The Half Century of Progress IV, this country’s biggest antique power show will take place August 27, 28, 29 and 30, 2009, at the National Aviation Center Airport in Rantoul, Illinois, the weekend before the Farm Progress Show at Decatur, Illinois --- just 60 miles apart.
More than 400 acres of crop demonstration plots were planted in April and will be ready to harvest come show time. Crops to be harvested include corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. Harvest and tillage demonstrations will be performed, and late-planted corn will be cultivated by tractors and horses.
The 2009 Half Century of Progress is BIG! Featured and working in the fields will be the world’s largest farm tractor, BIG BUD. The 747 BIG BUD Farm Tractor was built to produce 1000 horsepower using a 16-cylinder Detroit Diesel engine. BIG FLAG --the largest flying American flag is 65 feet tall and 120 feet wide and will be flying over the area. And the monster truck, BIG FOOT, will be on site too.
The gates will open for each of the four days at 7:00 A.M. Beginning, Thursday, August 27, 2009, Max Armstrong’s annual 50 Mile Tractor Ride through northeastern Champaign County farmland will kick things off at 8:00 A.M. The parade of tractors will stop for lunch at the I & I Museum in Penfield, Illinois where participants will have the opportunity to see the world’s first production gasoline tractor, the 1903 Hart-Parr #3 Gas Powered Tractor, and the one of its kind 1960 Experimental IH Gas-Turbine Powered HT-340 Hydrostatic Drive Tractor on loan from the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History Kenneth E. Behring Center Washington D.C., in addition with other museum attractions.
The emphasis for the Half Century of Progress will continue to be the fieldwork performed by vintage farm equipment and the variety of demonstrations each day. Max Armstrong describes it best – “This show has become famous because it’s a magnificent ‘flashback’ farm equipment show.” He continues--“People come to Rantoul and see things they haven’t seen since they were young…..” With BIG BUD on the scene this year, visitors will also see a piece of farm machinery they may never have seen or touched before. Plan now to join visitors from all over the United States and foreign countries, August 27, 28, 29, 30, 2009, for the Half Century of Progress IV in Rantoul, Illinois.