Champaign County
![](https://story.illinoisstatemuseum.org/sites/default/files/styles/county_map/public/countymaps/Champaign.png?itok=GwWqx2oL)
Location of Champaign County in Illinois.
Location of Champaign County in Illinois.
On July 18, 1917, flight training began at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois. For the next 76 years, Chanute was a fixture in Champaign County, trading in flight training to become a major technical training installation for the United States Air Force. This image shows a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplane just over the open expanse of Chanute's flying field.