Nina II moves to new location

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Desiree Economides
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
A long beloved symbol has moved to a new location on base. The F-86 F, affectionately referred to as the Nina II, was on display in Nina Circle and is now a static display between Fifth Air Force and the new Japanese Air Self Defense Force Air Defense Operations Headquarters buildings.

The plane was relocated to its new location on March 7, 2012 and now sits next to a JASDF F-1.

"The new static display location commemorates the joint operations between the U.S. Air Force and JASDF," said John Treiber, 374th Airlift Wing historian.

In order for the plane to be moved, the 374th Maintenance Squadron, 374th Security Forces Squadron and 374th Safety office had to work together on the project.

"It has been great getting team Yokota together for this project," said Capt. Fernando Rolon, 374th MXS maintenance operations officer. "We have all worked hard for the last few months, planning, coordinating and finally moving it."

The Nina II may be in a new location, but that is not the only change in store.

"There are future plans to repaint the plane to represent the 5th Air Force's mission," said Treiber. "The current paint scheme on the F-86 F represents the Nina II which was shot down during the Korean War."

Though it is was more than a year in the making, moving the plane to its new static location took seven hours to complete.

"It felt great to work on this project," said Master Sgt. Mercedes Meredith, project team lead. "The training we have is actually for crash recover, which is fortunately rarely used. This project gave us a great experience to not only use our skills but to work with other base agencies to make it happen."