VC-137C SAM 26000 Restoration - NMUSAF

[APG85]

What's the restoration plane for VC-137C 26000 at the NMUSAF? I know they've re-painted it and added the old after-body strake (I assume that's what that is) back on (see pictures below taken from the museum website. Where did they get the strake)? Is there a plan to do any interior work or put on the old wing tip antennas (HF Probes?). Thanks...


Image below as she arrived at the museum:


Image below after re-paint and strake installed:

[K5DH]

Such a stylish paint scheme those ships had! It always looked classy to me.

Back in the late 1980s, I bowled in a leqgue with a former Marine who served under President Nixon as a guard on board SAM 27000. He gave me a nice 8x10 glossy photo of an airborne 27000 (not autographed by anyone important, unfortunately) which I have hanging up in my house to this day.

[Misterg97]

Two weeks ago I had a conversation with a gentleman who was Pres. Johnson's pilot on AF2 and then was asked by Johnson to be his pilot on AF1 after he became President .. he had quite a military flying career ... and he flew a number of planes that I had missions on; C-124 and C-119 ..

[Steve Nelson]

I took the tour of the NMUSAF storage buildings in the mid 90s (back when they still did that) and saw a couple of airline seats under plastic slipcovers on a shelf. When I asked, the tour guide said they were the seats the LBJ and Jackie flew back from Dallas in. She said that when the eventually got SAM 26000 the plan was to put the interior back into its 1963 configuration. Actually, I kind of hope they don't. The plane was used by several subsequent Presidential Administrations, and if you read the various information placards inside the plane, there's a lot more history there than just the "Camelot" era.

SN

[APG85]

I took the tour of the NMUSAF storage buildings in the mid 90s (back when they still did that) and saw a couple of airline seats under plastic slipcovers on a shelf. When I asked, the tour guide said they were the seats the LBJ and Jackie flew back from Dallas in. She said that when the eventually got SAM 26000 the plan was to put the interior back into its 1963 configuration.

I read somewhere that they scrapped that plan. Not sure if its true though...

[JohnB]

For what it;'s worth, the C-118 and C-121 AF1 displays give you an idea of what they were like in the 50/early 60s...16mm film projectors and clunky telephones.
So I'm not sure anything would be gained by retrofitting the 137 with Kennedy-era equipment.

And unless they had the real bits (and did anyone think to keep them?), why destroy a historic 70s-80s interior for what would be a re-creation at best?

[Chief]

Jerry, You must be referring to Jim Cross who was LBJ's pilot both as VP and President. We served together in the 89th at Andrews AFB. You need to read his book he had published about three years ago. The title is "Around the World With LBJ". His book describes a lot of the adventures we had during our tour of duty at Andrews.

[The Inspector]

The strake was added to satisfy the FAA when the QUANTAS -138's were certified. The -138's were several feet shorter than the (then) standard -120's and fishtailed a bit, in fact enough to make some riding in the steerage seats airsick. @ about the same time Boeing added 41 inches to the vertical fin to tame down a tendancy to overpower the yaw dampners (several pilots complained about chasing the rudder during flight was wearing them out). The strake just sort of stayed on the airplane as it grew in length and weight as a cheap, known fix for mild dutch rolling. The rudder, in fact after the lengthining, became the only directly hydraulically powered flight control on the 707 series, every other control was hydraulic assist but were 'fly by wire', in this case 9X9 stainless steel 'wire'.

[Misterg97]

Jerry, You must be referring to Jim Cross who was LBJ's pilot both as VP and President. We served together in the 89th at Andrews AFB. You need to read his book he had published about three years ago. The title is "Around the World With LBJ". His book describes a lot of the adventures we had during our tour of duty at Andrews.

Chief ... you are correct it was Jim Cross and as I stated we had quite the conversation and I really enjoyed spending time with him ... Will keep his book in mind as I'm sure they have it in the Museum gift shop.

Thanks for the comments

[APG85]

Still not clear:
1. When/why the after body strake was removed.
2. The strake was was re-acquired (where it came from or was it fabricated) and re-installed?
3. What the configuration plan is for the aircraft?
4. The installation of the strake would suggest retuning this aircraft to an earlier configuration. Is this the plan?

This is an enormously historical aircraft and it would be nice to know the restoration plan...

[The Inspector]

The strake is a Class A interchangeable unit (meaning no alterations required to install, just fasteners) for the 707 series so aquiring one isn't much of a challenge, just visit any large patch of dry desert full of old airplanes, If you recall, the C-135B's powerplants came about when the USAF paid a visit to the desert and removed the P&W JT-3D's from retired AMERICAN AIRLINES 707's and replaced the existing J-57's.

[APG85]

The strake was added to satisfy the FAA when the QUANTAS -138's were certified. The -138's were several feet shorter than the (then) standard -120's and fishtailed a bit, in fact enough to make some riding in the steerage seats airsick. @ about the same time Boeing added 41 inches to the vertical fin to tame down a tendancy to overpower the yaw dampners (several pilots complained about chasing the rudder during flight was wearing them out). The strake just sort of stayed on the airplane as it grew in length and weight as a cheap, known fix for mild dutch rolling. The rudder, in fact after the lengthining, became the only directly hydraulically powered flight control on the 707 series, every other control was hydraulic assist but were 'fly by wire', in this case 9X9 stainless steel 'wire'.

Great stuff! Why was it removed?

[The Inspector]

From 26000? I have no answer and I doubt you could get an answer out of the USAF. I was just noting why it was installed in the first place, pretty much why it remained installed on 707's and can only speculate it may have been removed to accommodate or because it interfered with some sort of trailing wire antenna for some 'we're not really here' or ultra low amplitude wave avionics mod, like talking to submarines.

Old truism, Architects cover their mistakes in Ivy, Doctors bury their mistakes, Bakers eat their mistakes, and Boeing covers their mistakes in vortex generators

[Jack Frost]

"Old truism, Architects cover their mistakes in Ivy, Doctors bury their mistakes, Bakers eat their mistakes, and Boeing covers their mistakes in vortex generators"

You left out a couple; Lawyers hang their mistakes and Pilots die with their mistakes.

[The Inspector]

I subscribe to O'Tooles Comentary,
"Murphy was a F#$&(+ optomist'