Minot, N.D. — Six months ago an F-106 Delta Dart arrived on two trucks at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot from Arizona.
Volunteers at the air museum spent the winter months reassembling and painting the more than 70-foot plane, like the ones the former 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Minot AFB flew and maintained.
“It’s nearing completion,” said Darrel Kerzmann, air museum board member who is retired from the Air Force, and coordinator of volunteers working on the F-106.
Source: wikipedia.com SSGT Bill Thompson – http://www.defenseimagery.mil/assetDetails.action?guid=5ec87c3aff4c1e2e5dfc9bc924404a1e0da6a3fe
The plane will be part of an outdoor exhibit of three 5th Fighter planes: the F-106, F-15 Eagle and T-33.
On a recent Wednesday night, Kerzmann and several other volunteers — Tim Gebhart, a technical sergeant with the 23rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Minot AFB, Don Otto with Minot Aero Center, Mike Hill, a military historian and author from Minot, and Arv Pomeroy — were doing a lot of the detail work on the plane. Pomeroy used to work on 5th Fighter’s F-106s and T-33s.
Nearby Dave Smith and Whitney Craig, an airman first class with the 69th Aircraft Maintenance Unit at Minot AFB, were preparing the T-33 for painting. Smith was a weapons technician with 5th Fighter. He was with the squadron at Minot AFB during its transition from F-106s to F-15s.
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