Photo: Iowa National Guard
(CAMP DODGE, Iowa) -- Iowans may get to see the unusual transport and arrival of a 1950s era fighter jet to Camp Dodge today (Tuesday). The F-80 fighter jet, normally on display at Camp Dodge, has been undergoing restoration in Sioux City, but is expected back today. The Iowa National Guard says a CH-47 Chinook helicopter will carry the jet in a sling. The F-80 was the first jet powered aircraft flown by the Army when it was introduced in the mid-1940s at the end of World War II.
The jet is expected to arrive at Camp Dodge at 3:30 p.m.
The jet was airlifted to the 185th Air Refueling Wing base in Sioux City in September 2022 to undergo restoration. The aircraft is painted with markings of the 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, which was the previous designation of the 185th Air Refueling Wing.