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The historic F-117 was partially disassembled and loaded aboard the giant airlifter for its cross-country delivery to the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center.

On Oct. 6, 2026, a C-5M Super Galaxy, using radio callsign HAGAR91 departed Palmdale, California, carrying a pretty interesting and unusual piece of cargo: the F-117A 85-0818 “The Overachiever” selected for preservation at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

The heavy airlifter landed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia,  just to the north of the museum where a dedicated taxiway linking the museum site to the airfield allows for simplified deliveries of display aircraft. 

HAGAR91 (C-5M) departed Palmdale this afternoon heading for Dulles – IAD t carrying a F-117. https://t.co/YFWVWaW9Ys

— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) October 6, 2026

As we reported some weeks ago, donation of an F-117A Nighthawk aircraft to the Smithsonian was announced on Sep. 14, 2026, at the Air & Space Forces Association’s (AFA) Air, Space & Cyber Conference. 

The imagery released by the U.S. Air Force from the operation is particularly interesting, providing an unusual look at the angular shape of the pioneering stealth attack aircraft as it is loaded into the cavernous cargo compartment of the giant C-5M.

An F-117A Nighthawk is loaded aboard a C-5M Super Galaxy at Palmdale, California. | Source: Screenshot from U.S. Air Force video by Senior Airman Amanda Jett

Fitting a Nighthawk inside a Super Galaxy

The two-day mission was carried out by Air Force Reserve personnel from the 512th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

Although the F-117 is not particularly large by fighter standards, moving the 29,500-pound load required careful planning, precise weight distribution and, in some areas, clearances measured in millimeters.

The Nighthawk had been partially disassembled for transport, with the wings separated from the fuselage. After the C-5M arrived at Palmdale, on Oct. 5, 2026, loadmasters first maneuvered the detached wings into the aircraft and secured them inside the cargo compartment, making sure enough space remained for the much larger fuselage.

The fuselage of an F-117A Nighthawk and its detached wings are hauled across a Lockheed Martin flightline in Palmdale, Calif., Oct. 5, 2026. The airframe’s successful, 25-year combat record influenced modern military stealth jet development and remains a hallmark of the Air Force’s ever-evolving precision strike capabilities. | Source: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexis Morris

Within about two hours, the wings were in place.

Loading the rest of the aircraft was more complicated.

According to the Air Force, the operation was delayed overnight because of a coordination issue involving the number of tie-down points required to secure the F-117 fuselage. A Lockheed Martin Skunk Works mechanical team worked through the night to fabricate and install the additional points needed to safely transport the aircraft.

Once the issue was solved, the Nighthawk could finally be secured inside the C-5M.

(NOT MY PICTURES FOUND ON FB)

F-117A 85-0818 “The Overachiever” off the ramp of C-5M 87-0036 (HAGAR91) brought it in from Palmdale last night. Next stop is the restoration hangar at Udvar-Hazy. https://t.co/WtBHakRQPv

— Tom Ace (@TomAce736) October 7, 2026

“It was a little difficult to load in, but we got the job done,” Senior Airman Lucas Richard, a 709th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, said. “This is probably one of the coolest pieces of cargo that I’ve ever seen.”

Looking at the imagery, it is difficult to disagree.

The aircraft that launched the stealth revolution is headed to its next mission.

With support from @LockheedMartin and the @512AirliftWing, this F-117 Nighthawk was loaded aboard a C-5 Galaxy and transported to the @airandspace, where its legacy will inspire future generations. AFA and Air & Space Forces Magazine were on the C-5 that carried the Nighthawk from Skunk Works to IAD.

The aircraft is currently in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar, having its wings reinstalled before it goes on public display.

— Air & Space Forces Association (@AFA_Air_Space) October 8, 2026

Using the Galaxy to move a Nighthawk is nothing new. During the highly classified early years of the F-117 program, C-5s were used to secretly transport partially disassembled aircraft from Lockheed’s Burbank facility to the test site at Groom Lake.

