Flying Lab in 1973
Most long-term residents of Urbana remember the Flying Lab for its spectacular night flights during Urbana's Fourth of July celebrations. The Grimes Flying Lab was originally manufactured as a Beech C-45H transport aircraft for the U.S. Air Force in 1953, sold as surplus in 1960, and eventually acquired by Warren Grimes in 1963 for conversion to a lighting demonstration aircraft. The aircraft was flown at air shows, such as the Paris Air Show in 1975, and used as a flying laboratory to develop lighting products until 1986, when it sustained wing damage during a Fourth of July fly-by at the Tremont City Airport. It was sold for salvage in 1987. Honeywell re-purchased the aircraft in December 1999 and worked to restore the aircraft to flyable condition with volunteer labor and company funds.
The Flying Lab Today