Air Force One

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Air Force One is the air traffic control call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. Since 1990, the presidential fleet has consisted of two specifically configured, highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft—tail numbers 28000 and 29000—with Air Force designation VC-25A. While these planes are referred to as "Air Force One" only while the president is on board, the term is commonly used to describe either of the two aircraft normally used and maintained by the U.S. Air Force solely for the president.

The VC-25A is capable of flying 7,800 miles (12,600 km)—roughly one-third the distance around the world—without refueling and can accommodate more than 70 passengers. Before these planes entered service, two Boeing 707-320B-type aircraft—tail numbers 26000 and 27000—had operated as Air Force One starting in 1962. The Air Force designation for these aircraft was VC-137C. Since its inception, Air Force One has become a symbol of presidential power and prestige. Each VC-25A costs approximately US$325 million.

An Air Force aircraft carrying the Vice President is designated as Air Force Two. Occasionally, the Vice President, when traveling long distances will borrow one of the VC-25A's and the plane will fly as "Air Force Two." Subsequently, when the President needs to fly to locations that have runways too short for the VC-25A, the President will borrow one of the Boeing C-32's normally used for the Vice President. As always, even if the President is on the C-32, the plane will fly as "Air Force One" as the President is on board.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The first "flying presidents" 2 Boeing 707s as Air Force One 2.1 Livery design 2.2 SAM 26000 2.3 SAM 27000 3 Transition to Boeing 747s 4 Past planes that served as Air Force One 5 Analogues in other countries 6 Popular culture 7 References 7.1 Books 7.2 Newspapers 8 External links 8.1 Photographs and other multimedia 9 See also

[edit] History

Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to fly in a plane on October 11, 1910. At the time he was no longer in office, having been succeeded by William Howard Taft. However, prior to World War II, overseas and cross-country presidential travel was rare. Lack of wireless telecommunications and quick transportation made long-distance travel impractical, as it took up much time and isolated the president from events in Washington, D.C.

[edit] The first "flying presidents"

In the 1940s and 1950s, air travel became much more convenient. The first president to fly in an aircraft while in office was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who traveled on a Boeing 314 flying boat to a 1943 conference in Casablanca on the progress of World War II. The threat from the German Navy's U-boats in the Atlantic made air travel the preferred method of transportation. The continuing threat from submarines established air travel as a usual means of intercontinental 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, after a different C-87A crashed, Guess Where Two was no longer used for Roosevelt; 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, put the C-87A plane to use by having First Lady 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—a bald eagle head painted on its nose.

The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. 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 introduced 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 columbine, 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 (designated SAM 970, 971, and 972) into the fleet. "Ike" became the first president to use the 707 during his "Flight to Peace" Goodwill tour, from December 3 through 22, 1959. He visited 11 Asian nations, flying 22,000 miles in 19 days, about twice as fast as he would have on "Columbine."

[edit] Boeing 707s as Air Force One

[edit] Livery design

With John F. Kennedy, presidential air travel officially entered the jet age. In 1962, the administration took delivery of a modified, long-range 707 to the fleet—Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000.

The Air Force had attempted a special presidential livery of their own devising: a scheme in red and metallic gold, with the nation's name in block letters. Kennedy felt the plane appeared too regal, more fitting of a king than the head of a democracy.^{[citation needed]} Kennedy understood the importance of symbolism and the impression the president's plane would make in foreign countries.^{[citation needed]} He contacted industrial designer Raymond Loewy for help in designing a new livery and interiors for the new 707 jet.^{[citation needed]} Kennedy wanted to at once signal a connection with the nation's early history and its prominence in the modern world.^{[citation needed]}

Loewy met briefly with the president, and recorded that his earliest research on the project took him to the National Archives where he looked at the first printed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, and saw the country's name set widely spaced and in upper case in a typeface called Caslon.^{[citation needed]}

Loewy claimed to know from his research exactly how the country's name should be applied to the fuselage of the new Air Force One.^{[citation needed]} Loewy chose to expose the silver aluminum fuselage on the bottom side, and used two blues; a slate-blue associated with the early republic and the presidency, and a more contemporary cyan blue to represent the present and future. The presidential seal was added to both sides of the fuselage near the nose, and a large American flag was painted on the tail. The result of Loewy's work won immediate praise from the president, the press, and became a global icon.^{[citation needed]} The 707 markings were adapted for the larger 747 Air Force One in 1989.

[edit] SAM 26000

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 set the record for 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 new President Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office, and the plane carried Kennedy's body back to Washington, at Johnson's request. To this date, the photo of LBJ being sworn in as president remains the most famous photo ever taken aboard Air Force One.

SAM 26000 flew over Arlington National Cemetery as Kennedy was being laid to rest, following 50 fighter jets.

SAM 26000 was also used by National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during his secret meetings with the French to negotiate the Vietnam peace process.

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, Lyndon B. Johnson died. Two days later, SAM 26000 brought the former president's body on one last journey to Washington, coming from Texas for the state funeral the following day. After the funeral, SAM 26000 brought his body home to Texas for his burial, landing at Bergstrom Air Force Base 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 during part of the Johnson presidency, turned over the flag to his wife, Lady Bird, at her request. He also escorted her, rather than Army Major General James Adamson, the commanding general of the Military District of Washington (CG MDW) during the state funeral, which Nixon presided over, again at her request. Most of this resulted from Mrs. Johnson agreeing to the public honors in Washington, even though LBJ died in Texas, because she felt so many others from around the world wanted to join in—40,000 paid their respects when the former president lay in state. Also, thanks to SAM 26000, the final services honoring LBJ on January 25 were completed in one day, despite taking place in different parts of the country.

