United States Air Force Plant 6

Air Force Plant 6, known during World War II as the Bell Bomber Plant, is a government-owned, contractor-operated aerospace facility at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, currently owned by the United States Air Force and operated by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. The plant, originally occupied by Bell Aircraft, began operation in April 1943 and was intended specifically to produce B-29 Superfortresses under license from Boeing. During the course of the War, the factory produced 668 B-29s for the United States Army Air Forces, and at its peak had a work force of approximately 28,000. After the War the factory was mothballed, but with the United States's entrance into the Korean War, in January 1951 the plant was turned over to Lockheed who began refurbishing B-29s. The plant remains in use today by Lockheed.

Two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bell Aircraft of Buffalo, New York was selected to produce B-29 Superfortresses under license from Boeing. Bell had been founded in 1935 by Lawrence D. Bell, and at the time of the United States's entrance into the War, had a workforce of around 1,000. As the nation prepared to expand its military production, the Roosevelt Administration believed that it was important to situate aircraft plants inland, away from vulnerable coastal positions. Atlanta had a pre-existing airport – Candler Field – and extensive railroad network, and thus seemed a logical choice for a new factory. In September 1940 Roosevelt had appointed Marietta native Lucius D. Clay head of a large airport construction programme, which included Marietta's Rickenbacker Field. After Bell was given the B-29 contract, Clay, along with Cobb County officials lobbied the Government to award the new plant to Marietta over other Atlanta suburbs. On 19 February 1942 the Government announced that Marietta would be the site of the new factory. That same day the Government announced it was taking control of Rickenbacker Field, which it would rename Marietta Army Airfield

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