Nothing but low-income housing anymore. They closed the base. Actually, there is a pretty nice museum there with several interesting aircraft to see; the B-52 that once stood proudly on display was cut up for scrap.

It's sad to drive around that base now; so run-down and derelict. It's a ghost of it's former self.

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

Yep.

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2006 CL500
2009 C300 4matic
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I ran over there at an autocross summer before last. I would run there more often but the club's website is so difficult to decifer I can never figure out when they are running.

The base is a lovely design with brick and limestone buildings, slowly crumbling away. Very sad to see.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

You've got that right, Tom. Rantoul was a really neat little community at one time.

Let me know if you get over there with the Ford. I *really* want to see that car up close!

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

If you can figure out the scca website for that area let me know when they are running and if I am not running in our region I will definately come over!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Crap I had no idea. Sorry to hear that.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

The Mrs. had pres day off today and we wandered over to Rantoul to see what they had in the way of Antique stores. Several were listed on the web.

We found none open but had a nice lunch at the Century Cafe which was on Century avenue which is the main drag running north and south. We then went over and I showed the Mrs. the old airfield.

The massive barricks around there are amazing. Must have been thousands of troops stationed there. We then moseyed down to Champaign Urbana and explored there for a while. It was a bit chilly but beautifully sunny.

The Century and a couple of other old stores in Rantoul had really cool neon signs that Frank and Mike of pickers would have gotten serious wood over.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

i think the flyboys still call the B-52 the "BUFF" i.e. Big Ugly Fat or Flying Fuc*(r



in my youth, my father gave me an x-15 model to assemble, and a snapshot of an x-15 nestled under the wing of a "BUFF". ( i was impressed. still am.) he worked at north american aviation. aka rockwell, right here in Downey CA.where they built them, along with apollo stuff, and some other space goodies.

eight engines?

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

B 52's may be ugly but what a long service life! They have to be considered one of the best bombers ever built.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

My brother was stationed at Rantoul circa 1970. I went out for a visit. I remember a gold driving range right off the end of a small, civilian airport. My goal was always to try and loft a wedge shot near the approaching aircraft. Never got close. I was 20 years old and stupid, but it was a challenge.

I read that the base had its own golf course, which is now civilian and still in service, I believe. I looked at some things including an areal photo of it and it appears that the airfield has four runways about one mile in length.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

There was a really nice static display B-52 on Chanute until the base was closed. At that point, it was sold for scrap, cut up, and hauled off -- sad.

The base has gone downhill fast; it's readily apparent when you grew up on military bases and remember how meticulously clean and manicured everything was kept. It depresses me to no end to go back there, but it is what it is.

Did you get to the pawn shop right outside what used to be the main gate, Tom? He used to always have a really impressive selection. The musical instruments room is really top-notch, and he usually had some neat guns, too.

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)

No more Soviet Union, no more crews on alert, no more Chrome Dome and no more SAC... and, those are all good things to have behind us. But I did grow up with the "sound of freedom" and to be honest, I kind of miss it.

For those interested, there's a series of books called "We were Crewdogs" that are short tales of exploits written by B-52 crews. They're dirt cheap on Kindle and make for some good reading.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

No, but I did see it and consider looking it over.

It is sad to see all the abandoned buildings moldering away. Grissom is similar but lacks any interesting older buildings and does not look to have been nearly as big a place as Rantoul. The abandoned bunkers with hazardous material warnings next to where we run autocross do give pause though. What the heck is in there?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.