Posted on 10/20/2006 6:27:18 PM PDT by ZGuy
During its 28 years of service, Air Force One 27000 carried more presidents to more countries on more missions than any other aircraft in history.
The last Boeing 707 to see presidential service, 27000 was the scene of the transfer of power from President Richard Nixon to President Gerald Ford. In 1987, the craft took President Reagan to West Berlin, where he called for an end to the Cold War, famously demanding Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev "tear down this wall."
But perhaps the journey from a San Bernardino hangar to atop a hill in Simi Valley was the most dramatic trip of its long life.
And for father and son Joel and Michael Cohen from Westlake Village, documenting the historic move for their new book, "Air Force One-The Final Mission," was the highlight of their careers.
"It was the journey of my life, and I'm a 72-year-old man and I've been through a lot," Joel said.
Before leaving the White House, President Reagan asked then Secretary of the Air Force James F. McGovern if, when the plane was retired, he could display it at his planned presidential library.
Twelve years later, in 2001, the Reagan Foundation got a call putting the plan in motion.
After hearing about the gift, the Cohens asked a close family friend, President Reagan's former Chief of Staff Joanne Drake, if anyone would be documenting the jet's journey to the Reagan Library.
"She was like, 'uh, no,'" Michael said. "And after a . . . 20-minute meeting, we were in."
The Cohens would need to fund the entire publishing project, but they would be granted 100 percent access.
Sept. 8, 2001 marked the plane's final flight, from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to San Bernardino International Airport.
Over the next 18 months, the jet would be cleaned and eventually disassembled, every detail preserved. In each wing, more than 1,300 fasteners needed to be removed by hand.
"No one had ever taken apart an airliner bolt by bolt-no one," Michael said. "This national treasure was being taken apart and laid out on old, stinky mattresses the crew had found at some mattress store nearby.
The crew would wander around Home Depot looking for things to buy to make something that they could take the screws off with."
After a lot of hard work by a dedicated crew, June 20, 2003 arrived. Giant trailers dragged the main body and wings to the craft's new home. From a flat tire on the highway to the slow climb up Presidential Drive, the book "Air Force One-The Final Mission" documents every incident, success and celebration during the journey along California highways and up the hill to the Reagan Library.
"Every light post, flag and some gate posts had to be laid down for it to make it up the drive. It's a 500-foot climb and it's not quite straight," Michael said. "They had one shot because they couldn't stop the truck. And there was no way to back it down."
But as anyone who's been to the Air Force Pavilion knows, they made it. In retirement, Air Force One had completed its final mission.
"When it was over, things got pretty lonely," Joel said. "There had been so much activity around us every day. It was like . . . what are we going to do now?"
"When that day came," Michael said, "it was no longer our baby. At that point you realized how very personal it had become.
"The walls talk in there," he added. "There is a spirit in the plane, and when I visit it now, I don't feel it. We knew it was changing. That spirit went, 'okay, we've had our time. Now it's for everybody.'"
The Cohens put together their book, which is dedicated in large part to the crew who took care of the plane's care, disassembly and travel to its new home.
"When the book was finally released and we got our first box of books, I didn't know what to feel, whether to be nervous or excited," Michael said.
"When we opened it, I got the overwhelming feeling of gratification that all the people that worked on it were finally getting credit."
The Cohens took more than 4,000 photographs during the four-and-a-half year project.
All the living presidents gave their retrospectives on Air Force One, and the Cohens were given the right to use the presidential seal on the book's cover.
Former first lady Nancy Reagan wrote a special message for the book, something they said she had never before agreed to do.
"Ronnie always said that Air Force One represented the spirit and democracy of the United States of America in a very unique way," she wrote.
"It is the only symbol of our great country that could be taken 'on the road,' so to speak. Whenever and wherever that airplane touched down, everyone who saw it knew it represented freedom, and it carried about the promise of a better future . . . .
"Ronnie really wanted to share his experiences aboard this aircraft with everyone who never got the chance to step on board," she wrote.
The Cohens will sign their book at Borders in Thousand Oaks on Friday, Oct. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. and at Barnes & Noble in Westlake Village on Monday, Oct. 23 from 7 to 9 p.m.
For information or to purchase the book, visit www.airforceonethefinalmission
A SLOW CRAWL-An 18-wheeler hauls President Ronald Reagan's beloved Air Force One up the winding Presidential Drive in 2003. Authors Joel and Michael Cohen document the route the retired jetliner took to Simi Valley in their recent book, "Air Force One-The Final Mission." The plane took its final flight on Sept. 8, 2001, from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to San Bernardino International Airport in California.
PERMANENTLY PARKED-The Boeing 707 as it looks today.
You could almost feel this great man's living presence at this beautiful memorial.
While this plane was being towed to its final destination, the terrorists were making final preparations for their attacks in New York and Washington.
Nothing was too good for our RR. This brings tears of joy to my old eyes.
My cousin is retired from show biz where he had been a writer for Bob Hope and Carol Burnett, and a producer for “Three’s Company” and other shows. When we got back to the house, he showed me a script on the wall of his den that he’d had framed. It was from Bob Hope’s 85th birthday special on NBC in 1988, and it was a short sketch he had written for Hope and Reagan to do on the show. Next to the printed lines were a whole series of handwritten changes.
He had faxed the script to Reagan on Air Force I and knew that Reagan would not like one particular joke. Sure enough, President Reagan called him at home from Air Force I and suggested they change it. For the next 15 minutes my cousin and the president worked over that one joke until it shone. He was surprised and delighted that Reagan had not lost his sense of comic timing.
The sketch aired as corrected. At the end of the sketch, Reagan and Hope said at the same time, “I hope I look as good when I’m your age.”
Not to nit-pick, but, at that time, the plane had just landed at San Bernardino and wasn't disassembled yet. It wasn't towed to its final destination til 2003.
And Bob Hope - another national treasure. Your cousin was a very lucky person.
It's the 1960s and California's new governor, warring with the public university system, goes to meet with the chancellors. Students mass to protest his arrival by standing shoulder to shoulder and staring at him in complete and jarring silence. He arrives, walks past, turns at the doorway and puts his finger to his lips. Ssshhhh, he says, and winks. They start to laugh.
LOL - he probably knew that most of the students had no idea why they were even there! Just another excuse to cut class and have some "fun".
I think Noonan's is not the same conservative she used to be during the Reagan years. She seems to have changed in her columns, a little more towards the liberal side in her leanings?
You'd never know from reading that column that Noonan ever "worked for" Reagan. She is practically drooling for clinton. She disgusts me.
Driving back I pondered how our nation found just the right man to be President at that crucial juncture in history. All I could think of was the quote that God looks out for children, drunks, and the United States of America. It did strike me as divine intervention.
A more pedestrian thought occurred to me as well: If the museum were for Bill Clinton, Simi Valley would have had a different spelling.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.