This is actually the third museum I have visited with Paul. The others were National Museum of United States Air Force and Chanute Aerospace Museum. While Russell is not the caliber of either of those two (particularly the Air Force museum), it also contains some exhibits of tanks which neither air museum presents and has a few eclectic pieces.
Inside the exhibit room, the light is fairly flat, but I snapped a few photos. One of the highlights is of full scale model of a vertical takeoff plane that the Russians were designing at one time.
Model VTL
Two World War 2 tanks also take a prominent location indoors. The first is the main stay of American forces, the M4, Sherman medium tank:
Paul with the M4
The other is the M5, Stuart light tank. The M5 was essentially an extension of the M3. While the M4 overall received praise, the M3s and M5s were often questioned. The main reason I believe is size which led to less armor and smaller armaments. Compare:
Paul with the M5
After looking inside, we headed outdoors onto the grounds where dozens of land and air craft were scattered. The day was sunny and clear, excellent to view things.
A Line of Copters
How would you like to see this coming at you?
Tank!
I'm not a military buff, but I do enjoy reconnecting with the past. It's one thing to read about history and then it's entirely different to be in the physical presense of things from history.
Many displays at the Russell Museum were in poor state. This gave the outdoors a feel of a cemetary, which put me in a contemplative mood.
After Many Years
One of the highlights was the Russian helicopter, Mi-24 (or Hind).
Russian Copter
The museum is just off Interstate 94 and it is a very reasonable drive from the Milwaukee or Chicago area. If you like to spend a few hours and connect with history, check it out: Russell Military Museum.
Of course, things wouldn't be complete without a jet.
A Jet on a Friday Afternoon
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