Bet You Don’t Know All These Things About Presidential Air Travel

The SAM That Got Stuck In the Mud

After serving Kennedy, Johnson, and Richard M Nixon (37^th President- 1969-1974) SAM 26000 was replaced by SAM 27000 (another VC-137C) but still earned its keep. During Janaury of 1988, SAM 27000 carrying President William Clinton (42^nd President- 1993-2001) got stuck in the mud at the University of Illinois’ Willard Airport at Champaign. Backup aircraft venerable SAM 26000 flew from Grissom Air Force Base (AFB) near Peru in Indiana to Champaign and provided transport for the POTUS from then on until retirement in Washington a few days later.

The Most Accomplished Presidential Pilot/The Only President Shot Down in Combat

President George H.W. Bush (41^st President- 1989-1993) was undoubtedly the most accomplished Presidential pilot, though he earned this accolade much earlier in life. Bush was not yet 19 years of age when he received his Navy Wings of Gold after learning to land aboard a carrier on the Great Lakes paddle-wheeler USS Sable (IX-81). He went on to pilot TBM Avenger torpedo bombers from the light aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30). Assigned to Torpedo Squadron FIVE ONE (VT-51) of Air Group 51, Bush flew a total of 58 combat missions, was shot down and rescued once, and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals, and the Presidential Unit Citation during his service in the Pacific during World War II.

The First Presidential Helicopter Flight

On July 12^th 1957 President Eisenhower flew from Washington to the Presidential Retreat at Camp David in Maryland aboard a Bell H-13 Sioux (military Bell 47) helicopter. Thus began the regular use of helicopters by American Presidents. Sikorsky VH-34 and later VH-3D began operating from the South Lawn at the White House in 1957. The augmented Marine Helicopter Squadron ONE (HMX-1) has also operated Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight, Sikorsky VH-60N Seahawk, and CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters as well as Boeing MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft in support of POTUS and the US Government.

Flying the Decoy/Backup Can’t Be as Much Fun

While it’s common to see shots of the green and white Marine Corps Air Facility (MARF) Quantico-based HMX-1 helicopters sitting on the South Lawn or landing near what will soon become Air Force One, it’s unusual to see more than one of them at a time. That’s not because a second and sometimes even a third identical helicopter (a decoy) isn’t part of the protocol though. Whenever the President is aboard Marine One in flight, at least one decoy/backup rotorcraft is nearby just in case.

Riding Herd on Air Force One on 9/11

When President George W Bush (43^rd President- 2001-2009) was informed about the horrific events unfolding in New York on the morning of September 11^th 2001, he was in Sarasota, Florida. Once POTUS was in the air, Air Force One (SN 29000) headed out over the Gulf of Mexico at high altitude to gain separation from other air traffic. Though many Air Force fighter assets were scrambled that terrible day, the first to join on and escort Air Force One were four General Dynamics F-16C Vipers from the 111^th Fighter Squadron (FS) Ace in the Hole of the 147^th Fighter Wing (FW), Texas Air National Guard based at Ellington Joint Reserve Base (JRB) southeast of Houston- W’s former Texas ANG squadron. The 111^th FS F-16Cs escorted Air Force One first to Barksdale AFB and then Offutt AFB, and finally on to Washington.

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