Columbine II

Columbine II
A large four-engined aircraft flying overhead during take-off
Columbine II taking off from Davis–Monthan Air Force Base en route to private ownership and further restoration, 24 October 1990.
Type Lockheed VC-121A-LO Constellation (Model 749-79-36)
Manufacturer Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Registration N9463
Serial 48-0610
In service January 1953 to November 1954 as President Eisenhower's personal aircraft
Last flight March 2016
Preserved at Conditionally airworthy (2016)

Columbine II is a Lockheed VC-121A-LO Constellation (military serial number 48-0610, Lockheed Model 749-79-36); the aircraft that was to become the first plane to use the Air Force One callsign and the only Presidential aircraft ever sold to a private party. The aircraft has been ferried from long term storage in the Sonoran Desert at Marana Regional Airport, Arizona, to the east coast for restoration in March 2016.[1][2]

Presidential aircraft

Columbine II was built as a C-121A at Burbank, California and bailed to Lockheed to support the Lockheed Air Service International maintenance facility at Keflavík, Iceland. Early in 1953 this aircraft was converted to VC-121A-LO standard for use by President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower until replaced by VC-121E-LO Columbine III (s/n 53-7885), operated by the 1254th Air Transport Squadron United States Air Force (USAF).[3]

Preservation

Columbine II starting engines at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1990 for her final flight to Marana Airport

After being replaced, Columbine II continued in service with the United States Air Force until retired to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base for storage, during the late 1960s. The aircraft was sold as part of a package lot to Mel Christler, a Wyoming businessman who owned a crop-dusting service and was made airworthy in 1989 and flown to Abilene, KS for Eisenhower's 100th birthday celebration and to an air show at Andrews Air Force Base. In 2003 it was flown to Marana Airport, Arizona. The aircraft owner was considering cutting the aircraft up as scrap, when the Smithsonian Institution, during a research project contacted the owner and informed him that 48-610 was, in fact, a former presidential aircraft. The owner then, in the hope of finding a new owner willing to display the aircraft, attempted to sell the plane at auction, but it was not sold.[4]

Columbine II was purchased and moved from Arizona to Bridgewater, Virginia in March 2016 for restoration by Dynamic Aviation. The purchase price has not been disclosed but the purchaser, Karl D. Stoltzfus Sr., founder of Dynamic Aviation, has said it was less than $1.5 million. Dynamic Aviation mechanics did significant work on the plane in Arizona in preparation for its flight to Virginia.[5] The restoration is expected to take several years to complete.[6]

Call-sign Air Force One

Over Richmond, Virginia in 1954, Eastern Airlines Flight 8610, a commercial flight, shared the same air space with Air Force Flight 8610, which was carrying President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the time, prompting the adoption of the unique call sign Air Force One whenever the President was on board any aircraft.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "First Air Force One plane decaying in Arizona field". NBC news. nbcnews.com. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Columbine II Makes It To Texas". 22 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Francillon, René J. (1987). Lockheed aircraft since 1913 (Repr. ed.). Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-897-2.
  4. ↑ The First Air Force One (Adobe Flash streaming video). YouTube. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
  5. ↑ "Original Air Force One will depart Arizona for Virginia, undergo further restoration". KTAR.com. March 26, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  6. ↑ Dagenhart, Jenna (March 23, 2016). "First Air Force One Aircraft Lands in Bridgewater for Restorations". WVIR. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ Spiers, Robert (Spring 2015). "The Story of the "Air Force One" Call Sign". Friends Journal, The Magazine of the Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc.
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