Air Force One Lands at Reagan Library

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/alnews2004/september2004abc/afone.cfm

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Posted September 24, 2004.

Air Force One Lands at Reagan Library

The retired Air Force jet that served seven U.S. Presidents was towed into place inside a pavilion under construction at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, September 20. With an audience of hundreds—including former First Lady Nancy Reagan—on hand, the fuselage of the Boeing 707 jet with tail number 27000 was moved into the new Air Force One Pavilion to be reconnected to its wings that had been delivered earlier.

The plane is part of a $20-million expansion that will also include a limousine used by Reagan, three 1980s police vehicles restored and donated by the Los Angeles Police Historical Society, a military fighter jet, and Reagan’s Marine One helicopter. The three-story pavilion and a separate two-level auditorium and gallery is scheduled to open in mid-2005. This will more than double the size of the library, according to the September 21 Los Angeles Times.

During President Reagan’s eight years in office, the plane logged 631,640 miles as Air Force One, the radio call sign of any Air Force aircraft the President is aboard. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush also used the plane during its 28 years of service.

Posted September 24, 2004.