Bill's Aviation Log

The Museum of Science & Industry's building itself is very impressive. Here are some outside shots downloaded from Wikipedia.

The museum is housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. During the fair, the palace displayed paintings, prints, drawing, sculpture, and metalwork from around the world.

After the World's Fair, the palace initially housed the Columbian Museum, largely displaying collections left from the fair, which evolved into the Field Museum of Natural History. When the Field Museum moved to a new building five miles north in the Near South Side in 1920, the palace was left vacant.

Initially endowed by Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago, the museum opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition.

What really makes this one is the original, desert camouflage paint job. The Allies captured this Stuka -- the tropical version -- on a North African airfield in 1941.

The Stuka was the German Army's flying artillery. Vulnerable to enemy fighter aircraft, it performed best when the Luftwaffe had air superiority. Like the U.S. Navy's Dauntless, the Stuka was a dive bomber which gave it exceptional accuracy.

A good look at the Spitfire's iconic eliptical wings.

I was glad to see the Museum has a 1903 Wright Flyer. And this one actually flew!

This particular replica, the Spirit of Glen Ellyn. was built by the Wright Redux Association to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. The plan was to publicly fly it on September 20, 2003, on the front lawn of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as part of the centennial celebration. It actually flew short distances early in 2003 at Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport, southwest Chicago, under controlled conditions.

During the Chicago event, flight attempts were made but the plane failed to become airborne in front of the museum because wind conditions were too calm. The Wright brothers’ original flights depended on strong winds; without enough wind, the replica couldn’t achieve the speed and lift needed. After these attempts, the replica was moved inside the museum for display.

In 1927, Boeing's Model 40B-2 became the first privately operated airplane to provide transcontinental airmail and passenger service. This particular aircraft flew between Chicago and San Francisco. It is only one of the three remaining Boeing Model 40 aircraft, plus a full-scale replica at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Only one is airworthy, the one in the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.

Notice the pilot has an open cockpit, but there is an enclosed passenger compartment which can hold two passengers.

Looking down the Transportation Gallery at the 1903 Wright Flyer, Jenny, Boeing Model 40, and Spitfire.

The 999 “Empire State Express” steam locomotive, the first land vehicle to reach more than 100 miles per hour.

On May 10, 1893, the 999 became the fastest land vehicle when it reached a record speed of 112.5 mph. The 999 maintained the record for a decade. Designed by William Buchanan and manufactured by the New York Central Railroad in West Albany, New York in 1893, the 999 was commissioned to haul the Empire State Express, which ran from Syracuse to Buffalo. This relatively smooth run and the 999's cutting-edge design gave the new locomotive an opportunity to make history. Following its record-setting run, "The World's Fastest Locomotive" toured the country and was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the Exposition, the 999 continued to provide passenger and freight service for many years. The famous locomotive returned to Chicago in 1933 for the Century of Progress World's Fair and again from 1948-49 for the Chicago Railroad Fair.

The putting of the 727 into the museum was a fascinating story.

A Conestoga wagon, a horse-drawn freight wagon that was used exclusively in North America, primarily the United States, starting in 1717.

Conestoga wagons are larger, heavier versions of covered wagons, covered by hemp cloths stretched over hoops, with large wheels for traveling over primitive roads, and curved sides and floor to keep the contents centered. They were pulled by a team of four to six horses.

We came upon this huge HO train layout, largest I've ever seen. It's called the Great Train Story, and is a 3,500-square-foot HO-scale model railroad which recreates an embellished version of the "Empire Builder" rail line from Chicago to Seattle, with sections depicting downtown Chicago, the Chicago suburbs, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades, and downtown Seattle with a cargo port.

Here is the downtown Seattle area.

The great plains area with the gleaming 727 just overhead.

The Museum's first model railroad was the largest of its kind in the world when it opened in 1941. Designed by Minton Cronkhite, the railroad covered 2,340 square feet of floor space and was built in Q scale, which paired 1:45 scale trains with 2-rail O gauge track. The various scenes on the model railroad illustrated the role of the railroad within U.S. industry and agriculture throughout the desert southwest. It included 1,000 feet of track and switches operated by an automatic control board.

Entering a tunnel through the Rocky Mountains.

Silent film star Colleen Moore was always fascinated by dolls and doll houses. She owned several elaborate doll houses as a child, but later in life her father, Charles Morrison, suggested that she should pursue her passion for miniatures and doll houses by creating the "doll house" of her dreams. Her position as one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood gave her the resources to produce a miniature home of fantastic proportions. Beginning in 1928, Moore enlisted the help of many talented professionals to help her realize her vision.

