Dispersal of airframes at Former Chanute

[CAPFlyer]

They may need to be unusable, but not at the risk of his employees or those in the area. I think the village is right to make them stop. This is one case where "learn as I go" probably wasn't the smartest idea and a smart contractor would have called someone with experience and gotten info on how to do it right instead of plowing in and wondering what was going wrong when the first one caught fire.

[peter]

What a shame there would be groups who would have loved a Thud cockpit

[ZRX61]

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2018/05/c ... tling.html

[Kyleb]

What a shame there would be groups who would have loved a Thud cockpit

I'd have loved a C-47 cockpit.

[Chris Brame]

Psst! Hey buddy - you wanna buy a couple "gin-u-wine" ejector seats cheeeep?

Police investigate illegal sale of jet plane ejector seats

Wed, 08/08/2018 - 3:57pm | Dave Hinton

RANTOUL — Ejection seats from an Air Force plane that is scheduled to be dismantled on the former Chanute Air Force Base were allegedly stolen.

Rantoul police Sgt. Rodney Sullivan said the ejection seats from an F-105 jet were allegedly taken out of the aircraft and sold to someone else.

Sullivan said investigators are still trying to determine who sold the seats, and said they were recovered shortly after the report was made.

Listed as victims in the case are the U.S. Air Force, DLA Disposition Services at Scott Air Force Base and a 57-year-old male, whose name is not listed.

Sullivan said the planes remain the property of the Air Force until they are dismantled and shipped to a salvage yard. Some planes at the former Chanute Air Museum have also been moved to several other museums across the country.

dhinton@rantoulpress.com

[Jesse C.]

Psst! Hey buddy - you wanna buy a couple "gin-u-wine" ejector seats cheeeep?

Police investigate illegal sale of jet plane ejector seats

Wed, 08/08/2018 - 3:57pm | Dave Hinton

RANTOUL — Ejection seats from an Air Force plane that is scheduled to be dismantled on the former Chanute Air Force Base were allegedly stolen.

Rantoul police Sgt. Rodney Sullivan said the ejection seats from an F-105 jet were allegedly taken out of the aircraft and sold to someone else.

Sullivan said investigators are still trying to determine who sold the seats, and said they were recovered shortly after the report was made.

Listed as victims in the case are the U.S. Air Force, DLA Disposition Services at Scott Air Force Base and a 57-year-old male, whose name is not listed.

Sullivan said the planes remain the property of the Air Force until they are dismantled and shipped to a salvage yard. Some planes at the former Chanute Air Museum have also been moved to several other museums across the country.

dhinton@rantoulpress.com

Hey! Those trips to look for Earhart aren't cheap!

[Tom Moungovan]

Psst! Hey buddy - you wanna buy a couple "gin-u-wine" ejector seats cheeeep?

Police investigate illegal sale of jet plane ejector seats

Wed, 08/08/2018 - 3:57pm | Dave Hinton

RANTOUL — Ejection seats from an Air Force plane that is scheduled to be dismantled on the former Chanute Air Force Base were allegedly stolen.

Rantoul police Sgt. Rodney Sullivan said the ejection seats from an F-105 jet were allegedly taken out of the aircraft and sold to someone else.

Sullivan said investigators are still trying to determine who sold the seats, and said they were recovered shortly after the report was made.

Listed as victims in the case are the U.S. Air Force, DLA Disposition Services at Scott Air Force Base and a 57-year-old male, whose name is not listed.

Sullivan said the planes remain the property of the Air Force until they are dismantled and shipped to a salvage yard. Some planes at the former Chanute Air Museum have also been moved to several other museums across the country.

dhinton@rantoulpress.com

Graduates from Chanute Tech Schools had a class photo taken in front of one of their aircraft. Mine was taken in Spring of 1966 in front of an F-105.
Can't help but wonder if they are one and the same?

[Chris Brame]

Graduates from Chanute Tech Schools had a class photo taken in front of one of their aircraft. Mine was taken in Spring of 1966 in front of an F-105.
Can't help but wonder if they are one and the same?

Cool - Let's see your picture!
That's a maybe. Chanute had three F-105s over the years as ground trainers; per what info I can find, they didn't get two of them until 1970 (54-112) and 1984 (63-8287). So unless it was a transient aircraft, it could have been 54-104 (being scrapped now).

