GREEN − The “Spirit of Mansfield” became the largest military plane at the Military Aviation Preservation Society (MAPS) Museum with its arrival Saturday.

The C-130H Hercules, which was previously flown from the Mansfield-Lahm Air National Guard base to the Akron-Canton Airport, was towed to MAPS just west of the airport while about 50 people watched. With a wingspan greater than 132 feet, it took about an hour or more of maneuvering and wood placed under one side to lift a wing over the museum’s gate.

“It’s very difficult to move this thing,” said Kim Kovesci, the museum’s executive director.

In 2021, the Air Force announced plans to transition the Mansfield base into the Air National Guard’s first Cyber Warfare Wing. Because of its size, Kovesci said, there wasn’t much competition for one of the eight, aging C-130Hs.

The plane was retired from the Mansfield base and, because the military still uses Hercules planes, is considered on loan to the museum.

Kovesci and Ray Weber, a retired squadron commander who flew the Hercules and other aircraft out of Mansfield, said getting the plane mostly involved a lot of paperwork.

Weber is a MAPS volunteer and retired from the 179th Airlift Wing, a unit of the Ohio Air National Guard. The Air National Guard is a separate reserve component of the U.S. Air Force. His son and grandson also have flown for the Air National Guard.

Weber has flown even larger planes than the Hercules transport and cargo plane but said its 155,000 pounds are…