Please note that our logo is used on our website images only and does not appear on our products.
|
Air Force One by Stan Stokes. (GS)
The jet transport age got underway in earnest in 1954 when the Boeing 707 prototype (Dash 80) made its maiden flight from Renton Field in Seattle. This was the culmination of a multi-year $16 million project, and the maiden flight coincided with the 38th anniversary of the Boeing Company. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney turbojets the swept-winged aircraft was the first in more than 1,000 707 commercial transport aircraft that would be built by Boeing through May 1991. Pan American Airways inaugurated trans-Atlantic jet service, utilizing the Boeing 707, in October of 1958. Some variants of the 707 were introduced, including the 707-320 for long distance intercontinental service, and the 720 series that was lighter and faster and could operate in and out of shorter length runways. The KC/C-135 tanker and transport aircraft were based on the 707. More than 800 of these aircraft were built during a long production run. The 707 became the first jet aircraft utilized for Presidential transport and served in that capacity until 1990 when two 747-200s replaced the 707s. The history of Air Force One dates to 1944 when a C-54 was put into operational service for flying President Franklin Roosevelt. Nicknamed the Sacred Cow, this C-54 was the first Air Force One. Later, Harry Truman would fly in a DC-6 nicknamed Independence. Dwight Eisenhower utilized two prop driven aircraft nicknamed Columbine I and Columbine II. President Kennedy became the first jet age President when his VC-137 (Boeing 707) went into service. It was Kennedys aircraft that popularized the term Air Force One. In 1962, a C-137C, with the tail number 26000 went into service. It is perhaps the best-known and most historically significant presidential aircraft. It carried President Kennedy to Dallas on November 22, 1963, and while returning his body, following the assassination, was the site for the swearing in of Lyndon Johnson as President. This same aircraft flew LBJs body back to Texas for burial following his state funeral in January of 1973. In 1972 President Nixon made historically significant trips to the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China in this aircraft. Tail number 26000 was relegated to a lesser role in the Air Mobility Command and was not fully retired from service until 1998. She is on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Ohio. In Stan Stokes dramatic painting Air Force One makes a low altitude pass over Mt. Rushmore.
VIEW ALL STAN STOKES AVIATION ART
VIEW ALL BOEING 707 AIRCRAFT ART
|
