Air Force One: The World’s Most Recognizable Plane

With the recent death and funeral of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, many saw again what has come to be a flying symbol of the presidency-a Boeing 747 jet known commonly as "Air Force One." In recalling this jet and the circumstances of its most recent appearance, I thought I'd take this opportunity to highlight the history of air travel for American presidents.

"Air Force One" is the designation given to any fixed-wing aircraft the president happens to be on. Usually it is one of two 747's, but I believe when President George W. Bush flew aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln a year ago that fighter was then known as "Air Force One." Sometimes the Vice-President is the featured passenger, at which time it is called "Air Force Two." If neither the president nor the vice-president is on board, it then is known by its SAM (Special Air Missions) number. On 9 August 1974, shortly after Secretary of State Henry Kissinger read President Nixon's formal letter of resignation, air traffic control in Kansas received the following message: "Kansas City this is former Air Force One, please change our call sign to SAM26000." Mr. Nixon, the passenger, was no longer president and the aircraft in mid-flight ceased being "Air Force One." No doubt when the jet carried Mr. Reagan's body and entourage it also eschewed the "Air Force One" moniker for the SAM number.

Air Force One aircraft are flown by the Presidential Airlift Group and are assigned to Air Mobility Command's 89th Airlift Wing based at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

It was in 1944 that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for the creation of the Presidential Pilot Office. This agency was to provide air transportation to the President and his staff. Until 1962 the craft provided were various four-engine propeller-driven aircraft. In 1962 the first jet, a Boeing 707, was purchased for use by our nation's chief executive.

Presidential air transport began in 1944 when a Boeing C-54, dubbed the "Sacred Cow," was put into service for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Modifications needed to be made for President Roosevelt's wheelchair. This plane was used to fly Roosevelt to Yalta-the first time since President Theodore Roosevelt sailed to Panama that the sitting president of the United States left the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Harry S Truman

Truman flew a plane dubbed the "Independence," in honor of his home town of Independence, Missouri. This plane was a DC-6 (Liftmaster). It served the presidency from 1947 to 1953. It was painted with feathers, a far cry from the decorum of today's presidential craft.

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