34904 TRUMAN'S AIR FORCE ONE - THE INDEPENDENCE - PeriscopeFilm

34904 TRUMAN’S AIR FORCE ONE – THE INDEPENDENCE

This 16mm silent home movie shows President Harry S. Truman’s airplane, a Douglas VC-118 (s/n 46-505) called “The Independence” at LaGuardia Airport, New York in 1947.

In this same year USAAF officials ordered the 29th production DC-6 to be modified as a replacement for the aging Douglas VC-54C Skymaster “Sacred Cow” presidential aircraft. It differed from the standard DC-6 configuration in that the aft fuselage was converted into a stateroom. Also, the main cabin seated 24 passengers or could be made up into 12 “sleeper” berths. The VC-118 was formally commissioned by the USAAF on 4 July 1947, and was nicknamed “Independence” for Truman’s hometown in Missouri. The aircraft is today in display at the National Museum of the USAF.

Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft specifically designed, built, and used for the purpose of transporting the president. The Presidential aircraft is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power.

The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943, when officials of the United States Army Air Forces — the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force — became concerned with relying on commercial airlines to transport the President. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport; however, it was rejected by the Secret Service amid concerns over the aircraft’s safety record. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; this aircraft, dubbed the Sacred Cow, transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

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