Not all NBAA-BACE exhibits highlight current products, FBOs, aircraft, engines, and avionics. In fact, one unique exhibit—at Booth 2213—aims to appeal to lovers of history and classic airplanes. There, First Air Force One is promoting the restoration of President Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower’s Lockheed Constellation, “Columbine II.”
Manufactured in 1948, the Columbine II wasn’t Ike’s first presidential airplane, although it is the only one that served just one president. He selected the Constellation after being elected in 1952 and flew it from 1954 until 1959 when it was replaced by a Boeing 707.
Ike’s first airplane, an Aero Commander L-26B—dubbed "Ike’s Bird" and the “smallest Air Force One”—is still flying, under the care of the Commemorative Air Force’s DFW Wing in Dallas.
After being replaced by Columbine III, a Super Constellation, Columbine II was sold to Pan Am, where it operated for two years before returning to military duty with the U.S. Air Force. The Constellation was retired in 1968 and languished in the Arizona desert for decades until Dynamic Aviation co-founder Karl Stoltzfus Sr. learned about the historic airplane and decided that it must be brought back to life.
Stoltzfus and a team of mechanics from Dynamic Aviation and the Mid America Flight Museum in Mount Pleasant, Texas, spent a year getting the Constellation airworthy and flew it back to Dynamic’s Bridgewater, West Virginia base on March 22, 2016.
“They did some work now and then,” said Bruce Ganger, director of community engagement, and a fundraising expert who came out of retirement to help First Air Force One with the Columbine II project. “But they decided it was too big a lift to do as one company.”
An estimated $12 million and three years are needed for the restoration, and First Air Force One’s goal is to make Columbine II a flying museum and offer it for meeting space and other uses.
“We’re restoring it from the tail to the nose to look like it did [during Ike’s presidency],” Ganger said. “The interior and exterior will be period authentic,” and this will include a recreation of Ike’s desk, as well as parachute harnesses for Ike and his wife Mamie and even grandson David to bail out of Columbine II if necessary.
Although some work has been done on Columbine II, including rewiring the airframe, a lot more remains. The plan is to begin comprehensive restoration once $4.5 million has been raised, which will cover the first 12 months of work.
Stoltzfus is also planning to build a dedicated facility to house Columbine II, much like the museum hangar where B-29 Doc is based in Wichita.
First Air Force One will fly Columbine II to airshows and events such as NBAA-BACE and EAA AirVenture. “It will tell stories about that time in our history and the evolution of the new world order,” Ganger said. “This airplane was in the middle of it.”
The museum will include videos, photographs, and logs of who flew on Columbine II, telling the story of how Columbine II was an early example of business aviation operations. “It was a tool for Ike to keep things moving along,” he said.
“We’re excited about the vision for Columbine II and being at BACE,” Ganger told AIN. "If you look at it, this was first presidential air transport that was business aviation. Ike used it as a tool to be more effective, efficient, and timely.
“The world began to know wherever Air Force One was, something significant was taking place. Ike was notorious for being a man of peace, and this was the facilitation for him to do that. We believe this is going to be a convening point to open doors to youth and others to careers in STEM and aviation. It’s going to be a wonderful [opportunity] for veterans to see Air Force One and relive and tell stories about their time in service for their country.”