© 1997 Geoff Sobering, Non-commercial Use Allowed with Attribution, All Other Rights Reserved
This plane is the first jet-powered "Air Force One". It is a modified Boeing 707-153, designated by the Air Force as a VC-137B. This is the first of three aircraft purchased in 1959. Originally it was delivered with P&W JT3C-6 turbojets and the MATS (Military Air Transport Service) paint scheme, but was later upgraded with JT3D-3 turbofans and the "Air Force One" paint scheme seen on the plane today (I found a photo of the plane an early configuration).
The designation "SAM 970" comes from the combination of the designation for the presidential air unit "Special Air Missions", and the last three digits of the USAF's serial number, 58-6970.
These photographs were taken on April 13, 1997 at the Museum of flight in Seattle, WA.
A note about the photographs: clicking on the thumbnail picture will load an image approximately 500x300 pixels large (~60Kb). Under each thumbnail is the word "huge". Clicking there will load the original scanned image of about 1000x600 pixels at JPEG 75% quality (~400-500Kb).
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