“If historical past itself had wings, it will most likely be this plane,” Vice President Al Gore mentioned of the SAM 26000 Air Drive One airplane upon its retirement in 1998.
The primary Air Drive jet designed and constructed particularly for US presidents, SAM 26000 (pronounced two six thousand) carried eight presidents between 1962 and 1998 — each chief from John F. Kennedy to Invoice Clinton.
After 13,000 flying hours over 36 years of service, the airplane was retired to the Nationwide Museum of the US Air Drive in Dayton, Ohio, the place it stays on show.
I visited the museum in August and walked by way of the historic plane. Have a look inside.
The SAM 26000 Air Drive One jet, a Boeing VC-137C, was accomplished in 1962 for President John F. Kennedy.
US Air Drive photograph by Ken LaRock
The Boeing VC-137C was a custom-made and modified model of a civilian 707-320B airliner. It was powered by 4 Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines, every with 18,000 kilos of thrust.
First woman Jacqueline Kennedy selected the airplane’s blue and white paint colours in coordination with industrial designer Raymond Loewy.
US Air Drive photograph by Jim Copes
The primary woman additionally added the phrases “United States of America” to the plane to sign its significance because the president’s airplane.
In a tragic interval of American historical past, SAM 26000 transported President John F. Kennedy’s physique dwelling after his assassination in 1963.
Schulman-Sachs/image alliance through Getty Photographs
President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president aboard the airplane hours after Kennedy was pronounced useless.
Now an interactive museum artifact, guests can board the airplane the identical approach US presidents did through a staircase main into the cabin.
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Admission to the Nationwide Museum of the US Air Drive is free.
SAM 26000 is positioned within the museum’s William E. Boeing Presidential Gallery, which incorporates different presidential planes such because the Douglas VC-54C, the primary presidential plane, which was often known as the “Sacred Cow.”
The primary cease on my self-guided tour was the cockpit, which featured a four-person crew.
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The crew consisted of a pilot, copilot, navigator, and flight engineer. The navigator and flight engineer roles have been ultimately changed by GPS and computerized know-how on later Air Drive One planes.
Two telephones have been positioned behind the flight deck.
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A plaque above the telephones learn, “This phone is topic to monitoring always. Use of this phone constitutes consent to monitoring.”
An tools cupboard space featured a primary assist equipment and firearms.
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The closet additionally had a rack to hold fits and coats.
Subsequent, I walked by the airplane’s communication facility.
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The safe communication middle allowed presidents to position calls wherever on the earth whereas in flight.
Meals have been ready within the galley.
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The galley included a stovetop, oven, and sink.
This seating space was utilized by presidential employees, members of the press, and Secret Service brokers.
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The plane might maintain as much as 40 passengers.
The seating space, like many areas of the airplane, is now protected by plastic barricades.
I observed fox decals above the seats, which a museum volunteer advised me was a nod to the 89th Airlift Wing, which operates Air Drive One.
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Stationed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the 89th Airlift Wing is tasked with flying the president and high-ranking authorities officers. The group can also be known as “SAM FOX,” which stands for “Particular Air Missions International.”
The presidential stateroom was positioned down an extended hallway.
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The benches within the hallway have been hole to supply extra storage.
The president’s spacious quarters featured a desk, sofa, tv, and personal lavatory.
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In 1969, Nixon redesigned Air Drive One and moved the presidential quarters over the wings, which was the quietest and smoothest a part of the airplane throughout flight.
The stateroom got here with two telephones, every with totally different functions.
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Presidents used the white cellphone to speak with crew members and different passengers on the airplane, whereas the beige cellphone could possibly be used to name wherever on the earth.
Behind the presidential stateroom, a convention room offered extra assembly area.
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The room was furnished with throne chairs, a folding desk, and one other TV.
Extra convention areas offered extra seating for employees, Secret Service members, and VIPs.
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Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter sat right here whereas flying to attend Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat’s funeral in 1981.
An workplace space throughout the aisle featured an electrical typewriter, scanner, and extra telephones.
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Presidents used the electrical typewriter to put in writing and edit speeches whereas on board the airplane.
The wall of the workplace area was embellished with a map of the US.
President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president on this space of Air Drive One’s cabin after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.
Common Historical past Archive/Getty Photographs
Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, whereas visiting Dallas. He was pronounced useless at Parkland Memorial Hospital at 1 p.m., and Johnson took the oath of workplace at 2:38 p.m.
Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink go well with was nonetheless smeared with blood when Federal Choose Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath of workplace on Air Drive One. Johnson’s spouse, Woman Fowl Johnson, stood to his proper.
Standing within the very spot the place Johnson was sworn in after Kennedy’s assassination was awe-inspiring.
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Even blocked off by plastic barricades, the airplane’s cabin preserves a pivotal second in US historical past.
These 4 seats towards the again of the airplane have been eliminated to make room for Kennedy’s coffin on the flight from Dallas again to Washington, DC, in 1963.
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The Secret Service needed to break the handles off the casket to make it match by way of the airplane door.
Air Drive safety personnel operated out of this space in the back of the plane to safe the airplane whereas it was on the bottom.
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The seating space featured six seats, a cellphone, and a folding desk.
My tour ended in the back of the airplane with a view of its name signal on the tail and an American flag.
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In response to US Flag Code, an American flag decal should all the time be positioned in order that the celebrities face ahead.
Air Drive One stays an immediately recognizable image of US would possibly, making my walkthrough tour a memorable expertise.
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Like many modes of presidential transportation, such because the bulletproof limousine often known as “The Beast” and the Marine One helicopter, Air Drive One is about greater than merely getting the president from level A to level B. It symbolizes the facility of the US and its elected chief wherever it goes.
The picture projected by presidential planes stays of nice curiosity to President Donald Trump, who opted to just accept an opulent Boeing 747-8 jet from the Qatari royal household as an alternative of ready for Boeing to ship its long-delayed new Air Drive One jets.
