on horse farm owned by the main principal in the company in Saginaw, TX which is just north of Fort Worth.  No known sales of this were made and after the company was renamed as Globe Aircraft it developed the Globe Swift, GC-1.  However, by this time the company got a contract for the production of Beech AT-10s and began making those. 

With the order for the AT-10s Globe expanded its facility at Saginaw with funding from the Defense Plant Corporation and also leased 100,000 square feet of space at the main exhibition building at the Ft. Worth Stock Yards.  AT-10s came off the assembly line from February, 1943 until July 30, 1944 at the Saginaw plant.  

Globe fell on hard times after WWII and the GC-1 Swift did not sell as expected.  LTV which had been contracted to make many of the Swifts ended up buying up much of the remaining inventory.  When Bell Helicopter moved to TX it used the empty Saginaw plant before moving into its new plant in Hurst, TX.

Goodyear Akron, OH (4,007) FG-1, (15)FG-2 - GO G The final assembly building D for the Goodyear built Corsair was on the north side of the Airlock, which is the local landmark at the Akron Fulton Airport.  Both structures still exist along with several others from WWII which are now owned and operated by Lockheed Martin.  Goodyear also built components for other aircraft manufacturers, including outer wings and tail sections for the Consolidated PB2Y Coronado. It also had a facility that was erected in 1941 west of Phoenix, AZ for more subassemblies, including the flight deck for the PB2Y.  Peak employment in January of 1945 was 7,668 workers.  The plant is currently part of Lockheed Martin.  See my Plant Photo Page
Grumman Bethpage, NY (Plant 2) (1,768) F4F, (264) F7F, F8F, G-21A, G-44, (144) J2F-5, (2,293) TBF 25,000 GR F Grumman Plant Number 2.  Peak employment during the war was 25,000.  Grumman continued at this site until the 1990's when it was purchased by Northrop.  Most of the land has been redeveloped into both commercial and residential areas.  Another 100 F7F's were constructed though the end of 1946 for a total of 364 aircraft.
Grumman Bethpage, NY (Plant 3)  (12,275) F6F 25,000 GR F Grumman Plant Number 3 which was built from scrap steel from the New York City EL specifically for the production of the F6F Hellcat. Peak employment during the war was 25,000.  Grumman continued at this site until the 1990's when it was purchased by Northrop.  Most of the land has been redeveloped into both commercial and residential areas.  Another 100 F7F's were constructed though the end of 1946 for a total of 364 aircraft.  The airport is closed at this location even though Northrop Grumman still has a presence there.
Higgins Aircraft, Inc New Orleans, LA (2) C-46   HI   The original order was for 500 C-46A transports, but only two were delivered in 1944 after cancellation of the contract, due to changing military requirements.  Higgins did build wing panels for the C-46 throughout the conflict.
Howard Aircraft Corp. Chicago, Il (32) GH-1, (131) GH-2, (115) GH-3, (205) NH-1, (349) PT-23

 

  HO H Howard had two plants.  One was at Midway Airport and the second which opened in 1942 and was east of the Dupage County Airport across the road.  Finished aircraft had to be pushed across the road to the airfield which had been taken over by the US Navy as training field during the war. Howard Aircraft ceased aircraft production in 1944.
Interstate Aircraft and Engineering Corp El Segundo, CA (251) L-6, (8) L-8   IN R This plant on 15 acres was originally built in 1928 by the Moreland Aircraft Company which went out of business in 1931. The land and plant was purchased in 1932 by Jack Northrop for his second company.  In 1938 Jack Northrop sold it to Interstate when he moved a half a mile to the east.  The Plant was on the south side of Imperial Highway and also been south of the Los Angeles Municipal Airport Terminal at that point in time.  After WWII Interstate sold the rights to the S-1 Cadet (L-6) to Harlow Aircraft and went into the consumer home cleaning and vacuum systems business.
Hughes Culver City, CA (.8) HK-1(H-4) - HU   The HK-1 or H-4 is the Spruce Goose which was never accepted by the government although it spent $22 million on it($262 million in today's dollars) and finally flew for one time only in November of 1947.  In 1945 80,000 persons were not only working on the H-4 but doing considerable prototyping and subcontracting for other aircraft manufacturers.  The facility was sold in 1995 and has since become a movie studio sound stage.  The airport is closed.
Kellett Autogiro Corp. Philadelphia, PA (7) O-60   KE   This was an autogiro.
Lockheed Burbank, CA (Plant B-1) (9,423) P-38. (500) F-4, F-5, 94,000 corp. LO O In 1943 this put in an assembly line to speed up the construction of P-38's.  Facility razed in 1993 and now a shopping mall. 
Lockheed (Vega) Burbank, CA (Plant A-1) (2,750) B-17, (1,600)PV-1, (535) PV-2 Hudson? C-60?? . VE V This was an $8 million factory and was torn down in 2000 with no redevelopment to date.

