Editing Air Force One (section)

====Boeing 707s and entry to jet age====
[[File:707-based_SAM_970.jpeg|thumb|''SAM 970'' in the [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]-era livery]]

Toward the end of Eisenhower's second term, Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] commented that Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and other senior Soviet officials had begun using the technologically advanced [[Tupolev Tu-114]] aircraft for their travels, and it was no longer dignified for the president to fly in a propeller-driven aircraft. This paved the way for the Air Force's initial procurement of three [[Boeing C-137 Stratoliner|Boeing 707]]-120 (VC-137A) [[jet aircraft]], designated ''SAM (Special Air Missions) 970, 971'' and ''972''.<ref>"First of 3 Jets for President and Top Aides Is Unveiled". ''[[The New York Times]]'', 28 April 1959, p. 3.</ref><ref name="Jet Age Arrives">{{cite web |last1=Stein |first1=Alan |title=Modified Boeing 747 becomes the new Air Force One on August 23, 1990 |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/21244 |website=historylink.org |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref>

The high-speed [[Jet engine|jet]] technology built into these aircraft enabled presidents from Eisenhower through Nixon to travel long distances more quickly for face-to-face meetings with world leaders.<ref name="MoF">{{Cite web |title=Boeing VC-137B "Air Force One |url=https://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-vc-137b-707-120sam-970-air-force-one |access-date=26 June 2019 |publisher=The Museum of Flight |location=Seattle, Washington}}</ref> Then-Vice President [[Richard Nixon]] first used a VC-137A on his visit to Russia in July 1959 for the [[Kitchen Debate]]s. The following month, Eisenhower became the first president to fly via jet airplane when he used ''SAM 970'', nicknamed ''"Queenie"'', to meet German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. During Eisenhower's "[[Foreign policy of the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration#International trips|Flight to Peace]]" goodwill tour in December 1959, he visited 11 Asian nations, flying {{convert|22000|mi|km}} in 19 days, twice as fast as he could have covered that distance in one of the ''Columbines''.<ref name="AF1whmuseum"/><ref name="Kitchen Debates">{{cite web |last1=O'Halloran |first1=Thomas |title=U.S.S.R. Moscow, on plane, American B-707, at airport, American exhibit |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/ds.07391/ |website=Library of Congress}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dorr |first1=Robert |title=Air Force One: A History of Presidential Air Travel |url=https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/air-force-one-a-history-of-presidential-air-travel/6/ |website=Defense Media Network |date=10 November 2016}}</ref>

''SAM 970'' to ''SAM 972'' would be removed from the presidential role with the early-1960s arrival of the specially built VC-137C designated ''SAM 26000''. The older planes would be repainted in the Loewy secondary livery designed for [[Air Force Two]] and other non-presidential VIP aircraft. ''SAM 970'' is now on display at [[The Museum of Flight]] in [[Seattle]], Washington.<ref name="MoF" /> ''SAM 971'', best remembered for returning the Americans held during the [[Iran hostage crisis#Release|Iran hostage crisis]] in 1981, is on display at the [[Pima Air and Space Museum]] in [[Tucson, Arizona]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=38 |title=Pima Air & Space Museum: ''USAF VC-137B'' |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=7 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707102937/http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=38 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''SAM 972'' was scrapped in October 1996.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}