Horace Jackson, an architect and set designer who worked for First National Studios, created the floor plan and layout of the castle with the basic idea that “the architecture must have no sense of reality. We must invent a structure that is everybody's conception of an enchanted castle. Moore also enlisted the help of art director and interior designer Harold Grieve. Grieve had designed the interiors for Moore's actual mansion, so he was a natural to create the interiors of her fantasy castle. By 1935, approximately 100 people worked on the Fairy Castle. The price tag for this 8'7" x 8'2" x 7'7" foot palace, containing more than 1,500 miniatures, was nearly $500,000. All the hard work and expense of creating the Fairy Castle becomes even more impressive when one realizes that the entire structure can be broken down into 200 individual pieces. All of the rooms are modular units that can be packed into the drawers of specially designed shipping crates.

In 1935 Colleen Moore's child-like fascination with her Fairy Castle was transformed by the Great Depression into a passion for helping children. She organized a national tour of the Fairy Castle to raise money for children's charities. The tour stopped in most major cities of the United States and was often exhibited in the toy departments of prominent department stores such as Macy's in New York City, The Fair in Chicago and May Co. in Los Angeles. A brochure from The Fair in Chicago promotes it: "A museum in itself—it awaits you—starting November 15th in our Eighth Floor Toyland. You will want to see it again and again." The tour was a huge success and raised more than $650,000 between 1935 and 1939.

In 1949 Major Lenox Lohr, director of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, convinced Colleen Moore to have the Fairy Castle make one final journey. She described their encounter as follows: "When I was seated next to Major Lohr at a dinner recently in the directors' coach at the Chicago Railroad fair, he mentioned the doll house while we were having soup, and by the time dessert was served, he had the doll house!" Today the "doll house" has been renamed the "Fairy Castle" and has its permanent home at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. The Fairy Castle is displayed behind glass, and the light, temperature and humidity in its environment are carefully controlled to ensure that the artifacts will be preserved for generations to come. Millions of guests have enjoyed their visit to the castle since it first arrived at the Museum, and it remains a timeless reminder of the imagination, ingenuity and craftsmanship of cultures and artisans all over the world.

July 30, 2025 - Driving from Alaska to Maryland Griffin Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago
Way back in 1981, having just completed four hard years at the U.S. Naval Academy, my roommate Frank and I came to Chicago directly after graduation. Chicago was Frank's home town. One of the things we did then was visit the Museum of Science & Industry, mainly because I wanted to see the U-505 submarine. So today, 44 years later, we decided to recreate that visit. The first thing we came to upon entering the museum was the Pioneer Zephyr. On May 26, 1934, a gleaming new train named for a Greek god of wind began a nonstop "Dawn to Dusk" speed run from Denver to Chicago. The Zephyr completed the trip in just over 13 hours, ushering in a new height of train travel and style. This record-setting train had a bunch of new technology -- diesel-electric engine, innovative construction and lower center of gravity -- that allowed it to travel faster and more efficiently than steam locomotives.

Built in 1934, the train entered regular revenue service on November 11, between Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; and Lincoln, Nebraska. It operated this and other routes until its retirement in 1960, when it was donated to Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry, where it remains on public display. The train is generally regarded as the first successful streamliner on American railroads. Its operating economy, speed, and public appeal demonstrated the potential for diesel-electric-powered trains to revitalize and restore profitability to passenger rail service that had suffered a catastrophic loss of business with the Great Depression.

The Museum of Science & Industry's building itself is very impressive. Here are some outside shots downloaded from Wikipedia. The museum is housed in the Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. During the fair, the palace displayed paintings, prints, drawing, sculpture, and metalwork from around the world. After the World's Fair, the palace initially housed the Columbian Museum, largely displaying collections left from the fair, which evolved into the Field Museum of Natural History. When the Field Museum moved to a new building five miles north in the Near South Side in 1920, the palace was left vacant. Initially endowed by Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and supported by the Commercial Club of Chicago, the museum opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition.

Aerial shot looking north. As you can see, the museum is south of Chicago downtown.

Looking south.

Of course, I immediately headed for the Transportation Gallery.

The plane I wanted most to see, an original JU-87 Stuka. It is one of only two Stukas in existence today. The other is at the Royal Air Force Museum in London. I saw that one but it is just sitting on the ground, not hanging in the air as if in a dive. Plus it has a rather boring paint job; just plain dark green.

What really makes this one is the original, desert camouflage paint job. The Allies captured this Stuka -- the tropical version -- on a North African airfield in 1941.

The Stuka could carry a single 550 lb bomb under the center and four 110 lb bombs on the wings.

The Stuka was the German Army's flying artillery. Vulnerable to enemy fighter aircraft, it performed best when the Luftwaffe had air superiority. Like the U.S. Navy's Dauntless, the Stuka was a dive bomber which gave it exceptional accuracy.

I remember seeing the Stuka back in 1981 but it was hanging way up in the corner and you couldn't get close to it (I think).