Lockheed Vega in 1943 took 40,284 hours to build a B-17.

Lockheed Burbank, CA (Plant B-6) (14) C-69 incl. LO O After WWII U-2, SR-71 and F-117A were assembled in this plant.  Between the years of 1993-1998 the plant was torn down and remained vacant. 
Glenn L Martin Co Middle River, MD (Plant 1) (3,572) B-26, (1,575) A-30 (Baltimore), (1,275) PBM, (1*)JRM, (1) XPB2M-1) 53,000 between both Plants 1 and 2 MA M A Building - The original building established in 1929 after Glenn Martin moved to Maryland from Cleveland, OH became the A Building when expansion brought about B, C, and D Buildings into what then combined became Plant 1. 
B Building - This 1934 assembly hall was an Albert Kahn design and was 308 feet by 435 feet with 43 foot overhead clearance and was built for the construction of large sea planes.  It no longer stands and a credit union and chemical company are located on the former ramp where the finished aircraft used to come out of the building.
C Building - It as built between February and April of 1939 and the construction was funded by the French Government to hasten the production of the Martin Model 167, later known as the Maryland, for its air force.  When complete in 1939 the Martin facility at that time was the largest aircraft plant in the USA.  It currently still stands and is operated by GE which makes thrust reversers.
Building D -
Lockheed-Martin still maintains a very limited presence at this location having laid off its remaining hourly employees in 2010..

20 JRM's were ordered in January 1945, but only one was completed by the end of the war.  It was destroyed in an accident on August 5, 1945.
Glenn L Martin Co Middle River, MD (Plant 2) (3,572) B-26   MA M This US government financed Albert Kahn designed plant of 1.9 million square feet on 50 acres was built in 1940 for the production of the B-26 Marauder.  After WWII it remained empty until 1951 when it was opened back up for the production of the B-57 Canberra by Martin.  It was again taken back over by the government for use as a storage depot after Martin stopped building aircraft and missiles in 1964.  It was sold in an internet sale in 2006 by GSA.

The number of hours it took to build a B-26 at Middle River was 28,873 at the end of 1941 and by the middle of 1943 that number was down to 24,947.

The Plant 2 design was also used by Albert Kahn for the design of the Omaha plant although that plant was a reverse image of Middle River.  It was also built for the production of the B-26 Marauder and was a also a government owned plant.

More at:  Information on the Glenn Martin Plant 2, Middle River, MD

Glenn L Martin Co Omaha, NE (531) B-29, (1,585) B-26 14,000 MO M Built in 1940-41 and commencing production of B-26s in early 1941, the Government owned plant was built on the premises of Offutt Field which was part of Fort Crook. Included in the complex was the 1.7 million square foot complex was the main assembly building designated Building D and designed by architect Albert Kahn, and six hangars which were part of a modification center.  Building D was a reverse image of the Martin Plant 2 in Middle River, MD.  The plant began producing B-26Cs on January 1, 1942, less than a month after Pearl Harbor.  In 1945 there were 11,019 employees in the main plant and 2,198 in the modification center.  President Roosevelt toured the plant on 4-26-1943 along with Glenn Martin and Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold.  Due to its performance of obtaining 33 consecution months of on time delivery, the plant was awarded the Army-Navy "E" Award four times. Both the B-29 "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar" were built and then modified for their special missions at Omaha.  Col. Paul Tibbets actually came to Omaha and picked out his aircraft.  Today this plant is part of Offutt AFB.

The number of hours given to build a B-26 at Omaha is 37,342 which we have to assume was early in production in 1942.

