Photos: Columbine II, the first Air Force One
A Lockheed Constellation known as Columbine II, also the first Air Force One, leaves Marana Regional Airport.
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The country's first Air Force One started out as a cargo plane. The 1948 Lockheed Constellation, built in California was refitted for Dwight Eisenhower which he used prior to and during his presidency. It got it's Air Force One monicker following a close call with and Eastern Airlines airplane over New York City in 1953.
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The 1948 Lockheed Constellation was the sleek and stylish passenger airplane of it's day seating about 70 passengers.
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The country's first Air Force One started out as a cargo plane.
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Recent inspections of Columbine 2, the country's first Air Force One, indicate a bad propeller blade. The aircraft flys 4 propellers, each 15' in diameter.
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Weather and time have been unkind to the airplane. Hydraulic issues have been a problem during the repairs.
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The last time the four engines were fired up three of them worked. Parts are hard to come by for these old airplanes.
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Mechanics pore over the Columbine II. More than 100 air worthiness directives from the FAA needed to meet compliance standards in order to make the plane flight ready.
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Pete Blood, a warbirds mechanic with Planes of Fame, keeps records of the work he is doing.
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Mechanic Hiram Leon removes one of 36 spark plugs from a 500 horsepower Curtis engine.
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Mechanic Jack Kubit, left, works on a wiring project as others gather tools for their projects in the on-site work trailer.
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Brad Holliday sorts the shims to be used in re-installing rebuilt uplift locks for the wheel wells.
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Brad Holliday, left, and Rocco Minitch work in a wheel well installing uplifter hooks.
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Work is being done on the outboard rudder system.
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Many flexible hoses have been replaced with new, fire-sleeved units.
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Some interior details remain of the original.
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The interior will get a facelift when the aircraft is moved to Bridgewater, Virginia.
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Original seatbelt in the 1948 Lockheed Constellation.
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A photo of the original galley is lit by a porthole window.
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Navigation equipment still on board .
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Cockpit during the ongoing refurbishing project.
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New wiring in the cockpit was necessary to meet airworthiness compliance requirements to fly the aircraft.
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Visitors view the inside of the nation’s first Air Force One during a recent farewell event. It is almost ready to take flight again.
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The cockpit of the nation’s first Air Force One is ready to go.
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Owner of the nation’s first Air Force One, Karl D. Stolzfus Jr. plans to restore the plane to the exact shape it was in when Eisenhower flew in it.
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A large crowd gathered for a walk through of the plane during a VIP farewell reception on Friday, March 18, 2016.
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The nation’s first Air Force One, which sat abandoned in the Arizona desert for more than a decade, is almost ready to take flight again.
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Monday, March 21, 2016 spectators look at a B-25 that will act as a chase plane for the Columbine II.
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Mechanic Rocco Minitch watches as the props roll.
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Pilot Lockie Christler, signals to the ground crew.
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Columbine II, pulls onto the taxi way.
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Columbine II, lifts off.
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Columbine II, on its way.
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A piece of paper marks where Eisenhower's desk was in Clumbine II, the first Air Force One at Marana Regional Airport in 2003. Aaron J. Latham / Arizona Daily Star
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J.R. Kern points to old pictures of the first Air Force One, Columbine II, inside the Lockheed Constellation at Marana Regional Airport in 2003. Kern is director of maintenance for The Constellation Group. Aaron J. Latham / Arizona Daily Star
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The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1987. Fergal Goodman / Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1989. Harry Oliver / Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1990. Harry Oliver / Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1953. Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1953. Submitted photo
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. LIFE Magazine
Columbine II
The first plane to be designated Air Force One, also known as Columbine II, a Lockheed Constellation, currently at Marana Regional Airport. Photo taken in 1953. Submitted photo
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Columbine II starting engines at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1990 for her final flight to Marana Airport. U.S. Air Force photo
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Ringed by a security guard, the Columbine, newly named Constellation which is the president’s private plane, waits at the military air transport terminal along the Potomac River in Washington on Feb. 26, 1953. William J. Smith / Associated Press
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
Rick Wiley is the photo editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. From 1995-2004, he was director of photography at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa. From 1988-94 he was a photographer at the Tucson Citizen. He is a graduate of ASU (yes, that ASU).