Boeing VC-137 (Air Force One)

Updated: October 2026 – A slim four-engine jet in light blue and white, the US flag on the tail and “United States of America” across the windows: this is the image the Boeing VC-137 created. It was the first jet generation of presidential aircraft and, as SAM 26000 and SAM 27000, the scene of some of the best-known moments in US history. You won’t see it fly any more – but in four US museums you can experience it up close, two of them even from the inside. Here you get the history, the technology and the features that identify the presidential 707s.

What is the Boeing VC-137?

The VC-137 is the VIP version of the Boeing 707 for the US Air Force. Under the umbrella designation C-137 Stratoliner, the Air Force grouped its 707 transports; the prefixed V stands for use as a staff and government aircraft. The airframe was built at Boeing’s Renton plant near Seattle and is technically closely related to the civil Boeing 707-120 and 707-320 Intercontinental. The 707 began as an airliner; its story is told in the article on the Boeing 707.

Two different generations hide under the name:

• VC-137A / VC-137B: three Boeing 707-153s that entered presidential service in 1959 as the first jets. They are based on the shorter 707-120 family and received more economical turbofan engines in 1963 – turning the VC-137As into VC-137Bs.
• VC-137C: two Boeing 707-353Bs, that is aircraft of the larger 707-320B Intercontinental. They carried the serial numbers 62-6000 and 72-7000 and became famous as SAM 26000 and SAM 27000.

All were operated by the presidential airlift squadron at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. You’ll find more on the manufacturer on the page about Boeing.

Air Force One: a callsign, not an aircraft

Before we get to the individual aircraft, an important distinction: “Air Force One” is a radio callsign. It applies to any US Air Force aircraft carrying the president – whether a large four-engine jet or a small one. It was introduced in the 1950s under Eisenhower, after radio mix-ups between the presidential aircraft and an airline flight with a similar callsign. At that time Eisenhower still flew propeller aircraft of the Lockheed Constellation type; a relative is shown on the page about the Super Constellation.

Without the president on board, the VC-137s flew under their SAM callsign. SAM stands for Special Air Mission, and the number is the shortened serial number. That is why the aircraft’s correct name is “SAM 26000” – it was “Air Force One” only when the president flew along. Only with the VC-137 and its striking livery, however, did the term become a worldwide synonym for the presidential aircraft.

The beginnings: SAM 970 and Eisenhower’s jets

In 1959 the Air Force took over three Boeing 707-153s as the VC-137A. They replaced the propeller-driven Constellations and for the first time made the presidential aircraft a jet. According to the Museum of Flight in Seattle, the aircraft with serial number 58-6970, known as SAM 970, was the first presidential jet of all.

Eisenhower used the new jet in December 1959 for his “Flight to Peace,” a goodwill trip through eleven countries. The gain in speed over the propeller aircraft was enormous, and the VC-137A showed that a president could travel to several continents in a few days with a jet.

Even after the larger VC-137C arrived in 1962, the three aircraft stayed in government service. SAM 970 flew Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, among others, as well as state guests such as Nikita Khrushchev, and served until June 1996 as an aircraft for vice presidents and government members.

SAM 26000: Kennedy’s Air Force One

The best-known VC-137 is SAM 26000, a 707-353B with serial number 62-6000, built in 1962 in Renton. It was the first jet aircraft built for the US president from the start, and offered more range and space than the VC-137As.

The livery by Raymond Loewy

For the new aircraft, industrial designer Raymond Loewy was brought in at the invitation of Jacqueline Kennedy. In consultation with the president, he developed the color scheme of light blue, white and polished metal, the US flag on the tail and the large “United States of America” titles. The light shade of blue was the president’s express wish. In essence this design is still carried by today’s Air Force One.

Berlin 1963 and Dallas

In June 1963 SAM 26000 took Kennedy to Germany. On June 26 the aircraft landed at Berlin-Tegel Airport; from there Kennedy drove through West Berlin to the Schöneberg City Hall, where he gave his speech with the line “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Only 15 years earlier, the Berlin Airlift had supplied the city. You’ll find more on the airport’s history in the article Berlin-Tegel Airport.

A few months later the same aircraft became the scene of one of the darkest days in US history. On November 22, 1963, SAM 26000 flew Kennedy to Dallas. After the assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office on board the aircraft while still on the ground in Dallas. The VC-137C then brought Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy and the coffin of the murdered president back to Washington; seats in the rear cabin had been removed for this.

Johnson, Nixon and the late years

Johnson became the busiest passenger of the 26000 and flew to Vietnam, among other places, and around the world in 1967. Under Nixon the cabin received a conversion with a presidential suite in 1969. In February 1972 Nixon flew SAM 26000 to China – the first visit there by a US president. In the same year SAM 27000 took over the main role, and the 26000 stayed in service as a backup aircraft.

Later, in January 1973, it carried Johnson’s coffin to Washington and Texas and in 1981 flew former presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter to Anwar Sadat’s funeral in Egypt. In total it served eight presidents, from Kennedy to Clinton. It made its last presidential flight in January 1998, when it stepped in at short notice for the grounded 27000. In May 1998 it landed on the airfield next to the Air Force museum in Dayton.

