Warbird Information Exchange

You may see an unusual combination of aircraft flying across the sky in Iowa Thursday.

The Iowa National Guard plans to transport an A-7 Corsair jet from the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City via a Chinook helicopter to the Goldstar Museum at Camp Dodge in Johnston.

The two-seater jet has been in storage in Sioux City for 15 years. The jet was flown by the 185th in 1977 through 1991 when it was still a fighter wing.

Technicians in Sioux City gave the jet a makeover to honor the memory of Tech Sergeant Bruce Johnson and Captain Andy Erickson, who once flew and maintained the aircraft.

The helicopter will take off carrying the jet around 7:30 in the morning and arrive at Camp Dodge sometime after 11:30. The jet will then become part of the outdoor equipment display at the museum.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa National Guard

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
Transporting a military treasure of the past sounds like anything but routine.
It certainly caused a whirlwind of activity at the 185th Air Refueling Wing.


The 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City strapped an A-7D Corsair aircraft to the bottom of a CH-47F Chinook helicopter for transport to the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum at Camp Dodge... what they consider a routine mission.


"It wasn't too bad of a thing. It's just another mission for us to accomplish for the state," Sgt. Todd Isely, First Class, flight engineer instructor said.


So what made this routine mission unique? The vintage aircraft, unique for its two seats rather than one, with a fresh paint job... done by the Air National Guard's only paint facility in the nation at Sioux City's 185th air base. The custom job honors crew chief TSgt. Bruce Johnson and pilot Capt. Andy Erickson, the former unit members in charge of the aircraft.


"To be able to see something like this preserved for the longevity of the unit and to preserve our history down at Camp Dodge is pretty special," David Miller, command chief of 185th and operations manager of the paint facility said.


"Bruce Johnson, the crew chief, was a good friend of mine. So it's just great to have them on the aircraft and honored that way, into perpetuity actually because they're going to be on that airplane for the whole time it's down at the Gold Star [Museum]," Col. Scott Plambeck, Maintenance Group Commander of the 185th said.


This model of aircraft was used by the military from 1977 until the conversion to the F-16 in 1991. The paint job replicates the appearance of the aircraft at the height of the Cold War in the 80s.


While it is a heavier load than the crew is used to lifting, they don't anticipate any problems with the mission. All in all, it should be a pretty routine thing


"Safety is our main concern here, so we just try to mitigate risks and do everything in a safe and efficient manner," Sgt. Jason Nemeth, Flight Engineer on the CH-47D and F Chinook helicopter said.



The crew of twelve, five in the air and seven on the ground, transported the nearly 25-thousand pound plane all this afternoon, stopping to refuel just once.