Air Force One-Half

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/15/2015 at 16:27 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history, wingspan

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In response to a 1956 US Air Force competition for a jet-powered utility transport, Lockheed developed the JetStar, a four-engine aircraft that held up to 10 passengers. While a large Air Force contract never materialized (the JetStar would go on to be the first successful business jet), Lockheed did manufacture sixteen aircraft for the Air Force, with six of them configured as the VC-140 VIP transport. Six presidents, Kennedy through Reagan, made use of the VC-140, and President Lyndon Johnson frequently flew on one to his ranch near Johnson City, TX (he spent nearly a quarter of his presidency at the Texas White House), referring to his VC-140 as “Air Force One-Half.” Johnson’s aircraft, tail number 12490 (not the one pictured), was rescued from a Tucson, AZ boneyard, restored, and now resides at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site in Pedernales, TX.

Photo via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Margin Of Error > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:33

10

It’s a shame that Lockheed left the commercial aviation business.

I would love to see a modern L-1011.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:41

8

One of the films to feature a Jetstar is Cliffhanger , a 1993 Stallone film. John Lithgow’s team of thieves have stolen millions in a daring plan involving an air to air transfer, but then crashed their Jetstar (and the millions) high in the mountains. This was one of the first movies I saw that led me to go looking for the plane involved, because four engines on the tail?! WTF? I eventually found it in a pocket Jane’s handbook I had.

DrJohannVegas > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:43

6

I have a stupid, childish love of aircraft with four aft-mounted turbojets. VC10, Il62, and the JetStar all hold a very special place in my heart.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 16:47

7

There was also a JetStar in Goldfinger . This is obviously a model, with laughably backwards American flags on it. But they did use a real one for the ground scenes.

ttyymmnn > DrJohannVegas 09/15/2015 at 16:49

3

I will never speak ill of such a fascination. I was likewise stricken when I first saw the JetStar at a young age. With those big fuel tanks on the wings, I thought it looked like a space ship.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:54

0

Cliffhanger had at the time the most expensive stunt ever filmed - a transfer between two aircraft at 15,000 feet. And yet, I seem to recall some later scenes in which they used either ‘93 CGI or models to... less than perfect effect. Such a difficult balance, filmmaking.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:55

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If I’m remembering correctly, the fuel tank size is one of the generational distinctives, with some JetStars having them much larger.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 16:57

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As somebody who is deathly afraid of heights (and yet has no problem being in an airplane) the opening scene of Cliffhanger freaked me the hell out. The rest of the film was truly forgettable, as I have completely forgotten the stunt you are talking about. Maybe I’ll get the movie and FF to the flying parts. But I’m really not in any hurry to see Sylvester Stallone on the screen again. I still suffer PTSD from Driven .

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 16:58

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Really, it’s all how you use them.

(You are probably right; I don’t know about different sizes)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 16:59

2

Don’t think of it as a Stallone movie, think of it as a Lithgow movie. Also, I have a friend who really likes Driven. I mean, I was amused by it, but I have to contend he’s insane.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 17:01

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The film was one giant laughable stereotype, the CG was terrible, the race scenarios were ludicrous. I believe it is near the top of the list of worst movies ever made. Thank God he didn’t get to make his film about F1.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 17:04

5

I looked it up. Jetstar I has longer tanks, with the wing passing through...

While Jetstar II has the tanks more under-wing, and shorter.

DrJohannVegas > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 17:05

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And, IIRC, the wing tanks also help with the shape for all that sweet transsonic flying.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 17:05

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IF YOU DRIVE PERFECTLY YOU CAN GET ALL THE QUARTERS STUCK ON ONE TIRE, BRO.
Also, the random arbitrary driving a CART racer through downtown at night scene. HURR DURR

DrJohannVegas > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 17:08

1

It just isn’t as cool with only two engines:

(“Lockheed L-329 N329J DCA 13.04.72 edited-4” by RuthAS - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0)

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 17:08

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I like the earlier one better. The second one looks more like a Falcon (NTTAWWT).

ttyymmnn > DrJohannVegas 09/15/2015 at 17:08

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Picture: Kinja’d

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 17:12

3

The second is a lot harder to secretly store an Exocet in, too, though a drop version of the Mk. 46 would fit in either. You’d need a Jetstar I for an ASROC as well.
...what?

TheOnelectronic > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 17:14

0

I like that you had a pocket-sized Jane’s handbook.

I can imagine being out for a stroll, and seeing a jet fly by, and thinking “Shit! Was that a Mig 25 or a Mig 31? IF ONLY I HAD SOME KIND OF REFERENCE!”

