Octave Chanute Air Museum, Rantoul, Illinois |
| A packed outdoor airpark, vast, almost empty hangars, and long corridors with excellent display rooms. A fascinating mainly military museum on this ex USAF maintenance training base. Several aircraft are in Thunderbirds livery, but only as a tribute to a base commander who had been a Thunderbirds commanding officer. The A-4A was likewise painted as the naval equivalent. None of them were ever in 'demonstration teams'. Sadly, in 2015 the museum lost its financial support from the local community, and announced it would close by the end of the year. Since then several aircraft have moved elsewhere, but some have been scrapped in situ. Wikipedia has a good list of their fates. |
| Aircraft | Reg'n | Thumbs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeronca 65 Super Chief | N34496 |
 |
Built in 1941. |
| Bell UH-1B Iroquois | 61-0686 |  |
US Army |
| Boeing C-97G Stratofreighter | 52-0898 |
 |
USAF |
| Boeing XB-47 | 46-0066 '2278' |  |
2nd prototype, and oldest surviving B-47. |
| Britt (Steen) Skybolt | N48BB |
 |
Built in 1991. |
| Cessna O-2A Super Skymaster | 67-21411 |  |
USAF Vietnam veteran. |
| Octave Chanute 1896 Glider replica |
 |
A proper replica inside, and a statue at the museum entrance. | |
| Convair YRB-58A Hustler | 55-0666 '12059' |
 |
USAF marked as 61-2059 Greased Lightning. Record breaking Tokyo-London flight (8028 miles in 8hrs 35min) in October 1963. Since moved to Castle Air Museum where I saw it again in 2019. |
| Curtiss JN-4D Jenny replica |  |
US Army markings | |
| Douglas A-4A Skyhawk | 139947 |  |
"Lucy" US Navy Blue Angels 6 livery, but never flew with the Angels. |
| Douglas C-133A Cargomaster | 56-2009 |
 |
USAF |
| Douglas JRB-66B Destroyer | 53-0412 BB-412 |
 |
USAF. Modified nose for testing the Boeing Bomarc SAM radar and control system. |
| Douglas VC-47D Skytrain | 43-49336 |
 |
USAF |
| General Dynamics F-111A Aardvark | 63-9767 NA |  |
USAF |
| Grumman HU-16B Albatross | 51-7200 |  |
USAF |
| Lockheed C-130A-LM | 55-0037 |  |
USAF |
| Lockheed GT-33A Shooting Star | 52-9797 |  |
USAF |
| Lockheed WV-2 (EC-121K) Warning Star | 141311 15 |
 |
US Navy |
| McDonnell F-101B Voodoo | 56-0273 |  |
USAF |
| McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle | 71-0286 4 |
 |
USAF |
| McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II | 62-12201 OO |  |
USAF |
| Mong MS1 Sport | N4253J |
 |
Ralph Mong Jr's 1953 design. Around 200 built from plans. This one was built in 1993. |
| North American AGM-28 Hound Dog | 20796 |
 |
Supersonic nuclear-tipped air-launched cruise missile, originally designated B-77. |
| North American AT-6B Texan | 41-17372 N96224 |  |
Displayed as USAF '42-805' |
| North American F-86A Sabre | 47-0615 |
 |
USAF - built in 1948 as a P-86A. |
| North American F-100C Super Sabre | 54-1784 54784 |  |
USAF Thunderbirds livery, but was never used by them. Built in 1955, spent a month in Texas, and spent the rest of its life at Chanute. |
| North American F-100C Super Sabre | 54-1785 54785 |
 |
USAF Thunderbirds livery but was never used by them. Built in September 1955. |
| North American CT-39A Sabreliner | 62-4494 |
 |
USAF |
| North American TB-25N Mitchell | 44-30635 '40654' |
 |
USAF - has been at Chanute since 1955. |
| Northrop F-5B Freedom Fighter | 63-8441 |  |
USAF. Marked as T-38 Talon 'Thunderbirds 1' but never used by them. |
| Piper PA-22-135 Tri-Pacer | N8726C |  |
Once owned by Cornelius Coffey, a notable promoter of aviation for African Americans. |
| Republic F-84F Thunderstreak | 51-9531 51531 |
 |
USAF Thunderbirds livery, but never flew with them. |
| Republic YP-84A Thunderjet | 45-59494 '488656' |
 |
Pre-production aircraft displayed as a Thunderbirds F-84G, but was never in the team. |
| Republic F-105B Thunderchief | 54-0104 40104 |
 |
USAF Thunderbirds livery but never flew with them. |
| Republic F-105F Thunderchief | 63-8287 RK |
 |
USAF. Flew into Chanute in 1993. |
| Ryan NYP replica | 'NX211' |  |
|
| Vought A-7D Corsair II | 69-6190 DM |  |
Built in 1970. |
| Wright 1903 Flyer replica |  |
