I’ll Take Air Force One History For $500 Alex!
In honor of Air Force One, we proudly present the facts, figures, and little-known but pertinent minutiae of Presidential air travel. Enjoy the show!
The First President to Fly
The first president to fly did so after he left office. On October 11th 1910 Theodore Roosevelt (26th President- 1901-1909) went for a four minute flight aboard a Wright Flyer with Wright Brothers employee Archibald Hoxsey at Kinloch Aviation Field near St. Louis in Missouri. Just three days later the former President of the United States (POTUS) was shot in Milwaukee but survived in part because the bullet was slowed by the steel eyeglass case and a thick folded up speech Teddy had in his chest pocket.
The First Licensed Pilot President
Dwight D Eisenhower (34th President- 1953-1961) was the first President to hold a private pilot’s license, though he did not fly privately as POTUS. Eisenhower, who is perhaps better known for his contributions as General of the Army and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, learned to fly and soloed for the first time while he was stationed in the Philippines during 1937. He received his license at Fort Lewis near Tacoma in Washington during 1939. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower did not share Ike’s enthusiasm for flight.
The First Sitting President in the Air
The first president to fly while in office was also a Roosevelt- Teddy’s distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt (32nd President- 1933-1945) flew from Miami in Florida to Casablanca in Morocco to meet with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1943. The Boeing Pan American Clipper Dixie Clipper flying boat took three legs and three days to carry FDR across the Atlantic Ocean to his meeting in Morocco. During the journey the POTUS traveled under the alias “Mr. Jones.”
The First Presidential Aircraft
A Douglas RD-2 Dolphin amphibian was the very first aircraft to be designated as a transport for the President. Although so designated between 1933 and 1939 for FDR, he never flew in it. Then during 1943 at the direction of General “Hap” Arnold the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) modified a Consolidated C-87A Liberator Express (the cargo version of the same company’s B-24 Liberator heavy bomber) for use by FDR. The special C-87A was dubbed Guess Where II. Ironically although First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt used the aircraft, FDR never did fly in his C-87A either, but…
First Presidential Aircraft Actually Used by a President
Instead, the first purpose-built aircraft on which FDR flew was a Douglas VC-54C Skymaster (specially modified Douglas C-54A Skymaster transport) named Sacred Cow. The Sacred Cow had the fuselage of a C-54A but the wings of a C-54B, offering greater fuel capacity. Other modifications to the Sacred Cow included an elevator to allow the POTUS to board the aircraft in his wheelchair, a conference room, private lavatory, hide-away bed, and later a refrigerator in the galley. President Harry S Truman (33rd President- 1945-1953) also traveled on the Sacred Cow– even signing the National Security Act of 1947 aboard the aircraft, thereby giving birth to the United States Air Force (USAF)
The First Modified Jet-Powered Presidential Aircraft
The first jet used to transport the President of the United States was VC-137A Special Air Mission (SAM) 970 which began flying President Eisenhower in 1959. Customized jet-powered aircraft took over the full-time job of transporting the POTUS in 1962 when the Boeing VC-137C SAM 26000 (USAF serial 62-6000- a modified Boeing 707 airliner) entered service. President John F Kennedy (35th President- 1961-1963) used the aircraft for the first time on November 10th 1962 when he flew to New York to attend the funeral of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Before SAM 26000 departed Dallas that awful day in 1963, President Lyndon B Johnson (36th President- 1963-1969) became the only POTUS ever to be sworn in to office aboard an aircraft.