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > TheOnelectronic 09/15/2015 at 17:16

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To be fair, it’s a ‘79 publish one, so it misses some modern stuff - particularly helos. Also, it’s about 5”x9”x1.5”, so “pocket size” is a lie if not including stupidly huge pockets.

Andrew P. Collins > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 18:04

3

I just saw this jet on our drive from NYC to LA! They let you climb into it, but only just. Glass barriers keeping you from the cockpit or cabin.

But it still smells exactly like “old airplane.” No, really! If you’ve ever been in somebody’s private prop plane you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 18:18

1

A Jetstar II made a brief appearance in Wall Street as well — an extremely rich guy who was fending off a raid by Gordon Gekko (if memory serves) had one. Just as in Goldfinger , it served well in the role of Big Money signifier, even by private-jet standards.

55_wrench > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 18:22

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We saw the one at the LBJ Ranch last year. It’s in beautiful condition and worth seeing if you are in the area.

The Undecider > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 18:27

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Here we go. I don’t think this is original plane, but it might have been LBJ’s.

ccc40821 > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 18:36

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Four engines out back are kinda cool. Not many about, though. Here’s Vickers VC-10 and Ilyushin Il-62 (supersonic underwing doesn’t count).

JimSlade > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 19:11

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That movie is so, so bad...yet so, so good.

seanomatopoeia > Margin Of Error 09/15/2015 at 19:27

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The L-1011 being too modern is why Lockheed doesn’t do civilian, no?

Artisan Lightbulb > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 19:29

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There’s been a VC-140 in that color scheme in the Presidential Aircraft hangar at the USAF museum in Dayton for at least 15 years. Probably a lot longer. Not saying this to threadshit so much as to say that the USAF museum is an awesome way to kill an entire day for free.

ttyymmnn > Artisan Lightbulb 09/15/2015 at 19:48

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Not saying this to threadshit

Not at all. It’s been 20 years since I was at the Dayton AF Museum. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

MTY19855 > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 19:50

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The engines mounted at the back of the fuselage makes it look like a mix between a regular airplane and one of those Russian Black Sea surface skimming things.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 20:06

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I took these pictures when I visited Graceland in 2012. The aircraft have since been sold. Graceland was fantastic, but the airplanes are what lured me there. Memphis is a troubled city.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 09/15/2015 at 20:08

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If I thought this would be shared I’d have written a whole piece on the JetStar. You just never know. Thanks for the pics. I still need to get out to see LBJ’s.

Scrape > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 09/15/2015 at 20:39

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Elvis had TWO Jetstars. A Jetstar I, which still exists but in pieces in the desert, and the Jetstar II at Graceland.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 20:49

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There was a Lockheed jet on static display when I was there in the early 90s. It was smaller than the Jetstar; tiny little thing. It wasn’t in great shape then, and they may have scrapped it. I could fine no evidence of it on Google satellite images, and a number of statics that were not there when I was.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 20:50

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Looking back on old James Bond movies, I find little about them that’s not laughable. Especially Roger Moore...

Drakkon- Most Glorious and Upright Person of Genius > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 21:19

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Two pods, four engines...

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 21:19

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There was a JetStar based at my home ‘drome in CT years ago. It didn’t fly very often, and one of the mechanics let me look around inside one day. The coolest thing to me was the elevator trim - instead of using servo tabs on the elevators, the entire tail moved as one unit. You can see this as an unpainted strip on the vertical tail right below the horizontal stab.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Margin Of Error 09/15/2015 at 21:20

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It would have to be a twin. Triples and quads aren’t competitive with the 777 and A330/350.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > seanomatopoeia 09/15/2015 at 21:21

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No. Lockheed got out of the commercial market after the L1011 went bust. Instead, they concentrated on the C-5 and C-130 tactical transports.

zetec duratec ECOTEC > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 21:26

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Here it is!

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lyndo…

zetec duratec ECOTEC > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 09/15/2015 at 21:27

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It’s there.

ttyymmnn > zetec duratec ECOTEC 09/15/2015 at 21:30

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That’s not the JetStar. That’s a turboprop of some sort. LBJ’s plane is under an awning somewhere, probably the silver roof over near the ranch house.

ttyymmnn > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 09/15/2015 at 21:31

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Indeed, that’s a pretty interesting feature.

burpbeepburp > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/15/2015 at 21:37

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The English refer to those a ‘Pinion’ tanks, the Comet had them.

