Labor Day 2024 - First Flight To Indiana And More

This morning I got up and headed to the airport. The sky was severe clear with light winds and a perfect day to fly for my first ever trip to Indiana.

I filed my flight plan, and then once at the airport got the Archer fully fueled, picked up my clearance and then took off and headed west.

 

I got handed off to Detroit Approach who had me climb first to 4,000, then 5,000 and finally the 7,000  that I had filed.  Then on to Great Lakes Approach, and on to South Bend Approach in Indiana and I overflew South Bend's airport and then brought me back down to 5,000 and then down further to my destination.

Landed, taxi'd to the FBO and met Mr. B.

We then drove into Chicago.

 Destination:  The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.

Lots of cool things to see there:

There was a Stuka, a Spitfire, Trains, Space craft (Including Apollo 8 the first capsule to go out of Earth's orbit, as well as a SpaceX Dragon capsule) and a darn nice Dusenberg.

We stopped for lunch at the museums kitchen and I had a Chicago-style hotdog:

Very tasty, even with the radioactive green relish.

But what I had come to see for the first time was:

U-505!  The IXC class submarine captured by Task Group 22.3.

It was brought to the Museum on September 2, 1954 - 70 years ago today.

While it seems large, it was a tight squeeze for its 59 member crew. 

Junior crew members got the enjoyment of bunking with torpedoes filled with high explosive all around them in the forward torpedo room. There were less than 59 bunks on board, so some crew got to use them in shifts.  Nor were there showers and only two small toilets, one of which was unusable at the beginning of a war patrol as it was filled with food for the voyage.

The lack of bathing and other creature comforts gave the boat quite a stench.  So much so that in the control room, there's a control with multiple fart settings on it, and a setting to stopp all farts - which it is thankfully set to today.

 The U-boat is tight squeeze throughout, from the forward torpedo room, to  the engine room, to the battery compartment beneath the floor.

The U-505 since the exhibit has opened has received new artifacts, including a diamond engagement ring that slipped off a poor woman's finger last week . The ring  fell through this very grate and further down in between the batteries to become a part of the sub. It will not be recovered while it is a museum ship as they are not going to disassemble it to try and find it.  

The Sub has also claimed victories over numerous cell phones and other hand-held items.

The U-505's galley is an extremely small place to prepare meals for 59 men,

This  blue ring on the floor is the scuttling tube that was opened by the German crew as they abandoned the U-Boat.  It was then successfully closed by the boarding crew of the US Task Force from the USS Pillsbury led by Lt. Albert David who earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery in capturing the ship.

Touring the U-505 was fantastic, and it was my first time to do so. The museum is definitely worth a visit if you go to Chicago.

We then saw a few more exhibits at the museum, and then headed off to a Pizza joint for dinner.

Then I headed home.

Again the weather was great.

I flew off into the sunset.

I arrived at Pontiac in the dark and did my first night landing in one heckuva long time.

I greased it.  Probably one of my best landings ever.

That was a great Labor Day, thanks to Mr. B.

2.0 there, 2.0 back, and a great landing in the day, and one fantastic landing at night.