CHICO — There’s nothing unlucky about its 13th aircraft, in the view of the Chico Air Museum.
On Friday, an F-86 Sabre Jet arrived at the air museum’s new headquarters on Ryan Avenue. The nonprofit air museum acquired the fighter aircraft that was a workhorse of the Korean War.
It was donated by an air museum in Santa Maria, and trucked to the Chico Municipal Airport hangar by Greg Humpherys trucking company, which also brought the museum’s F-15 from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
“This aircraft means a lot to many people in this area,” said air museum president Norm Rosene.
The Sabre Jet will be the first aircraft the air museum will shelter inside the hangar while it’s being restored.
The air museum organization is working to renovate the hangar, which it is leasing from the city and was built in the 1940s while the airport was an Army Air Corps training field.
The air museum is conducting a capital campaign to raise about $100,000 needed. It already has $25,000 offered in a matching pledge by an anonymous donor.
Information on donating is available through museum member Noel Wheeler, 896-1004.
