A few years ago, the silver plane was slowly crumbling in the Arizona desert. This Lockheed Constellation, named Columbine II, had a proud history. The plane could easily have been lost forever. But today, dedicated workers are restoring the 76-year-old craft to look as it did in its prime.
Transporting the President
A few presidents had flown before 34th U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. But Eisenhower, a pilot himself, was the first to truly take advantage of air travel. From 1952 to 1954, this VC-121A Constellation 48-610 served as the presidential aircraft. After 1954, it was used as backup transport until 1959.
The first 25 U.S. presidents never left the country during their presidencies. They considered it their duty to stay close to home. But that view changed over time. (Theodore Roosevelt was both the first president to leave the country and to fly in a plane, on separate occasions.) When air travel became possible, it became easier for presidents to visit constituents across the United States. It also enabled the commander-in-chief to meet with foreign leaders and engage in diplomacy around the world.
Eisenhower flew tens of thousands of miles during his presidency. He used Columbine II to visit U.S. troops in Korea as president-elect. He wrote his 1953 “Atoms for Peace” speech in the air between Bermuda and New York.
In 1954, air traffic controllers in Richmond, Virginia, received calls from two planes using the same flight numbers: 8610. One was an Eastern Airlines flight. The other was Columbine II, carrying the President. After the confusion settled, officials decided that the President’s plane needed a unique call sign. “Air Force One” designates any plane carrying the President.
Columbine II was retired in 1968. The Air Force stripped parts from it to use in other planes. Eventually, the plane ended up in a field at Marana Regional Airport in Arizona.
Rescuing History
By 2014, dust and grime covered the aircraft’s aluminum panels. Inside, the headliner on the ceiling sagged and split. That’s when Karl Stoltzfus, founder of Dynamic Aviation, found Columbine II and determined to restore the first Air Force One. Mechanics repaired the engines, fuel system, and other major systems. In 2016, pilots flew it to Dynamic’s headquarters in Bridgewater, Virginia, for further restoration. It was the plane’s first flight in 12 years.
Stoltzfus passed away in 2020. But the project carries on. Lead mechanic William Borchers works steadily on restoring the plane. Five local volunteers often join him. At this point, much of what’s left to be done is cosmetic.
One day in August, Borchers refurbished one of the three drinking fountains on the plane. It’s a glass bottle, with old-fashioned Dixie cups and a trash container below it, built into the wall.
Another day, he may be found tearing out or replacing some of the wooden walls. Wood once covered nearly the entire interior of the plane, from the walls to the floor to two giant heating ducts. Besides being in poor condition, the wood is a fire hazard. Borchers cuts and shapes thin aluminum sheets to replace the wall pieces. A carbon fiber and aluminum material goes on the floors. The plan: “Replace all the wood with non-burnable products, and make it look like it did when President Eisenhower was in the airplane.”
The plane will look exactly as it did, but it won’t be exactly the same. Mechanics removed the pressurization, auto-pilot, and de-icing systems. Those systems are no longer necessary. “The pressurization of the aircraft is actually pretty hard on the airplane because you’re trying to push the walls out while they’re trying to push in,” says Borchers. In the future, pilots won’t take the craft above about 10,000 feet. It won’t fly in stormy weather, so there’s no need for de-icing.
The dream is for the plane to be a traveling museum. When will the craft take to the skies again? That depends on fundraising. “We are in the process of raising $11.5 million,” Borchers says. “And that’s what it’s going to take to get it back in the air.”
By Anna Smith in Asheville, North Carolina
Why? Physical pieces of history like Columbine II can help us understand and connect with the past.
