Credit: Theresa Palmgren / KTVB A F-104A Starfighter is off-loaded from a semitrailer at Nampa's Warhawk Air Museum using a process called "slinging."NAMPA, ID — The newest addition to the Warhawk Air Museum slowly floated through the air Friday morning during a unique delivery process described as “slinging.”
Suspended 30 feet above the ground by a crane, a well-preserved F-104A Starfighter was being carefully unloaded from a flat-bed semitrailer.
The historic, 1950’s-era aircraft was once the most advanced fighter jet in the United States. It’s previous home had been an estate in Ontario, Oregon. Even before that, the jet had been used for training in Taiwan and Jordan after being sold by the U.S. government.
The delivery crew, museum staff, and members of the media watched Friday as the historic jet made its final landing here in southwest Idaho. It was a stark contrast to the aircraft’s history as a supersonic fighter once capable of flying twice the speed of sound.
John-Curtiss Paul is the Warhawk Museum’s director of aviation. Paul’s level of excitement during the arrival of the jet could be described as supersonic too.
“We acquired the Starfighter because it is one of the most significant United States’ aircraft designed and developed during the Cold War era,” Paul said. “It’s a Lockheed design, single seat, supersonic fighter interceptor. It’s capable of exceeding mach 2 in level flight.”
 
F-104 Starfighter arrives at Nampa Idaho’s Warhawk Air Museum