A CH-47F Chinook returned NF-80C Shooting Star 47-0171 to its Camp Dodge-Iowa Gold Star Military Museum home recently

The classic jet had been refurbished at the Iowa Army National Guard’s nearby facility in Sioux City.

Initially delivered to the USAF in 1948 47-0171 – the sole example of the jet to have been constructed almost entirely from magnesium – was withdrawn from use just a decade later and subsequently earmarked for preservation under a National Museum of the USAF programme.

Assigned to the Iowa ANG for preservation, the aircraft arrived at Sioux City in 2001. The following year it was put on display wearing the 164th Fighter Squadron markings it had worn while on show at Rickenbacker International Airport.

Restoration commenced in 2011, with the jet emerging in the markings of 55-8626, an F-80C on strength with the Iowa ANG’s 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Sioux City in 1955. After around a decade on display at Camp Dodge, it returned to Sioux City for its most recent refurbishment on September 15, 2022. It has recently been successfully returned to Camp Dodge in eye-catching style – slung underneath a Chinook!