Active Duty troops help Military Museum

A central Iowa military museum got a little help from current members of the military this week to add to its collection. A surplus Iowa Air Guard F-84 jet fighter from Council Bluffs was airlifted to the Iowa Military Aviation Heritage Museum at the Ankeny Airport. Museum director Roger Pointer says the plane had been at Western Iowa College. He says they inherited it from the Iowa Guard in the 1960s and had used it to train aircraft mechanics, but decided they didn’t need it any more. Pointer asked the state for the plane and was awarded it in March. Pointer says current guard members used a Chinook helicopter to deliver the airplane in one piece to Ankeny as part of a training exercise. He says it was good for them as they normally practice using big cemenet blocks and they could practice on “something that meant something.” Pointer says the jet adds to a growing collection of war birds. They have about nine full-scale planes and they also have the one-fifth scale replicas from the Air Expo show, along with other artifacts. Pointer says the Iowa Eighth Air Force veterans of World War Two have their stuff on display at the museum. He says everybody brought back something and he says they figured Ankeny was the crossroads of the state and country and that’s were they would put stuff on display. Pointer says they’re still working on arrangements so the museum can be open daily for visitors. Right now he says you can call and make an appointment to visit. For information on visiting the museum, contact Roger Pointer at 515-964-2629.