SAM 27000: from Nixon to George W. Bush

The second VC-137C, serial number 72-7000, first flew on July 31, 1972, and entered service the same year. Visually it is very similar to the 26000, but it became the main aircraft for the following decades. In total seven presidents flew on it: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush.

A few milestones from almost three decades:

• 1974: After his resignation, Nixon flew to California on August 9 on the 27000. Over Missouri, Gerald Ford was sworn in – from that moment the aircraft was no longer Air Force One but SAM 27000 again.
• 1974: Ford flew on it to Vladivostok for the meeting with Leonid Brezhnev.
• 1980s: Ronald Reagan used it more than any other president. According to the Reagan Foundation, he covered over 660,000 miles on it and visited 26 countries, including the summits with Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva, Reykjavík and Moscow.
• 1990: The first VC-25A based on the 747-200 took over the main role. SAM 27000 stayed in service as a backup.
• 2001: On August 29, George W. Bush flew on it to Waco, Texas – the last presidential flight of a VC-137. In September 2001 the ferry flight to San Bernardino, California, followed.

After that a Boeing team took the aircraft apart into large assemblies and transported it to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. There it was reassembled and placed on pedestals about 7.6 meters high. The Air Force One Pavilion opened on October 24, 2005.

Technology: what is in the VC-137C

The VC-137C is at its core a 707-320B with military equipment. It is powered by four Pratt & Whitney TF33s, the military designation of the JT3D turbofan, with about 80 kN of thrust each. Length and wingspan match the civil Intercontinental: 46.61 and 44.42 meters. The maximum takeoff weight is about 148 tonnes.

The big difference is the cabin. Instead of dense rows of seats as in an airline 707, it had room for only a manageable number of passengers. In return there were separate areas for the president, work and meeting rooms, seats for staff, security personnel and press, and extensive radio and communications equipment. The interior was reconfigured several times over the years.

Feature	VC-137A/B (SAM 970)	VC-137C (SAM 26000/27000)	VC-25A
Basis	707-153 (707-120 family)	707-353B (707-320B)	747-200B
Engines	4, JT3D turbofans from 1963	4 × TF33	4 × CF6
Fuselage	shorter, narrow	longer, narrow	widebody with upper deck
In presidential service	from 1959	1962–2001	since 1990
Today	Museums in Seattle and Tucson	Museums in Dayton and Simi Valley	active

How to recognize a VC-137

Since no VC-137 flies any more, you will photograph it in a museum. Still, it is worth knowing the features – especially to tell it apart from other 707 offshoots.

The closest relatives are the gray military 707s: you recognize the E-3 Sentry by its rotating radar dome, the E-6 Mercury by its gray Navy paint without a dome. The KC-135 Stratotanker looks similar but has a narrower, shorter fuselage and hardly any windows. The Boeing 720 and the Douglas DC-8 are quickly ruled out by livery and details. For an overview of tanker offshoots, see Recognizing tanker aircraft.

Where to see the VC-137 today

All presidential VC-137s are retired – but four of them are easily accessible and stand in US museums:

Place	Aircraft	Note
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton (Ohio)	SAM 26000 (VC-137C)	Presidential Gallery, cabin can be walked through
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley (California)	SAM 27000 (VC-137C)	Air Force One Pavilion, cabin can be walked through
Museum of Flight, Seattle (Washington)	SAM 970 (VC-137B)	Aviation Pavilion at Boeing Field
Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson (Arizona)	58-6971 (VC-137B)	large outdoor area next to Davis-Monthan AFB

Dayton: SAM 26000 in the Presidential Gallery

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force has shown SAM 26000 since June 2016 in the fourth exhibition building. Before that, the presidential fleet stood in an area of Wright-Patterson AFB that was only partly accessible. Today you can walk through Kennedy’s Air Force One without a detour; next to it stand older presidential aircraft, including aircraft from the time of Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. You’ll find tips on getting there and the photo situation at the spot National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton.

Simi Valley: SAM 27000 on stilts

At the Reagan Library, SAM 27000 hangs on pedestals in a large glass hall, with a view of the hills of Southern California beyond. According to the Reagan Foundation you can go on board; the pavilion also holds a Marine One helicopter and vehicles of the presidential motorcade. Admission to the pavilion is included in the museum ticket – it is best to check opening hours and prices directly on the library’s website before your trip.

Seattle and Tucson: the early jets

At the Museum of Flight, SAM 970 stands in the Aviation Pavilion – right next to Boeing’s home turf. The spot at Boeing Field is described on the page Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. The second surviving VC-137B is displayed at the Pima Air & Space Museum; more on the visit is at the spot Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson. How the neighboring storage areas work is explained in the article on aircraft graveyards and boneyards.

Photo tips for presidential aircraft in museums

Museum photography is a discipline of its own: instead of sun position and runway direction in use, hall lighting, visitor flows and barriers determine the picture.

How to identify historic types with confidence is explained in Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky. If you are interested in the active successors, the article Spotting government aircraft has tips on how to find state aircraft during visits and summits. You can follow military traffic live with the guide Tracking military aircraft online.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Boeing VC-137 made Air Force One an icon. On it, US presidents flew by jet for the first time, and SAM 26000 and SAM 27000 are tied to images of Berlin 1963, Dallas, Beijing 1972 and the summits of the Cold War. The era has been over since 2001, but both VC-137Cs and two VC-137Bs can be seen in four museums – two of which you can even enter.