From: libove@tom.alf.dec.com (Jay Vassos-Libove)
Date: 22 Oct 93 01:04:56 PDT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Atlanta Customer Support Center
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Copyright 1993 by UPI
Reposted with permission from the ClariNet Electronic Newspaper newsgroups.
For more info on ClariNet, write to info@clarinet.com or phone 1-800-USE-NETS."
Since it was discussed here a while back, whether a jet had
ever landed at Meigs field, here's an amusing article from
the United Press International (reproduced WITH permission),
about a 727 that landed at Meigs Field a year ago! (Impatient
folks please look below for the lines beginning with > ).
CHICAGO (UPI) - A United Airlines jetliner stopped traffic and drew
throngs of onlookers Wednesday as it was towed across Lake Shore Drive
to join a World War II submarine as a trademark exhibit at the Museum of
Science and Industry.
About 2,000 curiousity seekers assembled to watch the Boeing 727, the
largest vehicle ever to travel on the multi-lane highway, pulled about
100 yards from a barge on Lake Michigan to the parking lot of the museum
-- the only building left from 1932 World's Fair.
Moving the plane from barge to land took several hours because of
heavy waves, which forced officials to back up traffic on the heavily
traveled commuter route for longer than expected.
``When he's old enough he can come down here and say he was a part of
it,'' said Dan Fox, who brought his kindergartener from Whitewater, Wis.
, to witness the spectacle. ``It's neat the museum can do this.''
Chicago teacher Ronna Page used a cancelled jury duty day to view the
historic event.
``Today's a great day to watch a 727,'' she said.
The $20 million airplane was donated by Chicago-based United
Airlines. The plane logged 28 million miles during its career, circling
the globe more than 3,500 times between 1964 and 1991, United spokesman
Tony Molinaro said.
The 133-foot, 41-ton plane will become the centerpiece of an expanded
transportation exhibit at the museum, entitled, ``Take Flight,''
scheduled for completion October 1994, museum spokesman Jason Harris
said.
A German U-505 submarine, one of the most popular exhibits at the
South Side museum, has drawn some 25 million visitors since arriving in
1954. The walk-through airliner exhibit to be suspended from a museum
balcony is expected to be a competitive attraction, Harris said.
United delivered the aircraft with the cockpit intact. Other parts of
the plane will be re-structured to provide an exhibit that recreates the
flying experience and offers a view of technical operations, Harris
said.
``It takes something this large and this impressive to show the
resources of the museum,'' he said. ``Something of this magnitude is
unique to the museum.''
> United delivered the plane more than a year ago to Meigs Field, where
> it was recorded as the largest aircraft ever to land at the downtown-
> area airstrip designed for commuter air traffic.
``The airplane's journey has been quite an extraordinary odyssey,''
Molinaro said. ``This ended up being a very productive and creative
partnership between the museum and United Airlines.''
--
Jay Vassos-Libove libove@alf.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation decwrl!alf.dec.com!libove
Atlanta Customer Support Center Opinions? They're mine, mine, all mine!
Alpharetta, Georgia and D.E.C. Can't have 'em!
