Air Force One enters the jet age

Eisenhower’s first personal transport, starting in 1953, was a customized C-121, the military version of the Lockheed Constellation airliner. Designated VC-121E, it was christened the Columbine II—the columbine being the official flower of Colorado, the adopted home state of Mamie Eisenhower. (The Columbine I had been Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal transport when he was in the army.) According to popular lore, the call sign Air Force One was first invoked by the pilot of the Columbine II during a flight to Florida, when he was concerned that air traffic controllers might confuse the presidential plane’s call sign, Air Force 610, with a similar call sign of a nearby commercial airliner. Columbine II was replaced as the primary presidential plane in 1954 by Columbine III, a modified Super Constellation that was longer, faster, and more comfortable than its predecessor. Columbine III was the last piston-engined plane to be used as primary air transport by a president. It was eventually retired from the Air Force in 1966 and can be seen at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Eisenhower era saw Air Force One brought into the jet age. In August 1959 Eisenhower first flew aboard VC-137A, a Boeing 707 Stratoliner nicknamed “Queenie” that had been part of the administration’s air fleet. Queenie contained a special telecommunications section, forward and aft passenger compartments (a total of 40 passengers could be accommodated), a conference area, and a stateroom. The speed, range, comfort, and elegance of this jet made it ideal for the leader of a world power. In December 1959 it transported Eisenhower on an unpredecented three-week goodwill trip to 11 countries in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Replaced as the primary presidential airplane in 1962, it remained in the presidential fleet until retirement in 1996. It is now part of the collection of the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

A new look under Kennedy

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In 1962, during the administration of John F. Kennedy, the first jet specifically built for presidential use was delivered—another Boeing 707, given the tail number 26000 and the official designation VC-137C but known universally as Air Force One. This jet was destined to become a symbol of the power and prestige of the U.S. presidency and to create in the public imagination the very idea of Air Force One. Industrial designer Raymond Loewy contributed a distinctive blue-and-white colour scheme to the exterior as well as a logo that featured the title “United States of America” on the fuselage, the U.S. flag on the tail, and the presidential seal on both sides of the nose. This design has been carried over to all subsequent Air Force One planes. In June 1963 the new jet carried Kennedy to a divided Berlin, where he issued his famous declaration “Ich bin ein Berliner,” and in November 1963 it transported the assassinated president back to Washington from Dallas.

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Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president on the plane, and it continued to serve as the primary or backup Air Force One during the administrations of Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. In 1972 the plane was joined by a sister aircraft, given the tail number 27000; this was the plane that flew Nixon back to private life in California upon his sudden resignation in August 1974. Both planes went through several refittings before being replaced for duty as Air Force One in 1990–91 by the current pair of 747s. Aircraft 26000 was retired from the presidential fleet in 1998 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it is on display, and 27000 was retired in 2001 and is now on display at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California.