On October 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. Because of security concerns, President Reagan did not attend the funeral, nor did then-Vice President Bush. Instead, 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. All of them flew aboard SAM 26000 when traveling to the funeral.

The last time SAM 26000 carried a serving president was in January of 1998 when Bill Clinton's Air Force One literally got stuck in the mud in Champaign, Illinois.^[1][2] SAM 26000 was sitting at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana to serve as the backup Air Force One. SAM 26000 was quickly dispached to Champaign to pick up Clinton. Soon after this flight, the plane was taken out of service and went to the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio in May, 1998.

[edit] SAM 27000

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 747s in 1990. SAM 27000 continued occasionally as Air Force One but was primarily used as transport for the vice-president until C-32 Boeing 757s were introduced in 1998 to serve as Air Force Two (call-sign for aircraft carrying the vice-president). When Reagan flew to Berlin to make his famous "Tear down this wall!" speech, he flew on SAM 27000.

On September 8, 2001, SAM 27000 was decommissioned and flown to California where it was dismantled and driven in pieces to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, where it was rebuilt and is currently on public display.

[edit] Transition to Boeing 747s

Though Ronald Reagan's two terms as President saw no major changes to Air Force One, the fabrication of the current 747s began under his presidency. Most of the interior was completed in Wichita, Kansas.^{[citation needed]} The first aircraft was delivered in 1990, during the administration of George H. W. Bush. Delays were experienced to allow for additional work to protect the aircraft from electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

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 a second attack on New York. President Bush flew on Air Force One to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and then flew to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, before returning to Washington. The next day, officials at the White House and the Justice Department said that Bush did this because there was "specific and credible information that the White House and Air Force One were also intended targets."^[3] (The White House later could not confirm evidence of a threat made against Air Force One, and subsequent investigation found the original claim to be a result of miscommunication.^[4])

[edit] 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 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington (earlier VC-137B SAM 970).

United Airlines has the distinction of being the only commercial airline to have operated Executive One, the designation given to a civilian flight on which the U.S. President is aboard. On December 23, 1973, then-President Richard Nixon flew as a passenger aboard a Washington Dulles to Los Angeles flight. It was explained by his staff that this was done in order to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual Boeing 707 air force aircraft.^[5]

On March 8, 2000, President Clinton flew to Pakistan aboard an unmarked Gulfstream III while another aircraft with the call sign "Air Force One" flew on the same route a few minutes later. This diversion was reported by several US press outlets and is not a secret event. This was presumably done as a diversion in case terrorists attempted to shoot down the aircraft that the President was aboard.

The Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One during the 1980s (SAM 27000) is on display in Simi Valley, California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The Air Force One Pavilion was opened to the public on October 24, 2005.

A 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.

[edit] Analogues in other countries

Main article: Air transports of heads of state

Although other nations use specially designed aircraft to transport their heads of state, no other mode of transportation for government executives is as well-known as Air Force One.

[edit] Popular culture

Main article: Air Force One in popular culture

Air Force One is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power.^[6] With the White House and presidential seal, it is one of the most familiar presidential symbols. Air Force One has often appeared in popular culture and fiction, most notably as the setting of the 1997 action movie Air Force One.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

• Albertazzie, Ralph, and Jerald F. Terhorst. Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One. Book Sales: 1979. ISBN 0-698-10930-9.
• Braun, David. Q&A: U.S. Presidential Jet Air Force One. National Geographic News, May 29, 2003
• Dorr, Robert F. Air Force One. Motorbooks International: 2002. ISBN 0-7603-1055-6.
• Hardesty, Von. Air Force One: The Aircraft that Shaped the Modern Presidency. Northword Press: 2003. ISBN 1-55971-894-3.
• Harris, Tom. How Air Force One Works. HowStuffWorks.com Accessed October 10, 2006.
• Technical Order 00-105E-9, Segment 9, Chapter 7 [1]
• United States Air Force. Air Force One Fact Sheet. July 2003.
• Walsh, Kenneth T. Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes. Hyperion: 2003. ISBN 1-4013-0004-9.

[edit] Newspapers

• Johnson, Haynes, and Witcover, Jules. "LBJ Buried in Beloved Texas Hills." The Washington Post. January 26, 1973.
• Provence, Harry. "Thousands Fill Capitol to Bid Lyndon Farewell." The Waco-Herald Tribune. January 25, 1973.

[edit] External links

• SAM 26000 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force [2]
• Facts and History of 707 as Air Force One and "Where they are Now?" [3]
• [4]

[edit] Photographs and other multimedia

• Truman Library & Museum.^[5]
• United States Air Force.^[6]
• SAM 27000 dismantled and driven to the Reagan Library and Museum[7]

[edit] See also

• VC-137C Air Force One
• Air Force Two
• Air transports of heads of state

United States Presidential Aircraft Callsigns
	Army One		Air Force One		Navy One		Marine One		Coast Guard One		Executive One