CHUMP - F86 Sabre Traditional Cache
roadrunners: It appears this one has gone missing again. Although, it is an interesting location, we have decided to archive it after replacing it numerous times.
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(micro)
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CHUMP (CHandler Urban Micro Project)
This fighter plane, one of the Air Force's first jet fighters, is a monument to the former Williams Air Force Base, now Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, about 8 miles east. The base opened in 1941 as an Army Air Corps flying school and became an Air Force base in 1948 after that branch of the service was spun off from the Army. Williams was one of the Air Force's premier pilot-training facilities.
In 1961, the Chandler Jaycees wanted to erect a monument to the people who had served at the base and acquired the plane on loan from the Air Force to be installed at the northeastern corner of Dr. A.J. Chandler Park. The monument was dedicated in spring 1961.
The plane remained there until the park was redesigned in the 1980s and it was decided that the F-86 didn't fit with the new plans. After being given a fresh coat of paint, the plane was moved by crane to its present location in 1985.
There used to be a bus stop that was used by base personnel near the plane's present location. Airmen were said to frequently, hitchhike between Chandler and the base along Chandler Blvd.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)