More recently, in May 2023, another C-5M carried F-117A 81-10794 “Delta Dawn” from Tonopah to Robins AFB for preservation at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia. Photos from that delivery showed the unusual sight of the Nighthawk emerging from the giant airlifter.

The newly released images of “The Overachiever,” however, provide a far more detailed look at how an F-117 is actually fitted and secured inside the C-5M’s cargo compartment.

Inside the cargo bay. | Source: Screenshot from U.S. Air Force video by Senior Airman Amanda Jett

“The Overachiever”

As already explained, the aircraft being transported was nicknamed “The Overachiever” and it has a unique operational history: it is the only F-117 known to have flown combat missions in all four major (and publicly acknowledged) campaigns in which the type was employed operationally.

In fact, the airframe took part in Operation Just Cause (Panama, 1989), Operation Desert Storm (Iraq, 1991), Operation Allied Force (Yugoslavia, 1999) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Iraq, 2003).

That makes the aircraft an especially significant representative of the F-117 program, which introduced operational stealth technology to combat aviation and fundamentally changed the way planners approached the penetration of heavily defended airspace.

The Nighthawk made its combat debut during Operation Just Cause in December 1989, but Desert Storm would turn the still-mysterious aircraft into one of the symbols of the 1991 air campaign.

During the war, the F-117 fleet flew 1,271 sorties, achieved an 80% mission success rate and suffered no aircraft losses or battle damage. Despite accounting for only a small proportion of the coalition’s combat sorties, the stealth jets were assigned some of the campaign’s most heavily defended and strategically important targets.

The aircraft’s strange appearance and previously secret existence also helped create an almost mythical reputation around the type, one that has survived long after its official retirement in 2008.

In accordance with of the Nation Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2007, 52 F-117 aircraft were retired and relocated to the Tonopah Test Range (TTR). Each aircraft was preserved in Type-1000 (T-1000) storage, which maintains the aircraft in a condition that allows recall for future service. In 2016 it was decided to start divesting some of the aircraft.

As of January 2023, of the 59 F-117s built, approximately 45 F-117s were in the inventory, with more than 10 already approved for transfer to museums.

The U.S. Air Force hopes to keep flying the F-117 flying until at least 2034, providing a stealthy aggressor platform to support U.S. Air Force training and technological trials. 

From Skunk Works to the Smithsonian

Before it could enter the Smithsonian collection, “The Overachiever” underwent a lengthy restoration and demilitarization process led by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

Demilitarizing an F-117 is not simply a matter of removing weapons or classified equipment. Even decades after the aircraft entered service, some aspects of the Nighthawk’s design, materials and systems remain sensitive, making the preparation of an aircraft for unrestricted public display a considerably more complex process.

“Demilitarization was the most difficult piece, but I think it went really smoothly, all things considered,” Jeff Corbets, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works program manager who led the restoration, said.

Following its arrival in Virginia, the aircraft will be reassembled in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, with visitors able to watch the work through the hangar’s glass overlook.

It will then join the museum’s permanent collection, alongside other aviation icons including the SR-71 Blackbird, B-29 Enola Gay and Space Shuttle Discovery.

A disassembled F-117A Nighthawk sits inside a C-5M Super Galaxy inflight from Palmdale, Calif., to Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va., Oct 6, 2026. The C-5M is operated by the Air Force Reserve’s 512th Airlift Wing, based at Dover Air Force Base, Del. | Source: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexis Morris

Other preserved F-117s

“The Overachiever” will become the 16th YF-117/F-117 transferred for public display, according to the Smithsonian announcement. Several other F-117s have already made the transition from Tonopah to museum collections. 

As we have reported over the years, these include 82-0803 “Unexpected Guest,” the most combat-experienced Nighthawk, now on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California; another example delivered in partially disassembled form to the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah; and 85-0833 “Black Devil,” which went to the Palm Springs Air Museum after completing 75 combat missions during Desert Storm and Allied Force.