SAM 26000: The Flying Presidential Time Capsule Nobody Could Escape
KEY POINTS
- •SAM 26000 served as Air Force One from 1962 to 1998, carrying eight presidents including JFK and Bill Clinton.
- •Lyndon Johnson was sworn in aboard the plane hours after JFK’s assassination while the aircraft also transported JFK’s body home.
- •The retired plane now resides at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, open for free tours.
Meet SAM 26000, the Boeing VC-137C beast with 13,000 flight hours over 36 years—way more hanger time than your grandpa’s recliner. Painted blue and white on Jackie Kennedy's fashion tips with magician-designer Raymond Loewy, it screamed 'United States of America' like a nostalgic tweet. It blurred history and tragedy, flying JFK's coffin from Dallas in '63 and witnessing Lyndon Johnson getting sworn in hours later—because nothing says 'next episode' like an airborne inauguration. Powered by four Pratt & Whitney TF33 engines (18,000 pounds of thrust each), it chugged along Dayton, Ohio for the National Museum tour, letting air buffs gawk for free. With phones monitored 24/7 and a closet holding weapons next to your suit rack, even JFK's staff had limited downtime. Oh, and spoiler: GPS killed the navigator and flight engineer jobs here first, proving we can't even outsource cockpit jobs without drama.
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SAM 26000 airlifted presidents, tragedies, and egos alike—because why not mix JFK’s coffin with first-aid kits and in-flight spy phones? We’re all terrible pilots in the cockpit of history.
Nothing screams executive privilege like swearing in the next president mid-air while flying JFK’s coffin home. Talk about multitasking.
SAM 26000: The first Air Force One where ‘flight engineer replaced by GPS’ silently screamed the end of old-school chaos.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 2/15/2026 | Author: Talia Lakritz
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