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Before the shiny 747s that now carry the American president across the ocean, there were smaller, more sophisticated jets carrying the weight of the free world on their backs.
The last Boeing 707 to serve as the primary Air Force One — airplane that used to fly President Ronald Reagan and six other American presidents currently sit under an impressive glass pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
“This is the last 707 to serve as a workhorse aircraft as Air Force One,” said David Truglio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Research Institute. “After President Reagan, it was the 747.”
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President Reagan flew the 707, tail number SAM 27000, more times than any other president, remaining in the presidential fleet until his retirement in 2001, making his final flight just three days before the September 11 attacks.
However, during his presidency, President Reagan ordered Air Force One to be modernized and the larger, more advanced 747 to become its flagship aircraft.
President Ronald Reagan traveled more on a SAM 27000 than any other U.S. president. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute)
According to the Air Force, the transition from the 707-based VC-137 to the 747 took place in 1990, one year after President Reagan’s term ended, and increased the aircraft’s range, communications capabilities and comfort.
Ironically, Truglio said, Reagan himself never flew in the new jet he ordered.
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Still, he traveled to 26 countries and covered 660,000 miles aboard the SAM 27000. Boeing says the jet can carry about half as many passengers as the current Air Force One, or about 102 people.
707, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
President Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan board Air Force One in 1986. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute)
time reagan library Upon learning that the plane would be retired, officials sought to honor the 40th president’s wish to have it permanently placed where it would later be buried.
The plane’s manufacturer, Boeing, worked with the Reagan Library to transport and reassemble the plane. 707 was dismantled and towed to the library grounds. As the pavilion was constructed, each piece was brought indoors and reassembled within the building itself.
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This year, the Air Force One Pavilion celebrates its 20th anniversary. Nearly 7 million visitors have boarded Air Force One 27000 since it opened to the public in October 2005.
The three-story pavilion also houses the Marine One helicopter, President Reagan’s 1984 presidential limousine, and an authentic British Irish pub. his ancestral village Originally from Ballypoleen, Ireland. The expansive mural “History of the Flying White House” traces presidential air travel from FDR’s beginnings to the present.
Air Force One Pavilion opened to the public in October 2005.
Over the past 20 years, the pavilion has been used for everything from educational programs and international summits to presidential debates and even high school debates.
The Reagan Library’s digital reach has grown significantly, expanding access to the library and now has more than 1.8 million followers across platforms, according to Trulio exhibits and events For a worldwide audience.
The plane is the biggest attraction for visitors to the Reagan Library.
As visitors enter, they can see a huge aircraft surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that are tilted slightly to give the illusion of taking off. simi valley hills, Their first reaction is to gasp, Truglio said.
“This is a really remarkable, very living piece of history,” he told FOX News Digital.
The Air Force One Pavilion features President Reagan’s limousine and Marine One helicopter. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute)
“Anyone of our visitors can purchase a ticket, actually board the plane, and see exactly where the president, his staff, the press corps, the Secret Service, and others actually used as their offices during the flight.”
An airplane is top attractions For visitors to the Reagan Library, Truglio noted.
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It looks the same as it did 20 years ago, he added. Once a state-of-the-art building, its rotary telephone and midcentury décor are a distant memory to today’s visitors.
“To us, they look a little bit ’80s,” Truglio said.
The former president “knew that face-to-face dialogue was beneficial,” said CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. (J. David Ake/AFP via Getty Images)
Unlike modern planes, Reagan’s plane was not the “softest” one, he added. “We have conference rooms, we have perfectly comfortable chairs. But Air Force One today has sleeping quarters. This one doesn’t.”
Still, it was a means of face-to-face diplomacy that continued to help shape world history and teach lessons that resonate today.
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After his first meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva, cold war, For example, President Reagan said, “That’s why face-to-face dialogue can be helpful.”
Truglio said there are “very strong similarities” between the Reagan administration and now.
In 1985, President Reagan puts a golf ball on Air Force One. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute)
”Historically, it has been said thatrhymes. “And if you think about the ’70s and ’80s, a time of economic hardship and high inflation, competing with communist regimes with global ambitions, there was a sense that perhaps America’s best days were behind it.”
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“President Reagan was undoubtedly a successful president,” he continued. ”It’s moving But at the same time, leveraging those successes as we reflect on the challenges and opportunities we face today is highly beneficial. ”
