Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term describes those Air Force aircraft designed, built, and used to transport the president. The presidential aircraft is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power.
The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943, when officials of the United States Army Air Forces, the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force, became concerned over the reliance on commercial airlines to transport the president. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport, but the Secret Service rejected it because of its safety record. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; this aircraft, dubbed the Sacred Cow, carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.
The "Air Force One" call sign was created after a 1953 incident during which a Lockheed Constellation named Columbine II, carrying President Dwight D. Eisenhower, entered the same airspace as a commercial airline flight using the same call sign.
A number of aircraft types have been used as Air Force One since the creation of the presidential fleet, starting with two Lockheed Constellations in the late 1950s: Columbine II and Columbine III. It also has included two Boeing 707s, introduced in the 1960s and 1970s; since 1990, the presidential fleet has comprised two Boeing VC-25As, which are specifically configured, highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft. The Air Force plans to procure the Boeing 747-8 for the next version of Air Force One.
History
Theodore Roosevelt and pilot Arch Hoxsey before their flight, St. Louis October 11, 1910.
On 11 October 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in an aircraft, an early Wright Flyer from Kinloch Field near St. Louis, Missouri. However, he was no longer in office at the time, having been succeeded by William Howard Taft. The record-making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a county fair but was nonetheless the beginning of presidential air travel.
Prior to World War II, overseas and cross-country presidential travel was rare. The lack of wireless telecommunication and available modes of transportation made long-distance travel impractical, as it took much time and isolated the president from events in Washington, D.C. Railroads were a safer and more reliable option if the president needed to travel to distant states. By the late 1930s, with the arrival of aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3, increasing numbers of the U.S. public saw passenger air travel as a reasonable mode of transportation. All-metal aircraft, more reliable engines, and new radio aids to navigation had made commercial airline travel safer and more convenient. Life insurance companies even began to offer airline pilots insurance policies, albeit at extravagant rates, and many commercial travelers and government officials began using the airlines in preference to rail travel, especially for longer trips.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office. The first aircraft obtained specifically for presidential travel was a Douglas Dolphin amphibian delivered in 1933 which was designated RD-2 by the US Navy and based at the Naval base at Anacostia D.C. The Dolphin was modified with luxury upholstery for four passengers and a small separate sleeping compartment. The aircraft remained in service as a presidential transport from 1933 until 1939. There are no reports, however, on whether the president actually flew in the aircraft. During World War II, Roosevelt traveled on the Dixie Clipper, a Pan Am-crewed Boeing 314 flying boat to the 1943 Casablanca Conference in Morocco, a flight that covered 5,500 miles (8,890 km) in three legs. The threat from the German submarines throughout the Battle of the Atlantic made air travel the preferred method of VIP transatlantic transportation.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's C-54 Skymaster aircraft, nicknamed "the Sacred Cow"
Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president, USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of a military aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander-in-Chief. The first dedicated aircraft proposed for presidential use was a C-87A VIP transport aircraft. This aircraft, number 41-24159, was re-modified in 1943 for use as a presidential VIP transport, the Guess Where II, intended to carry President Franklin D. Roosevelt on international trips.Had it been accepted, it would have been the first aircraft to be used in presidential service, in effect the first Air Force One. However, after a review of the C-87's highly controversial safety record in service, the Secret Service flatly refused to approve the Guess Where II for presidential carriage. As the C-87 was a derivative of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber, it presented strong offensive impressions to enemy fighter aircraft as well as foreign destinations visited, an issue not present with airframes that were used purely for transport. The Guess Where II was used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration on various trips. In March 1944, it transported Eleanor Roosevelt on a goodwill tour of several Latin American countries. The C-87 was scrapped in 1945.
The Secret Service subsequently reconfigured a Douglas C-54 Skymaster for presidential transport duty. The VC-54C aircraft, nicknamed the Sacred Cow, included a sleeping area, radio telephone, and retractable elevator to lift Roosevelt in his wheelchair. As modified, the VC-54C was used by President Roosevelt only once before his death, on his trip to the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
The VC-118 Independence used primarily by President Truman.
After Roosevelt's death in April 1945, Vice President Harry S. Truman became president. The legislation that created the U.S. Air Force, the National Security Act of 1947, was signed by Truman while on board the VC-54C. He replaced the VC-54C in 1947 with a modified C-118 Liftmaster, calling it the Independence (the name of Truman's Missouri hometown). This was the first aircraft acting as Air Force One that had a distinctive exterior—a bald eagle head painted on its nose.
The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an Eastern Airlines commercial flight (8610) had the same call sign as the flight the president was on (Air Force 8610). The airliner accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident, the unique presidential aircraft call sign "Air Force One" was introduced. The first official flight of Air Force One was in 1959, during the Eisenhower administration.
