This post is a bit of departure from the norm here, but as an aviation buff, I couldn’t take a pass on this one. Chris Kjelgaard of Aviation.com has commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the first flight of the Boeing 707 jetliner, which took place on December 20, 1957. The 707 airframe, and its military and cargo variants, were in production for almost 40 years, with just over 1,000 total aircraft built during that time. Many of the airplanes I saw as a child, when my dad took me to watch planes landing and taking off at Dallas’ Love Field in the late 1960s, were 707s. (Yeah, I’m not sure how I learned to love airplanes, either.)
The most famous 707 variants were almost certainly those that served as the Presidential aircraft in the U.S. Air Force, commonly known as Air Force One. These aircraft served as the primary air transport platform for six U.S. Presidents, from 1962 until 1990. These aircraft remained part of the Presidential fleet as late as 2001, being used for transporting the Vice-President, or the President when visiting locations lacking an airport capable of accommodating the larger 747-based aircraft which succeeded them in the Presidential fleet.
(H/T: In From the Cold)
