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Post by Jim on Feb 1, 2015 7:33:01 GMT 9
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Post by LBer1568 on Feb 1, 2015 11:17:17 GMT 9
This is a very good video of Columbine II. The Air Force Museum has several Air Force One Aircraft on display. hey have Columbine III on display. It was one of two other EC121 which were used as AF One. They also have one of the VC137 (Boeing 707) Air Force One's. The Air Force One fleet has consisted of several similarly configured USAF aircraft of various types. But they only need one of each at Museum. I understand two new 747-8 Air Force One's are being procured to modernize the 2 747 (VC-25) now in service. These are both getting to be high hour air-frames.
I had the opportunity to help develop the wiring and schematic diagrams for the existing 747 AF One aircraft. The airmen of 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland assisted us on project and provided our whole team a private tour of AF One after we completed our project.
I guess it's nice to try to preserve historical Aircraft, but as long as we have a representative og each type it should suffice. There is only so much room at AF Museum. If we tried to display all Historical Aircraft we wouldn't have the money or space to maintain them.
PS, The new addition to AF Museum is progressing nicely. I don't know the scheduled opening, but they have steel frame installed and are adding steel roofing now.
Lorin
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff 
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075 
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF
NBA: Spurs
NFL: Niners
MLB: Giants
NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Feb 1, 2015 12:39:16 GMT 9
Lorin, if the official Air Force Museum only wants one of a type, that is fine, but they might have more than one of some types.
I don't know, as I have never been there.
However, other museums have more than one of a type, some still flying.
As to Air Force One birds, if the AF Museum doesn't want the Connie, why couldn't someone raise the money to move it to the Eisenhower Museum?
The Ronald Reagan Museum in California has an AF One 707, which someone paid for.
I would far rather see tax funds go to refurbish the Connie and put it at the Ike Museum, than have the money go to populate the country with illegals.
Seems to me that every plane that used the designator Air Force One should be on display someplace.
Well, maybe not all, as any plane the president flies in is officially AF One, even a Piper Cub.
I wonder what other airplanes that presidents regularly flew in are sitting in some pile of sand, when they should be on display.
If I had my way, and Bill Gates' money, every Constellation still around would be refurbished and put on display someplace.
It is, in my mind, the most beautiful passenger airplane ever built.
Some years ago the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society of Australia found a Connie at Tucson and spent over a million dollars getting it airworthy, then a select crew flew it to Australia, to be displayed, and flown, with QUANTAS livery as representative of its Connie fleet.
hars.org.au/2009/05/the-connie/
Jim Too
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Post by LBer1568 on Feb 2, 2015 0:15:09 GMT 9
Jim,
Your soft spot for beautiful airplanes is admirable. But if we were talking about fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayers money where would you stand on issue? If other museums have extra money and an interest they would be making offers.
I can't fault you on wanting to see these great aircraft saved for history. When I was first assigned to McGuire in 539th FIS, we sat next to the SAC ramp which featured EC-121 Connies. They had the big antennas built into body. They weren't nearly as beautiful as normal Connies but still looked sweet in air.
Lorin
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Post by Jim on Feb 2, 2015 5:06:49 GMT 9
Jim, Your soft spot for beautiful airplanes is admirable. But if we were talking about fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayers money where would you stand on issue? If other museums have extra money and an interest they would be making offers. I can't fault you on wanting to see these great aircraft saved for history. When I was first assigned to McGuire in 539th FIS, we sat next to the SAC ramp which featured EC-121 Connies. They had the big antennas built into body. They weren't nearly as beautiful as normal Connies but still looked sweet in air. Lorin
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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[12] Also, the C-87 was a derivative of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber, so it presented strong offensive impressions to both enemy fighter aircraft as well as foreign dignitaries being visited, an issue not present with airframes that were used purely for transport. The Guess Where II was then 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.[12]
The Secret Service subsequently reconfigured a Douglas C-54 Skymaster for duty as a presidential transport. This VC-54C aircraft, nicknamed the Sacred Cow, included a sleeping area, radio telephone, and retractable elevator to discreetly lift Roosevelt in his wheelchair. As modified, the VC-54C was used by President Roosevelt only once, on his trip to the Yalta Conference in February 1945.[11]
The VC-118 Independence used primarily by President Truman
After Roosevelt died in spring 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.[11] He replaced the VC-54C in 1947 with a modified C-118 Liftmaster, calling it the Independence (also the name of Truman's hometown in Missouri). 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 a flight the president was on (Air Force 8610). The aircraft accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident the unique call sign "Air Force One" was introduced for the presidential aircraft. 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, stored and decaying since 2003 at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona)[13][14] it is the only primary presidential airplane ever sold to a private person, and it was reported in a 2014 video the plane is currently looking for a museum that is willing to restore and exhibit the plane.[15] 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).[16] 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 also 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.
