Driving along Interstate 35 in Owatonna, Minnesota, you can't miss the giant jets near the airport.

"Really, they come from all corners of the country," said Dave Beaver, airport manager. "We had an arrival yesterday from Florida, California, Colorado."

At Owatonna's Degner Regional Airport, planes are coming and going. But there are three on site that never take off, yet they never touch the ground.

"That display is really something else," said Beaver. "We routinely see people stop off the interstate, come in and ask questions and take pictures."

The story begins years ago when the city acquired one of the T-38 Talon Thunderbird jets from the Air Force. Then Buzz Kaplan, an Army veteran and local plane enthusiast, acquired two more. In 2006, they began the process of moving the T-38's

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