FusiliJerry > Margin Of Error 09/15/2015 at 21:39

1

I dunno. I road one of those from Atlanta to Hawaii (stop in Dallas) and the Delta ones may have been slightly better than Aeroflot in the rattle and scary noises category. Also a little bit concerning when they fire up the engines and clouds of blackish gray smoke goes wafting by your window....

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 22:05

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They had two of them (or maybe the same plane shown at different angles or something). Goldfinger’s private jet that brings Bond to Kentucky was a JetStar as well, and Pussy Galore mentions it by name.

M0L0TOV > MTY19855 09/15/2015 at 22:17

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You must not have been around Jalopnik for long (just ribbing ya). The ground-effect vehicle you are talking about is the Ekranoplan. :-p Seriously, back in the day it felt like Jalopnik had an article on the Ekranoplan every other day.

ttyymmnn > ranwhenparked 09/15/2015 at 22:21

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It first appears as his private plane (below), then it appears in pseudo military colors (above) at the end of the movie when it’s taking Bond to Washington, DC. Goldfinger hijacks it and then gets sucked out the window. So I don’t believe it’s meant to be the same plane in the story, but since the model builders had the JetStar model for the beginning of the film, they probably just painted it and hoped that nobody would notice.

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 22:29

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Probably used the same interior set too and just dressed it differently.

Mathos101 > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 22:33

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Dude, spoilers!

j/k

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 22:34

2

I kind of think the U.S. military should fund the private supersonic jet to ferry the POTUS around. If I were POTUS, I wouldn’t want to be ferried at subsonic speeds LIKE A FUCKING PEASANT. Plus, there’s the “avoid danger” aspect of it. If you need to get out of harm’s way in a hurry, may as well get something that can scoot.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > zetec duratec ECOTEC 09/15/2015 at 22:34

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That’s not the plane I was thinking of. And I was wrong about the identification. It was either a Jetstar or something else, but I think it couldn’t have been a Lockheed if it wasn’t a Jetstar.

The ship you’ve posted here looks like a two-engine Electra.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > DrJohannVegas 09/15/2015 at 22:36

1

Nothing stupid about that. My problem is with turboprops. SHAFT HORSEPOWER. And B-52s and generally, in my weaker moments, anything with wings. I’ll even stop and stare up at a Cessna 152.

Ike > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:05

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Yeah weird I'm the same way, hate heights, in a plane? No problem wonder why

Garth Hancock > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:07

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Didn’t a Jetstar show up in that 90s cheese fest movie Face Off.

ttyymmnn > Garth Hancock 09/15/2015 at 23:11

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It did indeed. I have blocked that movie from my memory, but my wife enjoyed it.

http://www.impdb.org/index.php?titl…

ttyymmnn > Ike 09/15/2015 at 23:12

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No idea. I’m cool on a plane, or at the top of a mountain, but the sheer side of a building will leave my knees wobbling. I can’t stand it when my kids get near the edge of a parking garage, even if the wall goes up to their neck.

ttyymmnn > dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter 09/15/2015 at 23:22

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It would have to be big, though. You need to haul all that communications gear, cabinet members, the guy with The Football . I suppose you could fit all that in a B-1B, but it would be tight. Unless you’re suggesting we build a whole new airplane for the job. Christ, just imagine how expensive that would get. They can’t even build a new helicopter without breaking the frickin’ bank. They spent over $11 BILLION on the VXX program and still couldn’t decide on one.

Ike > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:23

1

Yeah mine is at weird I hate low balconies everywhere (6’2” so most are too short). I can be be on the 10th floor of a 20 story building and see down over the balcony and Its fine but if I’m On the 7th story of a 8 story building looking down freak out. Something about being closer to the roof the the floor.

Also story time, I went to the Sears tower where they have a box of glass that juts out and you can see the deck from the top story. But when I went the whole top of the building was in clouds so it was like being in a white room, I stood on it... And it clears, freaked the fuck our! I jumped so far so fast with the girliest scream I’m surprised my wife (then gf) still married me.

ttyymmnn > Mathos101 09/15/2015 at 23:24

1

For a 51-year-old movie? BBC America is running them all endlessly, so go check it out. Besides, it’s got Pussy Galore, the best Bond Girl name ever.

(I know you were kidding)

ttyymmnn > Ike 09/15/2015 at 23:25

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I have been to the top of the Sears Tower many years ago, before the glass box. No way in hell are you going to get me out there, not for all the free beer and cigars in the world. Nope nope nope nope.......

Ike > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:28

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And little kids jump on it. I’m like are you mad! Oh and occasionally the glass cracks and has to be replaced.