The VC-121 Columbine III used by President Eisenhower
Eisenhower introduced four propeller driven aircraft to presidential service. This group included two Lockheed C-121 Constellations, the aircraft Columbine II (VC-121A 48-610, currently undergoing restoration after being stored at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona) the only primary presidential airplane ever sold—and Columbine III (VC-121E 53-7885, transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1966 and placed on display). They were named by First Lady Mamie Eisenhower after the columbine, the official state flower of her adopted home state of Colorado. Two Aero Commanders were added to the fleet and earned the distinction of being the smallest aircraft ever to serve as Air Force One. President Eisenhower also upgraded Air Force One's technology by adding an air-to-ground telephone and an air-to-ground teletype machine.
Boeing 707s and entry to jet age
Boeing 707 SAM 26000 served Presidents Kennedy to Clinton, and was the primary transport from Kennedy to Nixon.
Toward the end of Eisenhower's term in 1958, the Air Force added three Boeing 707 jets (as VC-137s designated SAM 970, 971, and 972), into the fleet. Eisenhower became the first president to use the VC-137 during his "Flight to Peace" Goodwill tour, from 3 December through 22 December 1959. He visited 11 Asian nations, flying 22,000 miles (35,000 km) in 19 days, about twice as fast as he could have covered that distance via one of the Columbines.
Under John F. Kennedy, presidential air travel entered the jet age. He had used the Eisenhower-era jets for trips to Canada, France, Austria, and the United Kingdom. Then in October 1962, the U.S. Air Force purchased a Boeing C-137 Stratoliner, a modified long-range Boeing 707—Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000.
The Air Force had designed a special presidential livery in red and metallic gold, with the nation's name in block letters. Kennedy felt the aircraft appeared too regal, and, on advice from his wife, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, he contacted the French-born American industrial designer Raymond Loewy for help in designing a new livery and interiors for the VC-137 jet. Loewy met with the president, and his earliest research on the project took him to the National Archives, where he looked at the first printed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence; he saw the country's name set widely spaced and in upper case in Caslon typeface. He chose to expose the polished aluminum fuselage on the bottom side and used two blues – slate-blue associated with the early republic and the presidency and a more contemporary cyan to represent the present and future. The presidential seal was added to both sides of the fuselage near the nose, a large American flag was painted on the tail, and the sides of the aircraft read "United States of America" in all capital letters. Loewy's work won immediate praise from the president and the press. The VC-137 markings were adapted for the larger VC-25 when it entered service in 1990.
SAM 26000 was in service from 1962 to 1998, serving Presidents Kennedy to Clinton. On 22 November 1963, SAM 26000 carried President Kennedy to Dallas, Texas, where it served as the backdrop as the Kennedys greeted well-wishers at Dallas's Love Field. Later that afternoon, Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson assumed the office of President and took the oath of office aboard SAM 26000. At Johnson's request, the plane carried Kennedy's body back to Washington. A decade later, SAM 26000 took Johnson's body home to Texas after his state funeral in Washington.
Johnson used SAM 26000 to travel extensively domestically and to visit troops in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. SAM 26000 served President Nixon on several groundbreaking overseas voyages, including his famous visit to the People's Republic of China in February 1972 and trip to the Soviet Union later that year, both firsts for an American president. Nixon dubbed the plane the "Spirit of '76" in honor of the forthcoming bicentennial of the United States; that logo was painted on both sides of the plane's nose.
SAM 27000
Boeing 707 SAM 27000 served Presidents Nixon to George H. W. Bush; it was the primary transport for Nixon to Reagan.
SAM 26000 was replaced in December 1972 by another VC-137, Special Air Mission 27000, although SAM 26000 was kept as a backup until it was finally retired in 1998. SAM 26000 is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Richard Nixon was the first president to use SAM 27000; the newer aircraft served every president until it was replaced by two VC-25 aircraft (SAM 28000 and 29000) in 1990.
After announcing his intention to resign the presidency, Nixon boarded SAM 27000 (with call sign "Air Force One") to travel to California. Colonel Ralph Albertazzie, then pilot of Air Force One, recounted that after Gerald Ford was sworn in as president, the plane had to be redesignated as SAM 27000, indicating no president was on board the aircraft. Over Jefferson City, Missouri, Albertazzie radioed: "'Kansas City, this was Air Force One. Will you change our call sign to Sierra Alpha Mike (SAM) 27000?' Back came the reply: 'Roger, Sierra Alpha Mike 27000. Good luck to the President.
