VC-137C SAM 26000 - Current Status

Current Status

In May 1998 SAM 26000 was flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. Its final flight was staged over the Museum grounds for the benefit of the media and Museum visitors. The aircraft circled the Museum several times at low altitude before finally landing on the original Wright Field airstrip alongside the Museum. The plane taxied to the Museum's restoration hangars and the crew disembarked, while members of the press explored the aircraft. After several months of work by the Museum's restoration staff, the aircraft was placed on permanent display in the Museum's Presidential Hangar. The public can walk through the aircraft; while the original intent (according to museum personnel) was to restore the aircraft to how it looked when Kennedy was President, it was later determined to leave the aircraft interior as it looked when it was delivered to the U.S. Air Force Museum in May, 1998. In December 2009, SAM 26000 was taken off display and moved to the museum's restoration area, where it would be repainted into its Presidential paint scheme. SAM 26000 returned recently to the Presidential Planes hangar at Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum.

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