Air Force One: Encyclopedia II - Air Force One - History

Air Force One - History

Prior to World War II, overseas and cross-country presidential travel was rare. Lack of telecommunications and quick transportation made long-distance travel impractical, as it took up much time and isolated the President from events in Washington.

Air Force One - First of Flying Presidents

In the 1940s and 1950s, however, air travel became much more convenient. The first president to fly in an airplane while in office was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who traveled on a Boeing 314 "flying boat" aircraft to a 1943 conference in Casablanca on the progress of World War II. The main reason at the time for presidential air travel was the threat of the German Navy's U-boats in the Atlantic. The continuing threat from the submarines established air travel as a usual means of distance transportation for the President.

The first aircraft officially designated for Presidential flight was the C-87A Liberator Express, a reconfigured B-24 bomber. This plane was called Guess Where Two. However, the plane was no longer used for Roosevelt after another C-87A crashed; the Secret Service reconfigured a C-54 Skymaster as a replacement. This plane was nicknamed the Sacred Cow and included a sleeping area, radio telephone, and retractable elevator for Roosevelt's wheelchair. It carried the president to several important events, most notably the Yalta Conference. The Secret Service, not wishing to waste resources, instead put the C-87A plane to use by having Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt use it instead.

After Roosevelt died in spring 1945, Vice President Harry S. Truman became President. He replaced the C-54 with a modified C-118 Liftmaster, calling it the Independence, possibly in reference to President Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. This was the first aircraft acting as Air Force One that had a distinctive exterior (an eagle head painted on its nose).

The call signs were established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first American president to have been a pilot in his own right. The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an Eastern Airlines commercial flight (8610) had the same call sign as a flight the President was on (Air Force 8610). The planes accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident the unique call sign "Air Force One" was made for the presidential aircraft.

Eisenhower also introduced two other propeller aircraft, the Lockheed C-121 Constellations (VC-121E) to Presidential service. These planes were named Columbine II and Columbine III by Mamie Eisenhower after the official state flower of Colorado, her adopted home state. President Eisenhower also upgraded Air Force One's technology by adding an air-to-ground telephone and an air-to-ground teletype machine. Towards the end of Eisenhower's term, in 1958, the Air Force added three Boeing 707 jets into the fleet.

Air Force One - Boeing 707s as Air Force One

With John F. Kennedy, presidential air travel officially entered the jet age. In 1962, he added a modified, long-range 707 to the fleet—Special Air Missions (SAM) 26000. He also commissioned industrial designer Raymond Loewy to create a distinctive exterior for the plane. Loewy came up with a powder blue and white design, the same colors used today; he also had the words "United States of America" put on the fuselage's side and the U.S. flag painted on the tail. Because the aircraft would be solely for the use of the president, Kennedy asked that the Presidential seal be added to both sides of the nose.

In late June 1963, Kennedy flew on SAM 26000 to Berlin, where he made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, and to Ireland. A month earlier, it broke 30 speed records when carrying a delegation to Moscow, including the fastest non-stop flight between Washington and Moscow.

On November 22, 1963, SAM 26000 carried President John F. Kennedy to Dallas, Texas, where early that afternoon he was assassinated. It was on the plane (while it was at Love Field) that Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office, and the plane carried Kennedy's body back to Washington. SAM 26000 flew over Arlington National Cemetery as Kennedy was being laid to rest.

SAM 26000 also carried President Richard Nixon on his historic trips to mainland China and to Russia in 1972. Later in 1972, SAM 26000 became the backup aircraft when another 707, SAM 27000, arrived.

On January 22, 1973, LBJ died. Two days later, SAM 26000 brought the former president's body to Washington, coming from Texas for the state funeral the following day. After the funeral, SAM 26000 brought his body on one final journey home, back to Texas for his burial, landing at Bergstrom AFB in Austin, the airfield Johnson flew into and out of when president. As the former president was laid to rest at his ranch, retired Brigadier General James Cross, pilot of SAM 26000 in Johnson's day, turned over the flag to his wife, Lady Bird, at her request. He also escorted her during the state funeral, also at her request. The role SAM 26000 played during the funeral made several points clear:

• It was the aircraft that LBJ used primarily when president. In fact, it was used most often by LBJ.
• Even though he died in Texas, Mrs. Johnson agreed to the public honors in Washington because so many others from around the world wanted to join in—40,000 paid their respects when the former president lay in state.
• The final services honoring LBJ on January 25 spanned the country in one day because of jets.

President Nixon dubbed the presidential airliner The Spirit of 1976, in recognition of the upcoming American bicentennial. In 1974, when Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency and departed from Andrews AFB on Air Force One, it was arranged that the plane's call sign would switch from Air Force One to SAM designation (SAM 27000). It was President Ford who first decided that the name of the aircraft itself should be Air Force One, along with the call sign.

SAM 27000 was the primary presidential aircraft for more presidents than any other. It began service under Nixon and served Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush until it was replaced by the 747's in 1990.

Air Force One - Transition to Boeing 747s

Ronald Reagan's two terms as President saw no major changes to Air Force One but the fabrication of the current 747s began. Most of the interior was completed in Wichita, Kansas. The aircraft were delivered in 1990, during the administration of George H. W. Bush.

On October 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. Because of security concerns, Reagan did not attend the funeral, nor did then-Vice President Bush. Instead, President Reagan sent Secretary of State Alexander Haig and the living former presidents—Nixon, Ford, and Carter—to the funeral. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger was also on board. In 1987, Reagan flew on SAM 27000 to Berlin and made his famous "Tear down this wall!" speech.

President George W. Bush added a treadmill to Air Force One. Bush was noted for going to the plane's pressroom to talk to reporters far less than his predecessors. In November 2003, there was a minor controversy when Air Force One's crew lied to the crew of a passing British Airways jet, informing them that the 416-ton 747 was a 45-ton Gulfstream V corporate jet, while transporting George W. Bush to Iraq to spend Thanksgiving with troops stationed there,¹ though White House officials later denied this.².

One of the most dramatic episodes aboard Air Force One happened on September 11, 2001, when it flew President George W. Bush from Sarasota, Florida, where he was interrupted at an education event because of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Instead of returning to Washington, the Secret Service ordered Air Force One to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, and then to the former Strategic Air Command (now United States Strategic Command) headquarters at Offut AFB in Nebraska, before returning to Washington. The following day, officials at the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice said that the plan was enacted because there was evidence "that the White House and Air Force One were targets."

Air Force One - Location of past planes that served as Air Force One

Aircraft which have formerly served as Air Force One are on display in the Presidential Hangar of the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio (Sacred Cow, Independence, Columbine III, SAM 26000, and other smaller Presidential aircraft), as well as the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington (earlier VC-137B).

The Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One during the 1980s (SAM 27000) is on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The jet is part of a museum of presidential travel, located at this location. The Air Force One Pavilion was opened to the public on October 24, 2005.

A Douglas VC-118A Liftmaster used by John F. Kennedy is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.

New aircraft to fulfill the role of Air Force One may be acquired as soon as 2010, when the current 747s will be 20 years old.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki