7/28/2010 6:00:00 AM Restoration crew set to ship LBJ plane to Texas museum
SUZANNE ADAMS/Miner -- From left, Barry Oloizia, Miguel Vazquez and Sean Straube were part of the crew that repainted a Lockheed JetStar that was used during the Lyndon B. Johnson presidency. Not pictured is Heather Stout. The crew had to chemically strip the old paint off the plane, polish the aluminum frame and then repaint the plane using the presidential paint scheme.
SUZANNE ADAMS/Miner -- The cockpit of the Lockheed JetStar is in need of repair.
KINGMAN - A bit of presidential history will be departing from the Kingman Airport and Industrial Park this week to former President Lyndon B. Johnson's Texas White House. Straube's Aircraft Services has been working for the last eight weeks on restoring the paint job of a Lockheed JetStar business jet that was used as a backup to Johnson's primary JetStar.
"Johnson was the first vice president to ask a sitting president (John F. Kennedy) for his own aircraft," said Lyndon B. Johnson Historical Park Superintendent Russ Whitlock.
Before Johnson, vice presidents had to ask the president if they could borrow an aircraft to make a trip.
"That wasn't Johnson's style," Whitlock said. Kennedy granted him the favor and Johnson asked to use the fleet of five JetStar aircraft already designated for the president's use.
He liked the JetStar and used it much more frequently (even after he became president) than the larger Boeing 707 that the president used, Whitlock said. The JetStar was smaller, faster and more fuel-efficient than the 707 and could land at smaller airports. It also seated fewer passengers (about 13) than the 707, which meant that Johnson could hand-pick the passengers, he said. He liked to refer to the plane as "Air Force One-and-a-Half."
The historical park has been looking for one of the planes for a while, because Johnson frequently used a JetStar to fly to his ranch in the hill country of Texas, Whitlock said.
Having the plane at the ranch will be an important part of telling the story of the advances in communications technology that allowed Johnson to spend nearly a quarter of his five years as president at the ranch.
Whitlock was contacted by Jim Cross, Johnson's pilot a few years ago, about moving the primary JetStar that Johnson used from its location at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia to the historical park in between Austin and Fredericksburg, he said.
The base wasn't willing to give up the plane, Whitlock said. After a little research, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio was able to find the back-up plane, the one painted by Straube's, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, he said.
The park came very close to losing the plane, Whitlock said. It was slated to be sold to a scrap yard for parts, but the parts yard decided at the last minute that it wanted another plane.
According to Air Force records, the plane entered into service in 1961 and was retired to Davis-Monthan in 1983 after serving as a VIP jet for Air Force personnel.
The plane is not in flyable condition. It was taken apart and moved to Kingman for its new paint job on three semi-trucks. This week it will be disassembled once more, placed on three trucks and driven to the historical park in Texas. The plane will then be set up on the landing strip behind the Texas White House.
Johnson took over as president after former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Johnson was elected to the office in 1964 and served until 1969. He was known for his "Great Society" legislation that included civil rights, public broadcasting, education and environmental protection laws.
He withdrew from the race for the presidency in 1968 due to the growing discontent with his handling of the Vietnam War.
He also served Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1937 to 1949 and the U.S. Senate from 1949 to 1961.
Johnson died at his ranch in 1973 from a heart attack.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Article comment by:
Traci Moore
Hey guys awesome project!!!!!! And to all who made comments who cares what presidents plane it is or weather they were good or not this is a piece of history you never got to see in person :P IT IS HISTORY that is the interesting fact when does kingman ever get anything like that.....
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Article comment by:
Hornett II
Hey Just Sayin', right behind the peanut farmer from Georgia........
Posted: Thursday, July 29, 2010
Article comment by:
Nice Chuckle
You forgot Mr Reagan and Both men named Bush too.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Just Saying You are Right
Right behind Jimmy Carter and Barry Sotero
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Just Sayin'
