That Fun Time a Hiker in Illinois Found an Airplane in the Woods
You never know what you might find in the woods. That was especially true of a hiker in Illinois who found an abandoned airplane.
It was only a few years ago that this fun video share made everyone believe that it's possible to fly a plane in the woods. YouTuber Tom V had this to say about his unique aerospace encounter in the backcountry of the Land of Lincoln:
The abandoned Airplane I explore here was near Elgin Illinois. Built in the 1960s for a British airline. Of course when I quoted Airplane (1980) I said "Billy" instead of "Joey"...
There's quite a story behind this plane. First, the walkthrough (and around).
The tail marking almost always tells the story of a plane's origins and this one is no exception. "N111RZ" was built and delivered to American Airlines on January 22, 1966 according to Plane Logger. The FAA website confirms that the build date was in 1965 which makes delivery early the next year likely accurate. It was deregistered in 2008 which is probably around the time when it took up its new retirement residence in the woods near Elgin, Illinois.
You won't see planes like this model much anymore. As a matter of fact, there's only one I found on YouTube that is still airworthy and this dates back a few years.
It was a completely different era for air travel in the 1960's and 1970's and a typically strange find hiding deep in the woods of Illinois. You just never know what you'll run into out there.