BLOOMINGTON -- The term "oversize load" seemed a comic understatement as the Boeing North American F-100C Super Sabre jet fighter made its way Sunday to the Prairie Aviation Museum.

Accompanied by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Police, the aircraft and its 39-foot wingspan took up the entire westbound lane of Empire Street, which had been blocked by police to make way for the museum's latest acquisition.

In a rare move, the plane was left intact and on landing gear for its transport, which began at 7 a.m. Sunday at the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, where it moved across county roads to Illinois 136, to Interstate 57, then to Interstate 74 to the Downs exit. From there, it traveled to Towanda-Barnes Road, right to Illinois 9 and left to the Central Illinois Regional Airport.

The Bloomington museum learned about 18 months ago that the plane was scheduled to return to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the National Air Force Museum as an excess aircraft. The Bloomington musuem then made a request for a transfer.

"This is part of our nation's aviation history," said John Ohler, restoration coordinator for the Bloomington museum.

"We wanted to salvage it," he said. "If we hadn't found a home for it, it would have been scrapped."

Previous attempts were made over the past year and a half to transport the plane to the museum, but construction on Interstate 74 caused the plans to be postponed.

Hafley RR Crane Service Inc., Rantoul, Bloomington police and officials from the sheriff's departments of Champaign County, DeWitt County and McLean County assisted IDOT and state police in the move.

"It's neat to see everybody working together and getting something done," said Steve Schmidt, vice president of the Bloomington museum's board of directors.

The plane arrived at the Bloomington museum at about 11:45, where a crowd of about 40 cheered its arrival. The plane was the widest load Illinois Department of Transportation has ever approved, added Schmidt.

The plane will be on permanent loan to the museum by the U.S. Air Force. It will rest on the trailer in a "nose-up" position. It becomes the ninth aircraft in the collection of the museum at 2929 E. Empire St. just east of CIRA.

Aircraft's history

The F-100C Super Sabre was the first jet fighter to break the sound barrier in level flight. The F-100 series served in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard units from 1954 to their full retirement by 1979.

The particular aircraft which arrived at the museum Sunday, an F-100C-5-NA, S/N 54-1785, was produced in 1955 and spent the majority of time at Chanutebase. It became part of the Chanute Air Museum after the base closure in the 1990s.

'Super' jet

Brad Streigel of Normal seemed to think the supersonic Super Sabre jet was just, well, super.

"I just think the museum's doing the public a service by preserving and protecting some of the equipment that was used to keep our country safe," he said. "You don't appreciate stuff like this until you see it up close."

Plane Specs

First flight: May 25, 1953

Wing span: 38.6 feet; Sweepback (25 % chord) 45 degree

Length: 47.8 feet

Height: 15.3 feet

Tread: 12.4 feet

Weight: 28,971 pounds

Power Plant: Pratt & Whitney J57-P-7 or -39 engine (producing 14,800 pounds thrust with afterburner); or Pratt & Whitney J57-P-21A

engine (16,000 pounds thrust with afterburner)

Speed: In excess of 1,000 mph

Service Ceiling: Above 50,000 feet

Range: In excess of 1,000 statute miles

Other features: In-flight refueling system, extra fuel drop tanks and bombs, radar, autopilot, two-place tandem cockpit