Originally Posted by
WHBM
Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia (I know, I know) the 707 was first used by US President Eisenhower on his trip to Asia, departing 3 December 1959.
and according to the note posted by Niner Lima Charlie above, the museum in Tucson is claiming that it's DC6B was still the primary aircraft at the start of US President Kennedy's era (from start of 1961), which would imply the 707 was not operational yet.
Can't all be right.
Thanks for the reference, I appreciate it. However, I don't believe the DC-6 was used as Air Force One on the August 1959 overseas trip.
Another Wikipedia cite:
August 26, 1959 (Wednesday)
Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first President of the United States to fly in a jet airplane, as a new Boeing VC-137 (military counterpart to the Boeing 707) transported him to Bonn, West Germany, with a stop at Newfoundland for refueling. The presidential jet was nicknamed "Queenie"[48]
Footnote 48 is given as:
48. ^ Kenneth T. Walsh, Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes (Hyperion, 2003), pp57–58
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_1959
970 wasn't specifically assigned to presidential duty when Eisenhower took the August 1959 trip to meet Konrad Adenauer in Bonn and was never the primary Air Force One according to Dorr and other sources.
A picture of Eisenhower in Bonn on August 26, 1959 with 970 in the background is here:
http://l450v.alamy.com/450v/e0rg5c/a...ent-e0rg5c.jpg
Footage of the 1959 VC-137A arrival in Bonn: