I used to work in the Argo building right behind the GM building during the 90's. I loved working there

Structurally, the buildings could be OK, and I guess the vandals have removed a lot of the asbestos or other harmful materials over the years while tearing the place up, so remediation costs will be lower.

I hope something interesting is done with the plant, it's very historic, especially to classic car enthusiasts.

Meet Allan Hill, the man who lives In Detroit’s abandoned Packard Auto Plant





http://autos.yahoo.com/news/meet-allan-hill--the-man-who-lives-in-detroit%E2%80%99s-abandoned-packard-auto-plant.html

I just thought the company made licensed versions of the Rolls Royce Merlins in Detroit, commonly referred to as the Packard Merlins.

I live near Warren OH, historical home of the WD Packard family and where the first Packard automobiles were built. As a coincidence, I was at the National Packard Museum here just this afternoon and saw a prime example of the Merlin engine on a test stand, as proudly restored by Jack Rousch Racing.

The Merlin engine was the power behind war winning hardware like the Spitfire, Hurricane, and Mosquito. When the Mustang was introduced, it was initially powered by an Allison V12 and suffered performance at altitude. When the Brits hung the Rolls Royce engine on the nose, the P-51 became the hands down best fighter plane of WWII. Since the island underwent continuous bombing, production was added in Detroit by Packard.

While I pretty certain this plant was where those powerplants were made, I wonder if Packard was building airplanes there as well. Since there was no "Packard" airplane, they might have manufactured aircraft under license by another company. That was very common in those days. Packard may have only constructed wing assemblies for bombers there.

I worked for Packard Electric here for 30 years until retirement (later Delphi), so I'm somewhat interested in the history of the company. I believe your mom worked there, but did she say she specifically built airplanes? I'm just not sure what else they built there. I'm not calling you out on facts or anything, I sincerely would like to know more.

Came up with a simple way to coat airplane wings. We have all the publicity; it was a big deal, although well before I was born. A certain First Lady flew in to congratulate her. You may recognize her, and this is in the Packard plant.

thank you for sharing that.

correction - they used a V-12 Packard, but not a RR Merlin except one of the prototypes. The Packard engine was a marine version of a WW1 bomber engine Packard made.

They were pretty massive with their huge water jackets, but were still dwarfed by the mechanically complex Merlin. Each boat used three and a very large fuel tank (I would imagine).

I didn't know Packard built airplanes for someone, but since I don't doubt the OP, I have to do some research. I want to know more about this.

On edit:
I did see a notation where the son of JW Packard was an aviation buff and wanted to get the company into their own private plane design, but the idea died when he did in an airplane crash.

Edit again:
I didn't know that marine engine was a Liberty. I'm familiar with that engine, it was the US only major contribution to the air war in Europe. We didn't produce any airplanes for WWII, only those Liberty engines were shipped over by the shipload. After the war I knew they were used in a lot of racing boats, but I never put 2 & 2 together that they were used in PT boats as well.

everyone wants to move their plants to Texas is looking a little weak right now.

My Dad came to the Packard plant to fix Mom's teletype machine. She says she 'looked up into those blue eyes' and...the rest is history I guess.

That place has a special place in my heart, as does the entire Good Olde East Side.

I'm glad The D will get an influx of money. Now if we can get rid of these asshole disaster capitalists trying to steal the silverware, we might eventually be ok. That is if we bring back the jobs...I know slavery is good for profits but it ain't good for America and it sure hasn't been good for my home town. Go Lions.

Restore the Roar.

While on the job, he lost three fingers in an accident. Bought his house with what they paid him for the loss of
those fingers. Only met the guy once in my life. According to my Mom, that was enough. LOL.