If you\u2019ve read this blog over the years, you may remember that a few years back Chris asked a couple of questions about Air Force One \u2014 the President\u2019s airplane. I think one of the questions concerned the American Flag painted on the tail fin\u2026 you can check the archives if you\u2019re interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I ran across those entries a few days ago while I was looking for something else and decided that the first<\/em> Air Force One might be a good topic for today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presidents before Dwight D. Eisenhower didn\u2019t have their own airplane \u2014 most of them rarely traveled by air. The first Air Force One wasn\u2019t a jet, and it wasn\u2019t even called Air Force One. The airplane was built by Lockheed and was referred to simply as a Lockheed Constellation (technically, it was a Lockheed VC-121 Constellation, but the number nomenclature was rarely used to distinguish its type as many airplane models do today.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lockheed Constellation was one of the nicest looking and most popular of the airliners built in the 1950s. What turned out to be the President\u2019s plane rolled off the assembly line in Burbank, California on December 22, 1948 \u2014 it was purchased by the Air Force. Eisenhower used the aircraft for a trip to Korea shortly after he was elected president in November 1952. Shortly after that trip, the airplane was converted into a VIP transport for him. The outfitting of the airplane was a far cry from the current Air Force One. Instead of all the secure communications capability available today, the Air Force installed a mahogany desk that featured buttons to activate a phone that could connect to landlines at airport terminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Constellation wasn\u2019t large enough to hold the president\u2019s entire staff (plus the press.) The cabin had only 16 seats. The crew was also much larger than today\u2019s crews and consisted of a radio operator, flight engineer, and navigator\u2026 plus the pilot and co-pilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mentioned that the first presidential plane wasn\u2019t called Air Force One \u2014 it was named Columbine II. I think the name was chosen by Eisenhower \u2014 the Columbine is the state flower of Colorado and Eisenhower\u2019s wife (Mamie) was from Colorado, so that may have been the reason for the name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only was Columbine II the first \u201cAir Force One,\u201d it was the only Air Force One to serve only one<\/em> president. In November, 1954, President Eisenhower upgrade to a newer model \u2014 Lockheed\u2019s Super Constellation. The original Columbine II was transferred to Pan American World Airways for two years before being returned to the Air Force. It served the military until 1968 when it was put into storage at Davis-Monthan Airforce Base in Arizona. It was auctioned to a private owner in 1970. In 2003, the airplane was sent to a boneyard at the Marana Regional Airport near Tucson. If you\u2019ve read this blog over the years, you may remember that a few years back Chris asked a couple of questions about Air Force One \u2014 the President\u2019s airplane. I think one of the questions concerned the American Flag … Continue reading
The airplane was recently purchased by a private firm that plans to restore it\u2026.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"