Chanute Air Museum

[Chris Brame]

I'll be there tomorrow morning - anyone else coming?

[Chris Brame]

I spent a good chunk of Saturday at the former Chanute AFB (and soon to be former museum); the sky was mostly cloudy so I did what I could with the photos.

First off I want to thank WIXer carsenau (Curt Arsenau) for all the effort he has put into these aircraft and for showing me and several other visitors around.

As of Saturday, the C-97 was still intact, but a crew had already been out there to get ready to begin dismantling.


SA-16: This one's a goner. The AF crew took the engines, the radar, the side hatches and some other internals.


XB-47: This one is pretty hemmed in so I had to combine two images:


Note there's another number - 2279? - showing through the fin on one side. Was this one displayed in different markings before, or was it re-finned?


WV-1: Curt told me the Palm Springs Air Museum may be interested; fingers crossed:


Cockpit: The gust locks are inop and it was a windy day, so the control wheels would move now and then - which was a bit spooky:

(I have a lot more images of the inside I'll upload soon)

F-111:


C-47:


C-133, no new info:


C-130:


CT-39A:


A-7D:


JRB-66B:


F-101B:


F-105B:


F-105F:


Nose art:


Now we go back indoors.
F-100C:


F-15A:


YB-58A: Really tough to shoot this one, so I took several images:




Moving this plane will be very difficult; Curt said when it was moved inside years ago the nose gear steering was seized, so when they tried to turn it while towing it, this was the result:

One of the main bogies is cracked as well.

One thing Curt asked to put out there: Does anyone have a B-58 erection manual? They need to find out how to remove the wings (or if it's even possible to do so without cutting them).

TB-25N: Being dismantled to go to the Southern Museum of Flight in Alabama.




Cockpit - had to stick the camera through a little hole in the bomb bay to get this:

One thing I didn't know before: this plane was assigned to Tuskegee AAF as a trainer in July 1945, so in a way it's going home. Are there any other known surviving Tuskegee B-25s?

A-4:


YRF-4C Phantom:


T-38:


T-33:


And finally, the third-oldest-surviving F-86A, 47-615:

There may be hope for this one after all! Again, fingers crossed, but Curt says the Air Force is considering saving it as an outdoor display.

I had to have Curt shoot a couple photos of me with this little beauty:


And if you ask me, what's the deal with this radiation? I think it's way overblo - Curt, why are you looking at me that way?



Seriously, I hope you've enjoyed the photos. I have a lot more in this Flickr album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/62734960@ ... 9082057540

P.S. A little something for us prewar buffs (attn: Nathan): Some of the historic displays had a few goodies which I was able to ID from Baugher:


It was indeed, most likely this one:

(33-)48 (94 PS, 1 PG) crashed 8 mi NE of Chanute Field, IL Mar 13, 1938.
Dropped from records at Selfridge Field Jun 1938.

Aviation Archaeology lists it as BOEF - bailed out, engine failure. Pilot Sam P. Triffy.


Early B-26:

(40-)1365 (22nd BG) nosewheel failure at Chanute Mar 18, 1941

Had to enlarge to read the number, but I got it. Did Douglas send it to Canada?

(38-)347 returned to Douglas Jun 1940.

Diamonds in the dump - the first P-26 and the one-off YA-10:

32-412
Boeing YP-936 c/n 1678
Designation later changed to XP-26, then to Y1P-26, and finally to P-26. Damaged at Chanute Field, IL with 1 Sch Sqn Jul 21, 1937. Dropped from records at Chanute Field Nov. 1937.

Curtiss YA-8 Shrike
(32-)344 held at factory for conversion to YA-10. Surveyed at Chanute Field 23 February 1939

Enjoy. Have a good week!
Anyone else going for a visit, please post any news or changes to the list:

Last edited by Chris Brame on Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[sandiego89]

Great photos Chris- thanks for posting!

My stray comments:
- B-58- Ouch on the B-58 landing gear! I really hope they don't have to cut the wings for transport. I can't think of a B-58 that has been dissasembled and moved before. Image the SAC bird was a wide load move a relatively short move from Omaha to the new museum? Did the derelict Little Rock bird go to Barksdale? I know the rocket sled B-58 is at Barksdale, but is that a differnt airframe?

- That B-66 with the radar nose is uggggllly...

- Really hope the C-133 finds a home (I hope they all do), but I have my doubts.

- I like them all hut I'd say the XB-47 and the B-58 are the crown jewels there.

[cooper9411]

NMUSAF reps. said that more than likely all the big ones will be scrapped due to the high cost to disassemble and move them. This was the reps. words not mine.

[Spectre_I]

Great photos Chris- thanks for posting!

My stray comments:
- B-58- Ouch on the B-58 landing gear! I really hope they don't have to cut the wings for transport. I can't think of a B-58 that has been dissasembled and moved before. Image the SAC bird was a wide load move a relatively short move from Omaha to the new museum? Did the derelict Little Rock bird go to Barksdale? I know the rocket sled B-58 is at Barksdale, but is that a differnt airframe?

