[Milsurplus] Chicago Museum U-505

[Hue Miller]

Mr. T, what was the year? I was in Chicago when, around 2000 or so? and it was hung up
in the air then.
I thought it was a rather poor way to display a rare aircraft. At this time, there were some 
things about the museum that struck me as rather time-worn and bedraggled, like this
historic train, I think it shook or made some kind of noise when you were on it, to simulate
real travel? The coal miner simulation was also, I thought, real 1950. The U-505 was I 
thought, pretty dark and faded inside, and I saw tons of garbage dropped thru the floor
grates by visitors. Of course, a museum has to at least partly pay its own way, there’s
fewer sugar daddies around to just ladle out the money. I can appreciate given limited
space and income, the museum manager has to come up with a best solution. 
But sending U-boat parts to the dump – that’s just ignorant.
A contrast is Bill Allen’s (of Microsoft riches) aviation museum in Everett WA. You can
see that it’s not a money maker at all but a labor of love, and luckily, it has big bucks 
behind it. –Hue 

From: Thomas Adams 
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 10:39 AM
To: Ray Fantini ; Hue Miller ; milsurplus at mailman.qth.net 
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Chicago Museum U-505

All these comments about Museum of Science & Industry and the handling of U-505 brings up something I've wondered
about for a while.

When I was a kid, the ceiling of the main hall of the museum was used to display a number of WW2 aircraft; I imagine
they're probably still there. I especially remember the Spitfire that hung over the model railroad layout, and the Rolls
Merlin engine on display on the 2nd floor balcony next to it.

Over the main entrance, there hung a VERY rare bird indeed; a real, Honest To Gawd, Stuka dive bomber! Not many
of those made it to museums.

Even hangng on display in a museum, that airplane made history...  she executed the last Stuka attack ever made!

One morning in the 1970s, just before the museum was about to open, the cables holding it let go, and she dropped, 
one last time, about 25 feet in a sort of Kamakaze attack...  scoring a direct hit that demolished an information booth!

I was in college at the time, and saw an item about the incident in the Chicago Sun Times (mailed to my dorm daily). 
GREAT photo of the plane sitting there amid the splintered wood of the booth!!!

The museum director at the time said that the damaged airplane would be repaired and put back on display. 

A couple of years later I happened to be at the museum, and I asked about the still missing Stuka. I was told she was 
still being put back together for display.

Does anyone know if the airplane was ever repaired and put back in her place of honor over the main doors?


Mr. T.  W9LBB

At 11:50 24-08-12, Ray Fantini wrote:

  Fairly serious charges, I have worked with some people involved with archival and research activities and find that almost imposable to imagine in a museum director. Thought that the U boat was one of that museums biggest draws?  Have known of cases where due to economic problems or by transferring part of a collection things get lost, or where corporate collections get disposed of by management's actions at levels above the curator or local management but this story on the surface appears to be a little over the top to me. I did a simple search about Vic Danelov and the museum and other then the links that are directly traced back to the Shark hunter's web site found no other material supporting there statement.
  RF