McDonnell Memphis, TN (30) AT-21,   MM D (changed to H in 1946) This was a 43,000 square foot plant government plant that was completed in January of 1943.
McDonnell St. Louis, MO (1) XP-67, (1)XFD-1   MC D (changed to H in 1946) McDonnell was forced into the subcontractor role in WWII due to the fact it could not meet the government requirement of having mass manufacturing capabilities to build an aircraft designed by the company.  In 1941 McDonnell purchased 87 acres of land near the St. Louis airport that would after the war be used for its expansion.  Peak wartime employees for McDonnell was 5,212 employees, most of which were manufacturing subcomponents for Douglas and Boeing.  The XFD-1, which made its first flight on Jan. 26, 1945, was the first Navy jet fighter and lead to the FH-1 Phantom.  After the war McDonnell also acquired the former Curtiss-Wright plant at the St. Louis airport to continue manufacturing of its new line of naval carrier fighters.
Nash-Kelvinator Corp. Detroit, MI (219) R-6   NK   Final Assembly for the helicopters was at the Nash-Kelvinator Plant on Plymouth Road in Detroit with the fuselages being constructed in Grand Rapids, MI.  Due to the 20,000 engineering changes from Sikorsky the first R-6 was not accepted by the USAAF until October 1944.  The last 18 were delivered in September and October 1945.  More at:  Nash-Kelvinator Helicopter Production
Nash-Kelvinator was also contracted by the US Navy in February of 1942 to build 112 flying boats which would have been used to transport cargo in the Pacific.  In November of the same year the Navy cancelled the project.  If this had gone ahead the wings would have been built in Grand Rapids, MI, the hull in Milwaukee, WI and all assembled at Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, LA.
Naval Air Factory Philadelphia, PA (31) SBN, (44) SOC, (331) OS2N(Vought OS2U-3), (156) PBN-1(PBY-5) - - N The Naval Aviation Factory, which was located on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, PA, was to manufacture aircraft for the Navy that private manufacturers did not wish to make during WWI. The PBN-1was known as the Nomad.  138 went to the Soviet Union with the remainder to NAS Whidley Island, WA to train crews for service in Alaska.  SBN was Brewster designed SBA.  The NAF was closed in 1945 and became the Naval Surface Warfare Center.  Although not constructed during WW, the last being delivered in January of 1942, the NAF was the only source to the US Navy of the N3N Canary.  The plant has been vacant since 1995 and the airport is closed.
North American Aviation Inglewood, CA (2,163) AT-6,  (9,949) P-51, (500) A-36, (3,208) B-25   NA J The facility was located in the south east corner of Los Angeles Municipal Airport on the north west corner of Imperial Highway and Aviation Way.  It was located in the town of Inglewood and was just north across Imperial Highway from Northrop after it moved there in 1938.  Northrop being on the south side of Imperial Highway was in the town of El Segundo.  This location in Inglewood was the where NAA moved to in 1935 from Dundalk, MA for production of the BT-19 trainer.  In its original form it was 158,678 square feet and was the headquarters and engineering center for the company. After WWII NAA produced the F-86, F-100, Sabreliner, X-15, B-45 and B-70.  The  Airport evolved into Los Angeles International Airport after the war and consequently the NAA facility was torn down in the 1980's to make way for a air cargo operation.

A B-25 took 13,550 hours to build in this plant.

North American Kansas City, KS (6,608) B-25

(2,290) B-25D(4,318) B-25J

  NC J Plant Code NAA-K. Ground breaking for this million square foot plant was March 8, 1941, with the first B-25 coming off the line on December 23, 1941. The plant employed a total of 59,337 persons during the war and had a peak employment of 24,329 in October of 1943.   There were plans for a while during WWII to build B-29s and P-80s in the facility.  After the war GM purchased the plant and assembled Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs (BOP).  During the Korean war GM also produced 599 F-84F-GKs while continuing the auto assembly, which is the only time that aircraft and auto production have been run down parallel lines simultaneously. In 1989 GM built a new assembly plant on the site of the airport and the original building was torn down and is now vacant land.  For more information the best source is the "Fairfax Ghosts" by George R Bauer in published  in 1995.  The book is out of print but still available at online sources.