The Museum's 1940 Supermarine Mark 1A Spitfire is positioned in a "cat and mouse" game with the enemy German Stuka. The Spitfire is shown in an attacking, banking position to show off its unique elliptical wings, while the Stuka is mid-dive.

The Spitfire needs no introduction. It was Great Britain's primary fighter of World War II and could compete with any other fighter. It had a short range, however; that's why the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt were the planes that gained air superiority over Germany in 1944.

A good look at the Spitfire's iconic eliptical wings.



I was glad to see the Museum has a 1903 Wright Flyer. And this one actually flew! This particular replica, the Spirit of Glen Ellyn. was built by the Wright Redux Association to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. The plan was to publicly fly it on September 20, 2003, on the front lawn of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago as part of the centennial celebration. It actually flew short distances early in 2003 at Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport, southwest Chicago, under controlled conditions. During the Chicago event, flight attempts were made but the plane failed to become airborne in front of the museum because wind conditions were too calm. The Wright brothers’ original flights depended on strong winds; without enough wind, the replica couldn’t achieve the speed and lift needed. After these attempts, the replica was moved inside the museum for display.



Inverted Jenny complete with wing-walker. The 1917 Curtiss JN-4D, or "Jenny," was a plane that greatly influenced military, recreational and commercial aviation. It popularized aviation by giving thousands of Americans their first sight of an airplane. At bottom is the first Boeing 727 jet plane in commercial service, donated by United Airlines, with one wing removed and holes cut on the fuselage to facilitate visitor access. When I was a teenager, I used to see these all the time flying in and out of Reagan National Airport. They were loud! Over 1,800 were built, between 1962 and 1984. Its last commercial passenger flight was in January 2019. It was succeeded by the 757 and larger variants of the 737.

Looking up at the inverted Jenny. Notice the wingwalker's legs!

In 1927, Boeing's Model 40B-2 became the first privately operated airplane to provide transcontinental airmail and passenger service. This particular aircraft flew between Chicago and San Francisco. It is only one of the three remaining Boeing Model 40 aircraft, plus a full-scale replica at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Only one is airworthy, the one in the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon. Notice the pilot has an open cockpit, but there is an enclosed passenger compartment which can hold two passengers.

Looking down the Transportation Gallery at the 1903 Wright Flyer, Jenny, Boeing Model 40, and Spitfire.

On the bottom floor, I was surprised and happy to see a replica of the famous Rocket, the first practical locomotive in world history, to railroading what the 1903 Wright Flyer is to aviation. The Rocket earned its place in history not just for winning an 1829 contest of experimental locomotives. It also helped to demonstrate that rail transportation was practical and potentially profitable.

The original Rocket is on display at the Science Museum in London.



The 999 “Empire State Express” steam locomotive, the first land vehicle to reach more than 100 miles per hour. On May 10, 1893, the 999 became the fastest land vehicle when it reached a record speed of 112.5 mph. The 999 maintained the record for a decade. Designed by William Buchanan and manufactured by the New York Central Railroad in West Albany, New York in 1893, the 999 was commissioned to haul the Empire State Express, which ran from Syracuse to Buffalo. This relatively smooth run and the 999's cutting-edge design gave the new locomotive an opportunity to make history. Following its record-setting run, "The World's Fastest Locomotive" toured the country and was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. After the Exposition, the 999 continued to provide passenger and freight service for many years. The famous locomotive returned to Chicago in 1933 for the Century of Progress World's Fair and again from 1948-49 for the Chicago Railroad Fair.

Entering and existing the 727.

The putting of the 727 into the museum was a fascinating story.

The human body with all its "systems".

A controllable tornado vortex; a giant column of whirling fog.

Old stage coaches.

A Conestoga wagon, a horse-drawn freight wagon that was used exclusively in North America, primarily the United States, starting in 1717. Conestoga wagons are larger, heavier versions of covered wagons, covered by hemp cloths stretched over hoops, with large wheels for traveling over primitive roads, and curved sides and floor to keep the contents centered. They were pulled by a team of four to six horses.

We came upon this huge HO train layout, largest I've ever seen. It's called the Great Train Story, and is a 3,500-square-foot HO-scale model railroad which recreates an embellished version of the "Empire Builder" rail line from Chicago to Seattle, with sections depicting downtown Chicago, the Chicago suburbs, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades, and downtown Seattle with a cargo port. Here is the downtown Seattle area.

The great plains area with the gleaming 727 just overhead. The Museum's first model railroad was the largest of its kind in the world when it opened in 1941. Designed by Minton Cronkhite, the railroad covered 2,340 square feet of floor space and was built in Q scale, which paired 1:45 scale trains with 2-rail O gauge track. The various scenes on the model railroad illustrated the role of the railroad within U.S. industry and agriculture throughout the desert southwest. It included 1,000 feet of track and switches operated by an automatic control board.

