The American Aircraft Factory in World War II

In Flight USA, January 2007 “Yenne, one of the best present-day chroniclers of aviation history, ably merges text and images to give a sense of the efficiency and even beauty of American ‘Yankee’ ingenuity at its best. The text is crisp and efficient, but the images are what give the book its edge. From the early images of aviation workers in full suits and ties to the surprising color shots of factory workers, the book underlines the glamour and, dare I say, coolness of a bygone era.”

Product Description
Few, if any, industrial phenomena have been as dramatic as the United States mid-20th-century shift from peacetime manufacturing to wartime production. While the years 1939 to 1945 saw explosive growth in the manufacture of every type of armament imaginable, none was more emblematic of the industrial climate than the proliferation of aircraft factories. Zeroing in on the crux of the American military-industrial complex at a critical moment, this volume documents the production of legendary fighters and bombers by companies like Boeing, North American, Curtiss, Consolidated, Douglas, Grumman, and Lockheed. It was a production unmatched by the Axis powers or any other country, and a crucial part of why the allies won the war. Illustrated with 175 period photographs - including 50 rare color photographs never before seen in print - The American Aircraft Factory in World War II conveys the incredible acceleration of aviation technology that took place during this period. Author Bill Yenne considers the various prewar governmental acts that got the plants rolling, as well as the notable gender shift that occurred on factory floors as women entered the work force like never before. He also describes the construction of megafactories like Willow Run, factory-design considerations, and the postwar conversion back to peacetime production. This gorgeous coffee table book is an essential part of any World War II history buff's collection, and is a tribute to the veterans of the war - on the fighting and home fronts - who helped build and fly these amazing aircraft that would change the world forever.  

Reader Reviews
Some years ago I had the opportunity to interview a group of older women. I asked each of them what had been the best time of their lives. They all responded alike: the war years. Men, dances, and work, they said, and giggled with the rush of memory. The war created the first real optimism in a generation. The war banished the world-weariness of the twenties and swept away the pervasive hopelessness of the Depression. There was work. There was purpose. Those powerful emotions show palpably in the photographs of this excellent volume. While the author culled most of these selections, many in color, from publicity photos and noted collections of World War II memorabilia, there is no denying his knack of choosing prints which convey the sense of busyness. Women in neat kerchiefs and housedresses- not many jeans here-and a few men insert bolts into Plexiglas or weld the naked frames of bombers. Energy colors the faces of drill press operators and riveters, engine inspectors and metal polishers. One particularly excellent photo shows three women dizzily framed in the receding cross-section of a B-17. Another, echoing Raphael's Madonna of the Chair, offers a woman encircled by the interior of a nacelle. Rows of lights reflecting off aluminum and plastic and the very groundplans of the factories themselves add a dynamic geometric dimension to many of the selections. All the illustrations represent multiple themes both artistic and historical. The planemaker's art had also come a long way in a few years. Mr. Yenne thoughtfully documents the development of aircraft building techniques and gives us some priceless views of the early factories and their picturesque founders. I have only one complaint. Absent is the great Howard Hughes who, I believe, is still the only fixed wing test pilot to wear a fedora. Igor Sikorski also donned this headgear to take the VS-300 on its first flight. I see no point in enumerating all the types of aircraft represented in this work. Liberators, Mustangs, Fortresses, Avengers, Texans. They are all here. Some masses of longerons and bulkheads too raw to name, others being pushed by many hands onto the tarmac. There are roomfuls of props and engines and parts of all sorts, lines of bombers waiting to mate with their engines, turrets wanting guns. And everywhere in the distant background read the words of war. Buy Bonds, We Can't Win Without Them, Keep`Em Flying. How different from a sign appearing on a Naval Aircraft Factory gate in 1918: "Spanish flu has endangered the prosecution of the war in Europe.... Don't spit." Mr. Yenne has produced a wonderful volume. Nothing to spit at here.


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