The painting began prior to the early June reunion of former F-15 pilots and their spouses from across the country held at the air museum.

Darrel Kerzmann, museum organizer of the project, said currently they are finishing detail work.

Those involved in the F-15 project, besides Kerzmann, are volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol Magic City Composite Wing and Minot Air Force Base.

The F-15 is part of a 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron display that was dedicated May 6, 2016, and honors the men and women of 5th Fighter, according to a museum history story published in the April 29, 2017, edition of The Minot Daily News. The display has two other aircraft, a T-33 and an F-106, all planes representing the aircraft once flown by 5th Fighter. Volunteers restored the planes for display.

Submitted Photo Zack West, with 5th Maintenance Group at Minot Air Force Base, volunteers time to help with a project to give a facelift to the F-15 Eagle in an outdoor display at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot.

The F-15 was at Minot AFB for some time and then was moved to the air museum in fall 2013. It is on loan from the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

The T-33 was the first plane the museum received for an outdoor display. The Air Force had loaned the T-33 to the City of Minot for a display. Since the museum was getting ready to open, George Christensen, Minot mayor at the time, and the city council said since the plane was coming to the community they wanted it to go to the museum.

The F-106 came from Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. The air museum received a $30,500 grant from North Dakota Tourism to help with the F-106 project, and the air museum matched the grant.

Kerzmann said the plan is to give a facelift to one outside plane each year.