"When the war started, he was one of 200 certified aircraft welders, he taught welding at the bomber plant," said his son, Dan. "His job was to repair the part and get it back online in the war." He also trained the welders at the bomber plant, and hired the best for his business.
He also found a product niche, tubing. When the war ended, business slowed, but Mr. Woolf started making tubing for TV antennas and schools.
Mr. Woolf didn't live to see his company grow to a 52,000-square -foot facility in 10 acres in Romulus. He died suddenly in 1973 and his son stepped in to move the company forward.
His son, Adam, now works at the plant, making for a third generation of Woolfs. Today, Woolf Aircraft is the premier tubing manufacturer in the country for commercial aviation and the military. Among the products it produces is the exhaust pipes for the military's Predator aircraft.
Ironically, the plant, which recently underwent a 16,000-square -foot expansion, sits in front of where the Stinson aircraft were once built. "He loved airplanes, he loved flying," said Dan Woolf. "As a kid, he just wanted to fly.