Rocky Mountains. In the 1990s, the Santa Fe Railway was disassembled and moved to make room for our Boeing 727 to be installed for Take Flight. Reassembly was hard on the original railroad, leading the way to its closure in 2002 after six decades of service.

Seattle waterfront. Today, the Museum's railroad exhibit, The Great Train Story, shows a bigger and better view of the modern American railroading industry. The new layout is 50 percent larger than the original railroad and has the ability to operate more than 20 trains, rather than the original 10. Influenced by the progress of model railroading, the new exhibit is more immersive, surrounding you with its scenery and curves as you follow the trains. The Great Train Story follows the winding railroad journey between Chicago and Seattle, passing through the Midwest, the Plains States, the Rockies, the Cascades and into the Pacific Northwest. The more than 20 trains on the track are involved in industries as diverse as grain commodities, raw materials for manufacturing, consumer goods for import and export, lumber and tourism. And various interactive stations allow you to be part of the action!

Entering a tunnel through the Rocky Mountains.

The Cascade Mountains (just east of Seattle)?

Chicago!

Gayle had good memories of seeing Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle as a young girl and enjoyed seeing it again.

From the chapel's floor-to-ceiling stained glass to the flickering of the tiniest lights, every inch on display is a study in artistry and craftsmanship. The Fairy Castle is virtually a museum within our Museum, a collection of miniature treasures in every room, from inch-square books signed by the world's greatest authors to statues nearly two thousand years old. Though the Castle's magical residents are never seen, we know for certain they have exquisite taste. Listen to the narrated story of the Fairy Castle or create your own as you peer into the lavish, detailed spaces. How does the Fairy Castle feel so alive? Every room looks as if someone had just left it. Perhaps you'll imagine what it would be like to live in something so lavish, or wonder how things can be made that are so tiny yet realistic. The real secret of the Fairy Castle is that the space inside your mind is also part of the experience.

Silent film star Colleen Moore was always fascinated by dolls and doll houses. She owned several elaborate doll houses as a child, but later in life her father, Charles Morrison, suggested that she should pursue her passion for miniatures and doll houses by creating the "doll house" of her dreams. Her position as one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood gave her the resources to produce a miniature home of fantastic proportions. Beginning in 1928, Moore enlisted the help of many talented professionals to help her realize her vision. Horace Jackson, an architect and set designer who worked for First National Studios, created the floor plan and layout of the castle with the basic idea that “the architecture must have no sense of reality. We must invent a structure that is everybody's conception of an enchanted castle. Moore also enlisted the help of art director and interior designer Harold Grieve. Grieve had designed the interiors for Moore's actual mansion, so he was a natural to create the interiors of her fantasy castle. By 1935, approximately 100 people worked on the Fairy Castle. The price tag for this 8'7" x 8'2" x 7'7" foot palace, containing more than 1,500 miniatures, was nearly $500,000. All the hard work and expense of creating the Fairy Castle becomes even more impressive when one realizes that the entire structure can be broken down into 200 individual pieces. All of the rooms are modular units that can be packed into the drawers of specially designed shipping crates. In 1935 Colleen Moore's child-like fascination with her Fairy Castle was transformed by the Great Depression into a passion for helping children. She organized a national tour of the Fairy Castle to raise money for children's charities. The tour stopped in most major cities of the United States and was often exhibited in the toy departments of prominent department stores such as Macy's in New York City, The Fair in Chicago and May Co. in Los Angeles. A brochure from The Fair in Chicago promotes it: "A museum in itself—it awaits you—starting November 15th in our Eighth Floor Toyland. You will want to see it again and again." The tour was a huge success and raised more than $650,000 between 1935 and 1939. In 1949 Major Lenox Lohr, director of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, convinced Colleen Moore to have the Fairy Castle make one final journey. She described their encounter as follows: "When I was seated next to Major Lohr at a dinner recently in the directors' coach at the Chicago Railroad fair, he mentioned the doll house while we were having soup, and by the time dessert was served, he had the doll house!" Today the "doll house" has been renamed the "Fairy Castle" and has its permanent home at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. The Fairy Castle is displayed behind glass, and the light, temperature and humidity in its environment are carefully controlled to ensure that the artifacts will be preserved for generations to come. Millions of guests have enjoyed their visit to the castle since it first arrived at the Museum, and it remains a timeless reminder of the imagination, ingenuity and craftsmanship of cultures and artisans all over the world.

Looking down the Entry Hall where a 1930 Texaco TravelAir Model R Racer hangs overhead.

A closer look at the TravelAir Model R Racer. Next we checked out the U-505 which gets a web page all of its own. But there were a lot of things in the Museum of Science and Industry that we did not have time to see, unfortunately. Great museum!


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July 30, 2025 - Driving from Alaska to Maryland Griffin Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago

July 30, 2025 - Driving from Alaska to Maryland
Griffin Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago