Historic Fighter Jet Takes Chinook Helicopter Ride Across Iowa [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

It's not every day you see and hear the distinct sound of a Chinook helicopter flying over your head here in Iowa, let alone one that is carrying a historic fighter jet. However, that's exactly what happened on Tuesday.

A CH-47 Chinook sling-loaded a Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star fighter jet in Sioux City on Tuesday and returned it to Camp Dodge in Johnston.

The fighter jet had been transported by a Chinook from the Iowa Army National Guard in Davenport the same way back in September of 2022. It had been taken from Johnston to Sioux City to be repainted. The video from last September is below.

According to Airailimages, the F-80 fighter "was assigned to the Iowa Air Guard during the 1950s. The Korean War-era jet has markings of the 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron that was the predecessor to the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City. The Air Force requires that static display aircraft like the freshly painted F-80 be kept in good repair."

The Des Moines Register says the F-80 was the "first jet ever flown by the U.S. Air Force." Even though it was introduced at the end of World War II, in the mid-1940s, it first saw combat in the Korean War.

Tuesday, it was time to take the newly-painted F-80 fighter jet back to Camp Dodge in Johnston where it will be on display.

According to the Des Moines Register, it took the Chinook about an hour to travel the 100 miles to Camp Dodge, at an altitude of just 2,100 feet. The Chinooks you see in the photo and video below are both from the Iowa National Guard's B/171 Aviation Regiment in Davenport.

You can see video of the F-80 being sling-loaded in Sioux City yesterday below. The fighter jet is again on display at Camp Dodge in Johnston.