Picture History of World War II American Aircraft production

One of the greatest industrial feats of World War II - indeed, of all time-was the massive
production of military aircraft by American manufacturers.
America's sudden entry into the war required its typically small aircraft "job shops" to convert quickly to assembly-line techniques to meet the urgent demand for fighters and bombers.
In many ways, Allied victory depended on the success of this conversion.
How Americans heroically met the challenge is the focus of this fascinating pictorial history.

Over 250 rare photographs-most never published before-comprise an eye-filling chronicle
of men and women hard at work in a crucial wartime industry:
hooking up an engine, hanging a propeller, riveting the "skin" on a fuselage and performing many other tasks.
Also included are authentic, on-the-spot photographs of aircraft assembly lines in full swing, of teams of workers turning out Boeing B-17 bombers in Seattle, huge B-2,1D "Liberators" at the Ford plant in Willow Run, Michigan, and F6F Grumman "Hellcat" fighters in Bethpage, Long Island, New York.

In his informative Introduction and captions, the author outlines the history of this massive
effort, explains production processes and describes aircraft construction, assembly and
armament.
Throughout, he emphasizes important but often overlooked aspects of the story:
how this struggle produced the first (and only) true mass production of military aircraft in
history;
introduced large numbers of women and minorities into the skilled work force;
and inspired one of the greatest periods of high morale and camaraderie among workers ever seen.
Aviation enthusiasts, World War II veterans and students of American history and sociology
will find this a truly fascinating chapter in the American experience, superbly presented and
carefully documented.
Joshua Stoff is Air and Space Curator, Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mitchel Field, Long Island, New York.

With the end of World War II, the age of the propeller-driven fighter and bomber was over. Post-war America had little need for thousands of B-24's and P-47's.
Soon new types of jet fighters and bombers would sweep them from the skies.
America's great aerial armada was gradually gathered up for destruction.
Fields of aircraft, such as this one in the Arizona desert in 1946, began to appear as the warplanes were centralized for scrapping.
These B-17's and B-24's would soon be unceremoniously cut up and melted down for their aluminum for postwar civilian products.