Some sources contend this plant was traded to the US Navy by the US Army in exchange for the Renton, Washington Plant.  Originally the US Navy was going to build the Boeing PBB-1 Sea Ranger seaplanes at the plant until a re-evaluation of the need and usefulness of seaplanes after the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.  Also, land based aircraft such as the PB4Y and PV-1/PV-2 gave the US Navy land based patrol and anti-submarine capability.  According to the sources, including the official Boeing website, Renton was traded to the Army so it could build B-29s while the Navy would build PBJ's at Kansas City.  While the Army did take Renton and produce B-29A's at the plant, evidence and data do not back up the contention the Navy took KC.  One can look at the 1946 US war assets list included on our "Links" page and note that the Kansas City Plant is listed as an Army plant.  Also, the Navy only obtained 706 PBJs during the war. Of these, 299 were built at Inglewood with 152 PBJ-1Ds (B-25D) and 255 PBJ-1Js (B-25J) coming from KC, which is only 6.1% of the plant's output during the war.  Hardly a reason to take over the plant.  It is our contention that the trade with the Army was for the Allentown, PA plant which the Army did trade with the Navy so that it could build the Vought TBU Sea Wolf Torpedo Bomber. See our section under Consolidated-Vultee for the details of this plant and project.

A B-25 took 16,787 hours to build in this plant.

North American Dallas/Grand Prairie, TX (Plant A) (12,967) AT-6, (4,552) P-51, (299) F-6

All 1,750 P-51Cs and 1,500 P-51Ks  were produced here.  Also this plant produced 1,600 P-51Ds.  Some of the above were apparently configured as Photo Recon Aircraft to make the number add up with military production figures.

- NT J This was designated as Plant A.  Also at this location was Hensley Army Airfield that after WEI became NAS Dallas.

This million square foot plant on 152 acres of land was built specifically for the production of AT-6 (SNJ) "Texan".  The faclity was designed as a blackout building with had no windows but was air-conditioned and artificially lighted.  Ground breaking was on September 28, 1940 and production commenced in March of 1941 with North American vacating the plant in 1945. 

25,000 persons in total worked at both plants and they were all laid off right after V-J Day.

In November the newly formed company TEMCO (Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Company) took over a small part of the plant to build subassemblies for Fairchild C-82s.  This was the first of many aircraft parts, aircraft, and non aircraft products to be produced by TEMCO in Plant A. 

In 1961 LTV was formed which joined Vought and TEMCO into one aviation division of LTV.  Later when the Aviation Division separated  from LTV the new company became Vought.

The facility, Plants A and B both, as of June 2010 were now owned by Triumph and is the Triumph Aerostructures - Vought Integrated Program Division and builds C-17 tail assemblies along with subassemblies for Global Hawk, Blackhawk, Gulfstream and Osprey aircraft.

North American Dallas/Grand Prairie, TX (Plant B) (966) B-24, (430) B-24G, (536) B-24J, (1) C-82   NT J This was designated as Plant B with construction beginning in early 1942.  

Production of B-24s was from March,1943 through November of 1944.  NNA had a contract for 1,000 Fairchild C-82s which was cancelled on V-J Day.  Only one was built and flyable at that time.

In 1948 Chance Vought was persuaded by the US Navy to lease the facility and relocated from Connecticut.  Vought produced F4Us, F7Fs, F-8s and A-7s at this location along with many other aviation and space products.  

