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Museum to repaint former Air Force One

The former Air Force One, a Boeing VC-137C, is on display at United States Air Force Presidential Hangar at the Air Force Museum.

File photo by Wally Nelson The former Air Force One, a Boeing VC-137C, is on display at United States Air Force Presidential Hangar at the Air Force Museum.

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The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, custodian of the former Air Force One, plans to take the plane off display on Dec. 5 to restore it to the colors and markings it bore when it was the primary presidential transport.

Submitted photo by Wally Nelson The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, custodian of the former Air Force One, plans to take the plane off display on Dec. 5 to restore it to the colors and markings it bore when it was the primary presidential transport.

Staff Report Updated 2:33 PM Tuesday, September 22, 2009

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Boeing aircraft that carried U.S. presidents from John Kennedy to Richard Nixon as Air Force One — and later transported government officials and ex-presidents — will be getting a new paint job.

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, custodian of the Boeing VC-137C aircraft, plans to take the plane off display on Dec. 5 to restore it to the colors and markings it bore when it was the primary presidential transport. At that time, it was painted in blue and white, with “United States of America” emblazoned on the fuselage and an American flag painted on the tail.

Built in 1962, it was the first plane made specifically for use by the nation’s president.

The repainting is expected to take several months in the museum’s aircraft restoration area, the museum’s administration announced on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Museum officials hope to return the aircraft to display in the Presidential Gallery by mid-February 2010, in time for Presidents’ Day.

Visitors won’t be able to tour the aircraft’s interior during that time, but can see the plane from the outside during the museum’s weekly behind-the-scenes tours.

Along with its president-carrying designation as Air Force One, the Boeing VC-137C aircraft was known as SAM26000, for Special Air Mission, tail number 26000.

It carried President Kennedy to Dallas in November 1963, then returned to Washington with his body on board after he was assassinated on Nov. 22. Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in during that flight as the new president.

Other career highlights for the plane:

Nixon’s national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, used it beginning in 1970 to fly to Paris for secret meetings with North Vietnamese officials.
In February 1972, the plane carried Nixon to China, for the first visit by an American president to that country.
In December 1972, SAM26000 became a backup as a newer Boeing 707, aircraft 27000, became the primary presidential aircraft.
In October 1981, the aircraft carried former presidents Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter to the funeral of slain Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. The plane was taken out of the presidential fleet in 1990, but it was still used to fly high-ranking U.S. government officials.
In May 1998, the Air Force retired SAM26000 at the museum. The plane was in service 36 years and accumulated more than 13,000 flying hours.

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