Gary, I swear I spent entire time we were there being pissy about what a waste it all was, closing that base. All that history and tradition, sliding the long slide into neglect and disrepair and oblivion. I'm with you.
I thought I'd chime in on PJ's post, with a few more pictures.
Here's the majority of the intrepid aviators, on our way out. Pete, there, had a bit of a quease going on for a while, but getting up on top in the smooth air helped, and he was good to go. PJ rode in her customary Grumman location, in the right seat.
Parked at the FBO, with the museum's outdoor portion in the background. We could already see that the outdoor birds are suffering, even from across the way.
The Octave Chanute Museum of Aviation is hurting, you can tell. The volunteers are doing their best, but it needs a lot of hands to take good care of even one airplane that's outside, let me tell you. Too few people and not enough dollars will take its toll.
For example. The C-47 parked out there is flaking away right before your eyes.
The A-7 is having its troubles, too. But it's not as though nobody is taking care of anything out there. No, what my eyes were seeing while we were there was a small group, battling as best they can against deterioration of a very large collection. And doing a real good job sometimes, too:
There's a nice F-105, in good clean paint. Thuds didn't stay in the Thunderbird scheme for long, I don't think.
And a big old Whale (B-66/A-3), hanging in there pretty well. But it had a weird nose/radome. I don't know what that was all about, but it didn't look like Whales of yore that I'd been up close with.
Indoors, there's a gigantic hangar-full of planes, vehicles, engines, missile gear, memorabilia, displays, and you name it. And another F-84, also in Thunderbirds paint. Looming above it is a B-25, in the early stripped=down stages of restoration.
PJ and I put a few bucks in the bin for them. We know how it is. Looks like they have a pretty good shell for their restoration, from what I could see.
And there goes Pete, looking over the Hustler. Engines seem to be mostly gone, like most of the jets that I could see, but it sits there like a great big thundering smoky screaming beast of yore.
A pretty F-86, there.
And a shiny T-33, just beyond it. F-100 and F-4 and Huey in this area, too, some in more sorrowful condition than others.
I wonder if this Wild Weasel F-105G was indoors till recently, among those birds. It was a little faded and all, but not too bad. She'd clearly been around, back when.
Anyone know anything about this plane?
There were some boys at the P-51. It was pretty clearly their project, and it's looking good. They were having some serious discussion about it.
I always gravitate to the engines, when I see 'em. I do like those powerplants. There's a motorized cutaway R-4360. It squeaks and moans when you hit the button, but it still turns over. What a beast. It must weigh a ton and a half, at least. Heck, our R-2800's weigh a full ton, and they're half the size of this corncob.
If you're not going to keep your engines installed in your planes, there's a good use to put 'em to, right there. Show the people what they're made of. It's a J-57, I think, and that looks like a low-pressure turbine spool right there, shaft still attached. That's got to be the high-pressure wheel at the left of the pic, if that is the case.
The place is chock full of plenty of other stuff, too--models, memorabilia, photos, films, uniforms, simulators, dioramas, recreations ... there's even a Minuteman silo, part of the missileer training apparatus of days gone by.
It's all right, the Chanute Museum. They need money pretty desperately, and if only they could get one of those other enormous hangars to go with the one they have, maybe the deterioration of those outdoor birds could be got under control.
Go see 'em if you can, while you can, is my recommendation.
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