I *FINALLY* Got to See Air Force One Up Close! Post a Kennedy Half!

airplanenut

If you've never met me and my username didn't give it away, I rather like airplanes, and it's been that way since the summer before I started middle school. Over the years, I have been known to go out of my way to see a neat airplane (for instance, in 2017, I flew to Seoul so I could return on United's last regularly scheduled 747 flight). One plane that has somewhat eluded me is Air Force One. From before I even fell in love with airplanes, I'd seen it parked in the distance at an airport, and in more recent years I've seen it from afar as it arrived into or departed from Seattle, usually on a dreary day with no good place to see it well-lit. Well, on Friday, Seattle had absolutely perfect weather and Air Force One arrived late afternoon, which provided perfect lighting. So naturally, I took two hours out of my day to see the airplane for 30 seconds.

And the coin tie? Well, two of them, through the same coin. The Kennedy Half Dollar features the presidential seal, which is also prominently displayed on the front of the airplane. And the colors--first applied to the 707 Air Force One airplanes, and then the 747s when they came online in the early 1990s--were created by Raymond Loewy, who did so at the request of JFK. So go ahead and post a Kennedy!

PS- Please, please, please! I love this airplane--the 747 in general and AF1 in particular--and for me, it's all about the airplane, not who's on board. I was super excited to get to see it, and I also think it's neat that (as far as I can tell) it's the only airplane flying that shares a design element or other tie to a coin. So comment on the airplane or comment on the coin, but please leave it at that.

As for half dollars, here are two, a pretty one and an interestingly broken one:

Mr_Spud

SaorAlba

I sure wonder what is going on with the tail of the aircraft - looks like some defensive equipment going on back there.

oih82w8

braddick

Nice!
I just recently learned the aircraft itself isn't named "Air Force One", it is any aircraft the President is on.

OAKSTAR

airplanenut

@braddick said:
Nice!
I just recently learned the aircraft itself isn't named "Air Force One", it is any aircraft the President is on.

Yes and no--Air Force One is any Air Force aircraft the president is on. The same applies if the president is on a different branch's aircraft: Marine One (the chopper you see on the White House lawn), Navy One (used once, when GWB flew onto a carrier), Army One, or Coast Guard One. And if flying a non-military aircraft, it would be Executive One.

I can confirm, though, that this was Air Force One. The other one--tail number 28000--flew into Fairchild AFB in Spokane so it would be nearby in case they needed to switch. That one wasn't AF1 at the time, though the two planes are the same and they switch back and forth which one is primary and which one is backup.

FlyingAl

Incredible! I’ve always wanted to see AF1 up close and personal.

The stories surrounding the capabilities of that plane are simply awesome, and it has done some pretty impressive things for a plane of its size. It’s clear that there was some thought put into the modifications of the aircraft (whatever those may be).

Kind of off topic, but still similar to Air Force One - I’ve always wanted to be able to see an E-4B in action. Those things are just as cool as AF1 in my opinion- a highly specialized 747 to complete a specific task.

Goldbully

coinbuf

Congrats on acheiving your goal of seeing the plane in person. Bought this on GC but pretty sure it belonged to another forum member.

airplanenut

@Goldbully said:

That's a really pretty one! There's something about Kennedy halves where they seem to tone so much more colorfully than other clad issues, even if in the same type of album. I wonder if the size of the coin has an effect, whether because of the area ratio of coin to album page, or the distance between the tone source (the page) and the center of the coin.

Coinscratch

jessewvu

Sweet, nice photos. Back in about 2014 we were doing some flight testing on the side of a military base runway. AF1 came in and forced us to pause testing. We had test equipment just on the runway edge. Long story short, when AF1 back taxied, we realized it's wingtip was pretty close to overhead our equipment. I thought we should back up a bit (only about 30') and when it took off, we, and all our equipment, went tumbling down the runway. It took us about 10 minutes to collect all our test cards that went flying and about 30 minutes to relocate our equipment that tumbled. How in the world ATC didn't make us move I have no idea, but we got a cool story.

Goldbully

@airplanenut said:

@Goldbully said:

That's a really pretty one! There's something about Kennedy halves where they seem to tone so much more colorfully than other clad issues, even if in the same type of album. I wonder if the size of the coin has an effect, whether because of the area ratio of coin to album page, or the distance between the tone source (the page) and the center of the coin.

---

I agree, I love this coin. I really like the way you think, Jeremy.....you are very analytical, and what you say about the clad Kennedy toning sounds logical.

Back in the day I had a customer onsite at Andrews Air force Base and their sole job was to fabricate and repair casework for Air Force 1. My customer's facility was next door to the AF1 hangar on the base. We shared some great stories as I gazed out the shop windows at the big baby blue 747 just a few hundred feet away.

1northcoin

This was the intended second photo of Air Force One there in Seattle:

jesbroken

Interesting post, Jeremy, some nice examples. Here are a 64 and a 67 JFK out of my 7070.
Jim

Mr_Spud

More Colors

Hallco

I love this post and am so happy you got to see it! Thanks for sharing the experience. I used to have a 1970-D example(my birth year coincidentally) of the Kennedy...but that went to another good home many years ago.

Coinscratch

Bigtree

Not really AF1 colors, but these are at least bluish colored. I don't know how I managed to end up with three of these

TomB

Beautiful plane, terrific color scheme and handsome coin. And, yes, I am quite familiar with your love for aircraft!

mikee999

You should come down to SO CA to the Reagan Museum. Reagan's Air Force one is on display there & you can tour the inside and see a jar of Reagan's jelly beans.

airplanenut

@mikee999 said:
You should come down to SO CA to the Reagan Museum. Reagan's Air Force one is on display there & you can tour the inside and see a jar of Reagan's jelly beans.