SAM 27000's last flight as Air Force One, was on 29 August 2001 when it flew President George W. Bush from San Antonio to Waco, Texas. Following the flight, it was formally decommissioned, then flown to San Bernardino International Airport (former Norton AFB) in California. It was dismantled and taken to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where it was reassembled and is on permanent display.
Boeing 747s
SAM 28000 sits on the tarmac as Air Force One (in the background) descends on final approach into Hickam Field in Honolulu, Hawaii with President George W. Bush aboard.
Though Ronald Reagan's two terms as president saw no major changes to Air Force One, the manufacture of the presidential aircraft version of the 747 began during his presidency. The USAF issued a Request For Proposal in 1985 for two wide-body aircraft with a minimum of three engines and an unrefueled range of 6,000 miles (9,700 km). Boeing with the 747 and McDonnell Douglas with the DC-10 submitted proposals, and the Reagan Administration ordered two identical 747s to replace the aging 707s he used. The interior designs, drawn up by First Lady Nancy Reagan, were reminiscent of the American Southwest. The first of two aircraft, designated VC-25A, was delivered in 1990, during the administration of George H. W. Bush. Delays were experienced to allow for additional work to protect the aircraft from electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects.
The VC-25 is equipped with both secure and unsecure phone and computer communications systems, enabling the president to perform duties while airborne, in the event of an attack on the United States.
The presidential air fleet is operated by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Field, Maryland.
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush walk on the parking ramp as Air Force One sits at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, 1 March 2006.
The Air Force usually does not have fighter aircraft escort the presidential aircraft over the United States, but it has occurred. In June 1974, while President Nixon was on his way to a scheduled stop in Syria, Syrian fighter jets intercepted Air Force One to act as escorts. However, the Air Force One crew was not informed in advance and, as a result, took evasive action including a dive.
Future replacement
The VC-25As are expected to be replaced, as they have become less cost-effective to operate. On 28 January 2015, the Air Force announced that the Boeing 747-8 will serve as the next presidential aircraft. On 6 December 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his opposition to the Air Force One replacement due to its high cost of "more than $4 billion". The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated the total cost at $3.2 billion, and U.S. Air Force's projected budget is nearly $4 billion. In December 2016, Boeing was on contract for preliminary development worth $170 million.
Other presidential aircraft
Air Force One, the presidential state car, and Secret Service Agents
A Boeing C-32 (Boeing 757) serving as Air Force Two During the Johnson Administration, the United States Air Force acquired a Beechcraft King Air B90 which was designated VC-6A. The aircraft was used to transport President Johnson between Bergstrom Air Force Base and his family ranch near Johnson City, Texas, and was used at least once to transport the President to Princeton, New Jersey. It was referred to as Lady Bird's airplane and later in its service life featured a basic color scheme similar to civilian aircraft. When the President was aboard, the aircraft used the call sign Air Force One.
United Airlines is the only commercial airline to have operated Executive One, the call sign given to a civilian flight on which the U.S. President is aboard. On 26 December 1973, President Richard Nixon and his family flew as commercial passengers on an United DC-10 from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles International Airport. His staff explained that this was done to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual Boeing 707 Air Force aircraft.
The President regularly flies in helicopters (call sign Marine One) operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.
In November 1999, President Bill Clinton flew from Ankara, Turkey, to Cengiz Topel Naval Air Station outside Izmit, Turkey, aboard a marked C-20C (Gulfstream III) using the call sign "Air Force One", escorted by three F-16s.
On 8 March 2000, President Clinton flew to Pakistan aboard an unmarked Gulfstream III while another aircraft with the call sign "Air Force One" flew on the same route a few minutes later. This diversion was reported by several U.S. press outlets.
On 1 May 2003, President George W. Bush flew in the co-pilot seat of a Sea Control Squadron Thirty-Five (VS-35) S-3B Viking from Naval Air Station North Island, California to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast, where Bush delivered his "Mission Accomplished" speech. During the flight, the aircraft used the call sign of "Navy One" for the first time. This aircraft is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
In May 2009, President Barack Obama took the first lady on a date to New York City in a Gulfstream C-37B.
On 16 July 2010, the First Family flew to Maine for vacation in a USAF Gulfstream III.
When required by circumstances, the President makes domestic flights using a Boeing C-32, sometimes to allow access to smaller airports that cannot support the larger VC-25.
Notable appearances in media
Air Force One is shown as being equipped with a one-person escape pod and parachutes for emergency use by the President of the United States in at least five films, Escape from New York, Air Force One, "White House Down", Bermuda Tentacles and Big Game. However, the actual Air Force One does not have an escape pod and parachutes.
Has laoreet percipitur ad. Vide interesset in mei, no his legimus verterem. Et nostrum imperdiet appellantur usu, mnesarchum referrentur id vim.
0 comments:
Post a Comment