FDR's "Sacred Cow"-- Part 1: The First Air Force One

Back on Jan. 31, I was writing about the planes used to fly over "The Hump" and came across FDR's plane, "The Sacred Cow."

From the Air Mobility Command Museum site  C-54M Skymaster.

They have one, but not the Sacred Cow, which is in the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton.

The C-54 that was specially built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt was known as the Sacred Cow and built in 1944.  One special feature of it was an elevator behind the passenger cabin that lofted the president and his wheelchair in and out of the plane.

The passenger compartment included a conference room with a large desk and a bullet proof picture window.

Roosevelt made his first and only trip in it traveling to Yalta, USSR, in February 1945.

This plane remained in service for the first 27 months of the Truman Administration.  On  26 July 1947, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which established the Air Force as an independent service.  This also made the Sacred Cow the birthplace of the U.S. Air Force.

After it was no longer used by the president, it was assigned other transport duties until retired in 1961.

--GreGen