It may not have jelly beans, but one of the other 707s is in Seattle and I've walked through it numerous times. On occasion I'll work in an alternate office and get to drive right by it, along with some other classics such as 727 #1, 737 #1, 747 #1, and 787 #3. 727 #1 spent years being restored just enough that it could fly from one airport (right by my main office at the time) to its final resting place 30 miles away. The gear was locked down, the flaps were fixed to one setting, and the plane barely had to turn, departing south and landing south. I stepped out of work for a little while to watch it take off for the very last time. Smokey, loud, and just what it should be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y0bMrVmAww

Tibor

I've seen AF1 from a distance a few times. Once when Nixon visited the area. Papa Bush
paid a visit a few days before the election in 1992. About a 100 yards away. Obama visited
the area in the mid 2010's. Saw the plane as it was circling the area after his visit headed
back to DC. Again at the airport in Oct., 2018 for a visit. I live in N.E. Tenn.

OAKSTAR

Not the best pictures but you get the idea.

MsMorrisine

any non-classified word on the new-sed 747-8's Boeing is converting?

winesteven

I’ve been inside the very first Air Force One, built by Boeing in 1959, and first used by President Eisenhower. It was a 707-120.

I was also inside one of the last built Concorde SST’s. The one I was in was built in 1978.

But don’t be impressed. You can do this too, by touring the Museum of Flight in Tukwila, Washington, about 10 minutes south of Seattle.

Here are three of my Kennedy Half Dollars:

Steve

skier07

Here’s an old Air Force One from 1973-2001, a Boeing 707, at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley California.

davewesen

My nephew said traffic in Seattle was slow. I should have bid more on this one - struck on cent planchet (they said)

winesteven

@MsMorrisine said:
any non-classified word on the new-sed 747-8's Boeing is converting?

Or even classified! Just tell us what you know, lol.

Steve

airplanenut

@winesteven said:

@MsMorrisine said:
any non-classified word on the new-sed 747-8's Boeing is converting?

Or even classified! Just tell us what you know, lol.

Truly, I know absolutely nothing about it. I work in Commercial Airplanes, and I'm pretty sure the AF1 project is entirely on the military side of the company right now. The airplane will look pretty sweet, but personally, I think the 747-8 lines are a bit too modern for the airplane, and I like the older variants more. The 747-400 is absolutely perfect, but I'd take the -200 over the -8 in a beauty contest, as well.

airplanenut

@davewesen said:
My nephew said traffic in Seattle was slow.

That was one thing I planned. It was a bit out of the way, but I can get from the airport to home entirely on local roads, so I knew that when it was time to leave, I could avoid the highways being backed up with the combination of it being Friday at 5pm and the president being in town. As I was getting to the airport (well ahead of the arrival) they were already shutting down the highways as I drove by.

messydesk

My daughter was flying home from Gainesville, FL, last September. They were about to board when she said they took the plane away from the gate and some military helicopters showed up. She had no idea what was going on, then sent a distant picture of one of the helicopters. I sent her a picture of the presidential seal and asked if that was on the door. AF1 landed shortly thereafter, so she got to see it at a tiny airport. Not sure which plane, because the picture she sent didn't have the tail number. She still made her connection in Atlanta.

Twobitcollector

WAYNEAS

Love all the Kennedys.

Wayne

OAKSTAR

WAYNEAS

Wayne

OAKSTAR

Okay, so are you guys sending me a subliminal message that I should break these out and submit them?

joeykoins

2017s "Enhanced"

Nysoto

I worked on the 747 Air Force One Program as the two airplanes went through the fuselage assembly tools at the Everett plant, employees on the program were given a commemorative cup. The Presidential Seal has roots in the Heraldic Eagle design, Robert Scot engraved original versions of the Heraldic Eagle 1796 to 1798, the image below (image reversed) is an actual die from a series of revenue stamp dies engraved by Scot in 1797-98 at the Mint to raise money for the Quasi-War:

BillJones

Coinscratch

raycyca

Any capabilities of AF1 are classified. It can liftoff at surprisingly steep attitudes in case of going into or coming out of hostile situations. The inside is really cool, you can see many photos of the insides if you search online. They have an AF1 aircraft that you can actually visit and tour through at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio. That aircraft was used from Kennedy through Clinton.

tokenpro

I was returning from an East Coast show (Garden State?) in 1990 when the pilot came on and said we had to circle for 20+ minutes while a special VIP landed ahead of us. It was Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on a visit after a summit meeting in the District. We got to taxi in fairly near the three Aeroflot Ilyushin-62M planes that brought him in - they were parked in an unused area off the end of the runway with a circle of military guards all around. They did not make quite the same impression as AF1.

OAKSTAR

Double clip.

NewEnglandRarities

That's so awesome buddy! I also had dreams of being a pilot when I was a youngster, and I was able to accomplish that goal with my license, which I will probably not use that much again, but enjoying the training and being up there in a cockpit is like nothing else!! Super cool!!

Coinscratch

I had a chance to see AF1 at a rally a few years back but the place filled up a mile back in the car line and so we were turned around. Anyway, that must be a rush, to fly (actually in control)! No knocks but I happen to fall on the other end of the spectrum. I don't fly commercial unless it is absolutely 100 percent unavoidable. And even then I might find an excuse

PR68 DDO minor variety


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