Speaker’s Name: Randy Hotton 

A Yankee Air Museum member since 1985; were he is the Treasurer and a Board Member  He also flies as a pilot with Yankee Air Museum  in the C-47 and B-17.  He is professional pilot who works for USA Jet Airlines.  A retired US Navy Captain, he served as Pilot in P-3 Orion aircraft flying  in Vietnam and conducting Anti-Submarine Patrols during the cold war.  A history buff, he has done extensive research and reading on the reasons why and how Willow Run came to be built.  He holds a BS from Michigan State University in Secondary Education and a MA from Central Michigan University in Management.


Presentation “How Detroit saved the world, The Willow Run Story”

The Presentation will have a short history of the Yankee Air Museum.  The “Willow Run story” starts with Roosevelt’s call in May of 1940 for mobilization to build 50,000 airplanes per year.   It will go over the world and national events leading up to the decision to involve the auto industry in the construction of Bombers for WWII and ultimately to build the Willow Run Bomber Plant. The Yankee Air Museum has to saved a portion of the Willow Run Bomber Plant to tell the “Willow Run Story”. The museum will involve the visitor in the Willow Run experience.