This B-58 Hustler formerly on display at the Lone Star Flight Museum, TB-58 AFSN 55-0668, one of 8 pre-production YB-58 Hustlers, was badly damaged by hurricane Ike. In 2012 It was moved to Little Rock AFB where it was fully restored and is now displayed.

It was moved by truck, and the wings had to be cut. I've got a bunch of pics, but having trouble with image storage atm, so will try to get them up.

[Spectre_I]

OK, to whomever was asking about moving the Hustler. Attached is an album of pictures I used in putting together a proposal for Castle to get it. We were briefly in contention. The pictures show both Chanute's (originally 50666) now displayed as "Greased Lightning", and the real "Greased lightning". Also included are pictures of Lone Star's B-58 move to Little Rock, including pics showing the wings cut.

The pics are captioned and should be self-explanatory.
https://goo.gl/photos/7Xc93LUPb4ZZczxKA

Last edited by Spectre_I on Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Clifford Bossie]

I would like to get the Scooter, or the F-105B for our museum.

[sandiego89]

OK, here is my proposal to move the Hustler:

Fire up the B-36 at Pima, fly her over to Chanute, strap on the Hustler, and fly her to the new location. Stage a flyover near my house in Virgina. Simples right?

[Chris Brame]

Looks like these are the last few days - anyone else going to visit? I got a PM from Curt stating a recovery crew was there last Saturday to dismantle the F-100 and F-15. I've been looking at the GSA auction site but no listings for Chanute as yet.

[Skyhawk Steve]

This thread on the fate of the Chanute museum has been very informative and rather sad. I'm located in central Illinois and just visited the museum for the first time in 2013. The collection of aircraft was very impressive, but time and the environment were taking their toll on the aircraft.

For those who haven't been to the museum, I'm sure that there are a number of photos on the web, but if you haven't seen enough, you are welcome to peruse the photos that I took when I visited:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsj00/ ... 4830526513

In my relative youth, I spent time maintaining some Douglas A-4 Skyhawks while in the Marines, so I was excited about seeing the museum's A-4 as well as their Douglas B-66 and C-133. As a former McDonnell Douglas person, it was good to see the RF-4 Phantom and F-15 Eagle too! And as a airplane nerd, it was my first chance to see a B-58 outside of Dayton, OH! Very cool!



The museum was full of other interesting tidbits too... for instance, a room full of examples of the simulators produced by Rudy Frasca's Frasca International. And where else do you go to see ICBM launch site simulators used to train the crew??

It's a shame that the museum is being dismantled. Considering how few people were visiting on the day that I was there, I guess I'm not surprised that it happened. It's still a loss to the aviation lovers, and certainly to those who were volunteering at the museum to keep it running.

[Chris Brame]

Nice job on the photos! Looks like you had more access to a ladder - or the second floor walkway? The walkway was closed when I was there due to asbestos abatement. I forgot to mention it but your photo shows how the B-58 has only two of its engines (number 1 and 2) intact. Curt told me one of the other surviving B-58s on display (I forget which) had no engines so its cockpit was filled with cement to balance it .

Guess that's the end - thanks again to all the volunteers who did what they could with what they had. Keep your eyes on the GSA auctions, I suppose...

[Skyhawk Steve]

Nice job on the photos! Looks like you had more access to a ladder - or the second floor walkway? The walkway was closed when I was there due to asbestos abatement. I forgot to mention it but your photo shows how the B-58 has only two of its engines (number 1 and 2) intact. Curt told me one of the other surviving B-58s on display (I forget which) had no engines so its cockpit was filled with cement to balance it .
<..snip..> ...

I frequently use a monopod with my camera to get some photos with an elevated viewpoint. On the photo in my post, I believe I did use a workstand/ladder that was sitting up against the hangar door. It was the same type that can be seen at the rear of my photo. IIRC, it was rather shaky and probably not something that the museum would like visitors to be climbing! I did try going up the stairwell for a better view, and even that was a bit sketchy and probably not safe.

My visit to the museum was very interesting and rewarding, but the facilities and many of the aircraft were in rough shape and would take a lot of money and effort to fix them up. It's very sad that this museum will be closing, and it's a reminder for us to cherish the other aviation museums that we enjoy. I know that it does make me appreciate the Prairie Air Museum in Bloomington/Normal that is about an hour from me... plus... they have a Douglas A-4M, which is the model that I worked on! Beautiful!

[benguttery]

What happened with the Jenny replica?

[Noha307]

Where's a Walter Soplata when you need one?

[Chris Brame]

I last contacted Curt Arseneau just before Christmas:

Hi Chris,
I have not been able to enter the museum since the final day of operation October 31. I stopped by a couple of weeks ago but the front door was sealed with asbestos removal warning tape. Asbestos abatement has been going on for a few months. I plan to try to reach the curator in January and see what I can learn. I'll let you know if I find anything out.
Curt

The Jenny replica was attractive but very simplified - no ailerons, mockup engine, empty bare wood cockpits, etc. - it would probably look better as a hanging display.