Chanute Museum
We were pleased to find that in Rantoul we are parked next to the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum where we spent a couple of hours admiring the planes and walking down a memory lane of pictures and documents regarding the former air base.
This B-47 Stratofortress is the only one in existence, so they say. It was the first jet-powered strategic bomber, before the B-52 but never dropped any bombs in combat.
This Super Constellation was a spy plane to check electronic communications and emissions from Russia. The big bulges on the top and bottom contain the tracking devices. Volunteers have spent 4000 hours on this restoration project.
I liked seeing the various progressions in aerospace in size and aerodynamics. Here's one of the oldest planes in the museum, reconstructed from spare parts...the Jenny. Notice the beautiful wood prop.
Chanute base was one of the largest pilot and mechanic training centers in the country during WWII. The Tuskegee Airmen also got their start at Chanute as the 99th Pursuit Squadron and Charles Lindberg did some training on the base prior to his trans Atlantic flight. A very historic site in the little prairie town of Rantoul, Illinois.