Northrop Hawthorne, CA (400) A-31, (682) P-61, (24) N-3PB   NO T After WWII the Northrop manufactured F-89s, F-5s, T-38s and Snark missiles at this site and it is still occupied by a small force of Northrop Grumman Aviation employees.  Also, Vought manufactures Boeing 747 fuselages and aft panes for the Boeing 767 at this location.
Piper Aircraft Corp. Lockhaven, PA (5,611) L-4, (230)NE-1, (100) NE-2   PI E NE-1 is Navy version of L-4 and NE-2 is the Navy version of a J-5.
Platt-LePage Aircraft Corp. Eddystone, PA (2) R-1   PL   This helicopter actually went into production before the more successful Sikorsky R-4 and R-6.  Read more at:  http://www.helis.com/pioneers/f_plp.php
Rearwin Aircraft Kansas City, KS (25) Model 8125       The 25 Model 8125 was a twin-engine transport sold to Iran in 1940.
Republic Farmingdale, NY (272) P-43, (9,006) P-47 24,000 RE   Republic Airport was originally founded by Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Manufacturing Company in 1928.  In 1931 Fairchild moved to Hagerstown, MD and between 1932 and 1937 Grumman occupied the airport and built aircraft before moving to Bethpage, NY. Seversky moved in during 1936 and became Republic Aircraft in 1939.  After WWII the F-84 and F-105 were built at this location, along with several of the first A-10s, by which time Republic had been purchased by Fairchild. However, for the last 699 out of the 713 A-10s produced the wings and fuselage were built by Fairchild's Republic Division in Farmingdale, NY,  and then trucked to Fairchild's Hagerstown plant for assembly and flight testing. After Fairchild-Republic went out of business in 1985 the manufacturing and engineering facilities were redeveloped into the Airport Plaza Shopping Mall.  Today the American Air Power Museum also makes its home at the Republic Airport.
Republic Evansville, IN (6,225) P-47   RA   Ground breaking and construction of this $16 million plant began on April 7, 1942 and five months later on September 20, 1942 the first P-47, "Hoosier Spirit",  came off of the assembly line.  The main building was 972,909 square feet and the entire complex took up 71 acres.  The 5,000 employees were visited by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943.  The last P-47 was produced on September 27, 1945.  After the war in 1946 International Harvester purchased the facility and then sold it to Whirlpool in 1955 for the manufacture of refrigerators.  The plant was closed in 2010.
Ryan Aeronautical Corp. San Diego (392) PT-20,21,25, (1,048) PT-22, (100) NR-1, (46) FR-1     R A total of 66 FR-1s were completed by the end of 1945, which was the entire build for this aircraft.  The PT-22 was the only aircraft to be built entirely in California.  The engine was built in Glendale at the old Grand Central Airport.  This became a Northrop facility but has been vacant since 2000.
St. Louis Aircraft Corp. St. Louis, MO (13) PT-19, (350) PT-23   ST   This aircraft company was an off shoot of St. Louis Car Company that produced 450 Jennys during WWI.  It had limited production during WWII after losing out in the design contest with Stearman for the Primary trainer.  The assembly of the aircraft was done at the former street car and rail car assembly plant.  The aircraft operation closed after the war.
Sikorsky Aircraft Stratford and Bridgeport, CT (130) R-4, (16) R-5, (5) R-6   SI S The Stratford Plant was a shared facility with Vought as part of the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft until 1943 when Sikorsky got its own plant in Bridgeport. 
Spartan Aircraft Corp. Tulsa, OK (201) NP-1   SP P  
Taylorcraft Aviation Corp. Alliance, OH (1,940) L-2   TA   This facility still exists today and is located at 16125 Armour Street, N.E, east of Ohio Route 225 on the north side of Alliance, Ohio.  It is currently operated by Sancap Liner Technologies.
Timm Van Nuys, CA (260) N2T-1   TI T  
Vought Stratford, CT ( 7,056) F4U. (1,208) OS2U   CV U Vought moved into this shared facility with Sikorsky in 1939 as part of the Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Aircraft.  Hamilton Standard moved into the facility previously occupied by Vought at East Hartford, CT.  Sikorsky moved to Bridgeport, CT in 1943.

Vought moved to Dallas in 1948 and occupied the plant at Grand Prairie that North American used during the war.  

Universal Aircraft Bristol, VA (19) L-7   UN    
Waco Troy, OH (6) PT-14   WO W There is currently a Waco Museum at the current 2,200 foot grass runway airport.  Waco concentrated on the manufacture of Combat Gliders in WWII. (See my Glider page)

WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites-Home   Canada Aircraft  US Aircraft   US Cross Reference  US Airships  US Engines   USA Gliders   Propellers  Plant Photos  US WWII Aircraft Costs   WWII Aircraft Manufacturers' Literature   US Aircraft Assembly Plant Numbers   US Aircraft Modification Centers
 

 

 


 
Home  Indiana Museums    Indiana Tanks on Outside Display   The Beginning    Revisions   First Flight of P-38F Glacier Girl  
USS Theodore Roosevelt    WWII Aircraft Manufacturing Sites    Gateguards
 2007 Airshows   2008 Airshows  22009 Airshows   2010 Airshows    2011 Airshows    2012 Airshows   2013 Airshows   2014 Airshows    2015 Airshows  2016 Airshows    2017 Airshows    2018 Airshows  
2019 Airshows   2020 Airshows   2021 Airshows   2022 Airshows   2023 Airshows   2024 Airshows
Aviation Museums of the Pacific Northwest
   Display Helicopter Locations   CAL FIRE   PV-2 Harpoon Photos     F6F Hellcat Photos
   Warbird Sightings   WWII US Air-Air Victories   Guest Photos    Indiana Warbirds   Featured Photos  Other Items   Links

Historic Sites   Historic Forts   Historic Texas Independence Sites   Pre-Historic Sites   Historic Manhattan Project Sites   GM Heritage Center


E-mail us at: 
Webmaster