FORD ISLAND — F-15 fighters, with twin jet nozzles as big as small caves, can fly at 1,900 mph.

But the three-mile trip from Hickam Air Force Base to Ford Island yesterday was made with significantly less speed. Part of it came at a walk.

The Pacific Aviation Museum-Pearl Harbor obtained a Hawai'i Air National Guard F-15A that had been slated for the aircraft boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

The big jet, nearly 64 feet long and 43 feet wide, was rolled from Hickam to Alpha Pier, requiring the temporary closure of Vickers and First streets on base, and some careful maneuvers around stop signs and under utility lines, officials said.

A barge with a crane was used to hoist the 10-ton aircraft onboard to sail around Hospital Point and deliver it to Ford Island.

Before it even arrived at the aviation museum, the Eagle already was a big hit.

"It's awesome," said Shane Vogt, a 21-year-old worker with P&R Watertaxi, as the crane lowered the fighter onto Ford Island.

"I've never seen a fighter plane up close. Pretty cool," added his twin brother, Tristan.

A tug pulled the aircraft slowly along Ford Island streets, its right wing passing within several feet of Building 43, before it was backed into the enormous Hangar 79.

The F-15 was parked next to an F-14 Tomcat that arrived in June on the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard.

Pacific Aviation Museum Executive Director Kenneth DeHoff called it a "priceless" addition to the museum's collection.

The F-15, tail number 76-0063, was delivered to the Air Force in 1977, and transferred to the Hawai'i Air National Guard in 1992.

"This F-15 is in terrific shape, a tribute to the great care and maintenance of the 154th Wing of the Hawai'i Air National Guard," DeHoff said. "We can't thank them enough for their cooperation and assistance in bringing the F-15 to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island."

The museum paid for the barge transit for the fighter, whose engines, avionics and gun were removed.

Hawai'i National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony said the F-15 is the first of several Air Guard aircraft expected to take up residence at the Ford Island museum.

An F-86 Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger and F-4 Phantom that are part of static displays at Hickam and represent part of the Hawai'i Air National Guard's fighter lineage, will be turned over at some point to the Pacific Aviation Museum, Anthony said.

"They have the space," Anthony said. "We don't have anybody who's assigned to do the upkeep on these static displays. It gets done because people just put a lot of love into it."

The Hawai'i Air National Guard has been flying the F-15 Eagle since 1987. Officials said the Guard has about nine of the early "A" models, one "B" model, and about nine "C" models.

The F-15s are scheduled to be replaced by 18 F-22 Raptor stealth fighters, the Air Force's most advanced weapons system, beginning in 2010.

Lt. Col. Matt "Boz" Beals, a veteran F-15 pilot with the Hawai'i Air Guard, said the Eagle is expected to continue performing air defense elsewhere for the United States through 2025.

"The plane has really stood the test of time, and for a fighter aircraft, it has pretty much dominated the air superiority role longer than any fighter in history," Beals said.

The nonprofit aviation museum operates out of Hangar 37. The aircraft in the unrestored Hangar 79, which houses the F-15 and F-14, along with Sea King, Huey and Cobra helicopters, can be viewed on the "aviator's tour," officials said.

Museum President Clint Churchill said the goal is to raise $83 million over and above the $17 million already raised to continue the museum's expansion and open hangars 79 and 54 with full displays and for the restoration of the iconic red-and-white-striped control tower.

If enough funds are raised, renovation on Hangar 79 could begin by the end of 2009, Churchill said.