www.nydailynews.com/news/national/original-air-force-found-decaying-arizona-article-1.1400350 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_IILorin, If this is the original, why wasn't it saved, rather than saving a representative or a follow on..... Financing illegals is waste and a fraud upon American citizens ( not including those born under the 14th amendment- misapplied as it is) |
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Jim Scanlon (deceased)
Senior Staff
FORUM CHAPLAIN
Commander South Texas outpost of the County Sligo Squadron
Currently: Offline
Posts: 5,075
Location:
Joined: July 2007
Retired: USAF
NBA: Spurs
NFL: Niners
MLB: Giants
NHL: Penguins
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Post by Jim Scanlon (deceased) on Feb 2, 2015 6:11:57 GMT 9
Jim, Your soft spot for beautiful airplanes is admirable. But if we were talking about fraud, waste and abuse of taxpayers money where would you stand on issue? If other museums have extra money and an interest they would be making offers. I can't fault you on wanting to see these great aircraft saved for history. When I was first assigned to McGuire in 539th FIS, we sat next to the SAC ramp which featured EC-121 Connies. They had the big antennas built into body. They weren't nearly as beautiful as normal Connies but still looked sweet in air. Lorin
I am definitely against fraud and waste, no matter where it takes place.
If our nation had any semblance of a sense of history, it would restore and display a whole lot more than it does.
If you have ever visited museums in foreign countries, which you probably have, you see lots of history on display, going back hundreds of years.
The British Imperial War Museum system has so much military equipment, much in running order, that they could arm a sizable army and air force with it.
I do agree that many, maybe most, restorations should be done using non-government funds.
In Portland, Oregon, there is a B-17, which sat atop a gas station since shortly after WW2.
It had deteriorated to the point it was looking pretty shabby.
People got together, founded a non-profit organization with the purpose of restoring and displaying the B-17.
It has been removed from the gas station site, no longer a gas station, and is undergoing restoration at present.
It is being done with private funding, by individual and corporate donations.
www.b17alliancegroup.com/
Is the new building at the AF Museum funded in any way by the government, or a combination of government and private funding?
The museums on Air Force bases are operated with private funds, even though the base hosts them.
I think Bullhunter, who ran the McChord Air Museum before he retired can give us lots of information on how that museum, and probably most others are funded.
If the people of our nation had any sense of history, not a single museum, military or not, would be needing to raise funds, but would be well endowed.
England lives its history, and very proudly.
At Dover Castle the "Secret Tunnels", which housed a military command center and hospital during WW2, is open to the public for tours, at a small cost.
In this country, we close those types of installations and bulldoze them to rubble.
I really enjoy going to places that have historical meaning in our country, like the forts along the coasts of California and Oregon, which served from the 19th Century, and look at our past.
But, unfortunately, all-too-often, most of those historic sites are no longer in existence, or are not open to anyone.
Shame on us, our nation and our people, for not caring about the past, and how it impacts our present.
Jim Too
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Post by LBer1568 on Feb 2, 2015 12:26:52 GMT 9
The Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc., was established in 1960 as a philanthropic, non-profit organization to assist the museum when federal funds are not available. Since its inception, the foundation has contributed more than $85.6 million for museum construction, expansion and facility upgrades. Basically the USAF Museum is free to all. The IMAX theater is pay to see. The USAF has about 85-100 Civil Service positions, mostly in inventory control and management. Most of the display buildings are paid for by the Foundation. It is funded by private individuals with big donations to building fund by big business. Many of large AF Contractors donate large sums. www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123372692The Berry Company was a large donor. The were original founders of Yellow Pages in Dayton OH. Loren Berry, the founder was my dad's third cousin. |
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