The First Air Force One...

[007]

 

[longknife]

This was actually the SECOND aircraft in which FDR flew. The first was a naval craft.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

There was no separate service called the Air Force under FDR. Air craft belonged to the Army Air Corps, the Navy or the Marines.

 

[longknife]

There was no separate service called the Air Force under FDR. Air craft belonged to the Army Air Corps, the Navy or the Marines.

I knew that. So it made me wonder what they called the Army Air Corps plane FDR flew in.

 

[konradv]

There was no separate service called the Air Force under FDR. Air craft belonged to the Army Air Corps, the Navy or the Marines.

It was called the Air Corps only until 1941. After that it was the United States Army Air Forces. So FDR did fly in an Air Force plane.

United States Army Air Forces - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[Cross]

The stock photo was probably taken 1947 or after and repainted. It was originally designated the "Sacred Cow". It was retired in 61 and then sent to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Here it is restored to it's original AAF condition.

 

[namvet]

the old connie. first plane i flew on when i was a kid. it actually has reverse thrust

 

[longknife]

the old connie. first plane i flew on when i was a kid. it actually has reverse thrust

My first time returning from Europe in 1960 was on a chartered Connie. Narrow cabin. We flew Frankfurt, to Ireland, to Goose Bay, and to NY.
One heck of a flight. In March.

 

[HenryBHough]

The Sacred Cow was a Douglas DC-4.

 

[Cross]

The Sacred Cow was a Douglas DC-4.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt flew to the Casablanca Conference in 1943 on board a commercial Boeing 314 Clipper Ship, he became the first U.S. president to fly while in office. Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president, the USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of a military aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander in Chief.

After encountering difficulties with converting a C-87A transport, the USAAF arranged with Douglas Aircraft to construct a new transport aircraft specifically for presidential use. Nicknamed the Sacred Cow, this VC-54C became the first military aircraft to transport a U.S. president when President Roosevelt took it to the USSR for the Yalta Conference in February 1945.

Factsheets Douglas VC-54C Sacred Cow

 

[namvet]

the old connie. first plane i flew on when i was a kid. it actually has reverse thrust

My first time returning from Europe in 1960 was on a chartered Connie. Narrow cabin. We flew Frankfurt, to Ireland, to Goose Bay, and to NY.
One heck of a flight. In March.

some were turned into bars others restaurants

 

[HenryBHough]

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt flew to the Casablanca Conference in 1943 on board a commercial Boeing 314 Clipper Ship, he became the first U.S. president to fly while in office. Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president, the USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of a military aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander in Chief.

After encountering difficulties with converting a C-87A transport, the USAAF arranged with Douglas Aircraft to construct a new transport aircraft specifically for presidential use. Nicknamed the Sacred Cow, this VC-54C became the first military aircraft to transport a U.S. president when President Roosevelt took it to the USSR for the Yalta Conference in February 1945.

Factsheets Douglas VC-54C Sacred Cow

A moot point, really, but over the years there was discussion as to whether Douglas first built the airplane as the C-54 or as the DC-4. The primary difference was that the C-54 had an interior matching military specifications and the DC-4 was set up for passenger service. The Sacred Cow was built to a military specification and even though the interior was more closely akin to the passenger version it was,
nevertheless, a C-54 variant. An amazing number of the aircraft are still in service, far more than the more fully developed DC-6.

The C-87 was based on the B-24 Liberator Bomber. Tough conversion to any passenger or even freighter use. The British carried off for their Lancaster bomber after World War II, converting some bombers and building new examples which were flown by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) as the "Lancastrian". They were thoroughly despised by the traveling public but effectively bridged a gap until the industry could catch up in the post-war years.

 

[Mad Scientist]

RGS is right. The AF didn't become a separate, independent branch until 1947.

Whether you call it the Army Air Force or the United States Army Air Corp, doesn't matter. It was still a part of the Army.