54-112 (scrapped 1978):

(via Forgotten Jets on archive.org)


(via Leon Cleaver)

63-8287 in service (scrapped 2018):

(via Forgotten Jets on archive.org)

[Chris Brame]

Update from a couple weeks ago:
http://www.rantoulpress.com/news/2018-0 ... arged.html

[Craig59]

Incredible.

Okay, admittedly the guy had no clue as to what he was doing when it came to the physical scrapping of the airplanes. But, one has to wonder sometimes just what some federal employees are thinking when they go after a numbnut like this for money laundering. I mean, really? Is prosecuting this guy for selling two F-105 ejection seats a wise use of Federal $$$? Wouldn’t justice be served by just laughing at the guy and saying, “Hey numbnuts, you could have gotten 20 times more for them than that!” ?

I would contend the Govt. could recoup a lot more if they hired dayworkers to demil/dismantle into sections or collectible bits and pieces and sell them on eBay! What would you pay for an F-105 ejection seat, control stick, rudder pedal, canopy section, rudder, vertical stab., horizontal stab., etc.?

[bdk]

This scrapper was the lowest bidder (or was he the highest?), probably because he didn't know what he was doing and didn't understand any of the complicated web of regulations. He didn't even know that some planes have magnesium components (or manganese as he was quoted).

[CAPFlyer]

Incredible.

Okay, admittedly the guy had no clue as to what he was doing when it came to the physical scrapping of the airplanes. But, one has to wonder sometimes just what some federal employees are thinking when they go after a numbnut like this for money laundering. I mean, really? Is prosecuting this guy for selling two F-105 ejection seats a wise use of Federal $$$? Wouldn’t justice be served by just laughing at the guy and saying, “Hey numbnuts, you could have gotten 20 times more for them than that!” ?

I would contend the Govt. could recoup a lot more if they hired dayworkers to demil/dismantle into sections or collectible bits and pieces and sell them on eBay! What would you pay for an F-105 ejection seat, control stick, rudder pedal, canopy section, rudder, vertical stab., horizontal stab., etc.?

The problem here is that the guy signed a contract, then repeatedly violated it and has caused significant embarrassment for the Air Force because of his inability to do basic things like figure out what kind of metal is used to build planes before going and cutting on it with a torch. At this point, I think everyone involved is simply trying to prove a point to the guy, but from the way the story reads, I think he still doesn't get it. He's more worried about his skid-steed than the fact he caused several toxic fires and violated his contract at least twice. Why the Air Force hasn't canceled his contract yet still mystifies me.

[kalamazookid]

I stopped by briefly yesterday evening as I was passing through the area. It was unbelievably depressing. Parts of aircraft are strewn all over the ramp - engines, a few recognizable bits of different aircraft, panels, random junk. The C-97 must have been broken up recently because I could still see the cockpit section and a good portion of the flight deck, and the engines/part of the nacelles are laying on the ground with the props broken off. I also recognized parts from the Albatross, F-105s and the B-66. The temptation to hop the waist-high fence and snag something was high.

The C-133 is the only complete aircraft left. I'm guessing it's time is probably short. It's too bad no museums with the financial and technical resources to move it stepped in, although I'm willing to bet that the list of museums that could pull that off can be counted on one hand. What a shame.

I'll post some pictures later this week when I get a chance to upload to Flickr.

[kalamazookid]

Photos. Full album dump here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884 ... 0900831681

C-97 remains ...

IMG_7630 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7632 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7635 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7636 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7637 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7642 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

Albatross wings and other bits:

IMG_7633 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7638 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

B-66 nose/cockpit section:

IMG_7634 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

F-105 remains. Wikipedia had the F-105F listed as being transferred to the Aviation Museum of Kentucky. Unless Wiki is referring to another airframe, that appears to be inaccurate as that is very clearly a two-seat Thud.

IMG_7640 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7643 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7647 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

Remains.

IMG_7639 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

I think this is part of the T-39.

IMG_7645 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

C-133. More Albatross remains can be seen in this view.

IMG_7650 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

IMG_7657 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/124970884@N02/, on Flickr

[Chris Brame]

Thanks, Matt (sigh) . Don't think I wasn't tempted to pick up a souvenir - just not worth the trouble one would get into.
Most recent info on the case, from a month ago:
http://www.rantoulpress.com/news/2018-0 ... ering.html

An investor from L.A. is buying all four hangars:
http://www.rantoulpress.com/news/2018-1 ... ssman.html