VC-137C SAM 26000
SAM 26000 was the first of two Boeing VC-137C United States Air Force aircraft specifically made and maintained for use by the President of the United States. It used the callsign Air Force One when the President was on board.
It entered service in 1962 during the administration of John F. Kennedy and was replaced in Presidential service in 1972 but kept as a backup. The aircraft was finally retired in 1998 and is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.
The aircraft was built at Boeing's Renton plant at a cost of $8 million.[1] Raymond Loewy, working with President Kennedy, designed the blue and white color scheme showing the presidential seal that is still used today.[2]
The plane was the main use of transportation for three presidents: Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon during his first term. In 1972, during the Nixon administration, the plane was replaced by another 707, SAM 27000, although SAM 26000 was kept as a back-up plane until 1998.
VC-137C SAM 26000 Media
The most famous photo ever taken aboard a presidential aircraft was taken aboard SAM 26000. Hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson is sworn in just before take off for Washington.
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon disembark SAM 26000 after landing in the People's Republic of China, 1972
The cockpit of the aircraft
SAM 26000 at the USAF Museum, June, 2003.
References
- ↑ terHorst & Albertazzie 1979, p. 200
- ↑ Loewy, Raymond (1979). Industrial Design. The Overlook Press. ISBN 978-1585679850.
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