Chicago Vocational School warbirds

[bdk]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_V ... te_note-21

https://web.archive.org/web/20100324094 ... 20CVCA.htm

When the Navy finally vacated the campus, they left 42 planes at the hangar including an F4F, F6F, SB2C3 and a TBF.

Sure would be nice to see pictures or determine if any survived.

[JohnB]

Anyone know if the Chicago school received airframes from the wartime NTTC Chicago?
Several F3Fs ended up there...(and Norman,OK, Jacksonville, Memphis...).

[Chris Brame]

Sure would be nice to see pictures or determine if any survived.

You got it. I found a bunch of photos in old CVS yearbooks - FM-2 46867, 1951:


Same year. Some Navy leftovers, one of which is probably F6F-3 08831, the Hellcat Earl Reinert had:


1957; note the Hellcat and Wildcat again, plus Bamboo Bomber 43-7555/N50137:


More goodies from various yearbooks. In 1964 they got a pair of T-33s, 51-4271 and 51-4309 (the latter was dismantled in 1989 to make an electrical and hydraulic systems trainer, according to their '89 yearbook):




1969:




1981:


1987:


1989:


More about the UC-78 in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=48828&p=552565&hilit=vocational#p552565

[bdk]

Wow! Great find Chris!!!!!

Looks like the Wildcat you mentioned survived as well:

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/f4fregis ... 46867.html

Passed through Chino while I was there and is back in Illinois.

[Yak 11 Fan]

Wow! Great find Chris!!!!!

Looks like the Wildcat you mentioned survived as well:

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/f4fregis ... 46867.html

Passed through Chino while I was there and is back in Illinois.

The Wildcat is lovely, I did some work on it in the late 90s. I believe it's back in Europe now with an owner in Germany.