Imagine standing on it when that happens!

ttyymmnn > Ike 09/15/2015 at 23:34

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No.

Ike > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:35

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Come on... Do it... I'll be your friend

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:35

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Everything can fit in Marine One, so it doesn’t need any more interior space than that. Technically, it doesn’t need any more interior space that the Beast.

But yeah, the $11 B is about what I’m thinking actually developing a SSBJ would cost. The fact is that development costs are far any away bigger than the private business jet market could support. The only way to get it done would be to find someone with such deep pockets that they could spend really really stupid amounts of money on the project for little return. And that is the POTUS.

EDIT: The other issue I think is that they haven’t been going for the long haul, which I imagine is because of fuel considerations. But the jet needs to do LA to Tokyo/Beijing, because that flight is THE WORST and flying more than double the speed would make it much much much less painful.

ttyymmnn > Ike 09/15/2015 at 23:36

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Ike > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 23:40

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Aww your mean.

Also

Mark Out West > DrJohannVegas 09/15/2015 at 23:56

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IIRC, some company in the 1980s was thinking of replacing the 4 731s on the Dash II with two CF-34s (same engine as the A-10 and S-3). Looked pretty cool.

https://youtu.be/jP-Bzou2eDs

How many assholes have we got on this ship anyhow? > seanomatopoeia 09/16/2015 at 00:09

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God no! Competing for commercial airline contracts is soooo much work! First, you have real competition because there’s no military domestic security requirements restricting who can bid (hint: Lockheed and maybe two others, but they’ve partnered with them so: lose=win). And because of those restrictions they’re virtually assured some contracts because the last thing the U.S. government wants is to go down to one supplier, or need a foreign supplier, so LM can threaten and say ‘oh if we lose xyz we’re OUT of that business bitches) so the Gub’t says ‘oh we think Lockheed needs one now’ despite the quality of the bid.

Then on the commercial side, you have cheap-ass airlines that expect shit on time, and f’n working when it’s delivered for Christ sake! Fixed price? No way. Who does that? Boeing? (Cough-chumps!-cough.). With Uncle Sam, it's ALWAYS cost plus, even when it's not. Family rules! And finally they’ve spent a lot of money to know how the joint chiefs like their coffee. Lockheed ain’t stupid.

How many assholes have we got on this ship anyhow? > Margin Of Error 09/16/2015 at 00:11

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Oops meant my reply below for you Margin! Here: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/god-no-competi…

DrJohannVegas > Mark Out West 09/16/2015 at 00:14

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Neat. Never heard of that, but the 34 is a great engine.

Edit: Watching this now, that’s a good-looking reengine, too.

SaRcAsTiMoDe: ON > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2015 at 00:21

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Great movie! Wondering how they might handle the pressurized cabins for the transfer. Maybe they descended to a lower altitude for the transfer?

cooperquinn_wy > M0L0TOV 09/16/2015 at 00:37

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PROBABLY BECAUSE THE CASPIAN SEA MONSTER IS AWESOME.

ShiroZ31 > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 01:22

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12492 is in the AF Museum. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/MuseumEx…

mrantimatter > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 02:03

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Oh the Jetstar! My Uncle was in the airforce when it was in use, and was actually assigned to work on the Air Force one jetstars. He worked on the one now in the National Museum of the Air Force.

Wizzee > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 03:02

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Elvis Presley had two personal planes, a Convair 880 named “Lisa Marie”, after his daughter, and a JetStar named “Hound Dog II” They were both on display at Graceland for many years, but I read someplace that the new owner of the tourist attraction has asked that they be sold and moved off the property. Neither is in flying condition, but they could have their wings removed and then towed to the nearby Memphis International Airport, to be restored. But the thing about the JetStar was the fact that it was expensive to operate, and expensive to maintain. With four engines instead of only two like most other biz-jets, it gobbled lots of fuel, and had four engines to maintain, instead of only two. That’s why, in a nutshell, it was not a commercial success. Only the government could afford to own and operate them.

ben loves his new "real" SUV > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 05:27

1

I was thinking that it looked familiar....went on the tour of the Texas White house not long ago. You can get within about 15 feet of it. great looking plane. The collection of LBJ’s cars was pretty cool too.

Happa2 > Margin Of Error 09/16/2015 at 06:29

1

NO.

That ugly-ass, short-legged, malformed insult to aviation is better like it is: dead. It was so ugly even the Russians came to their senses and didn’t build it when given the chance.

M0L0TOV > cooperquinn_wy 09/16/2015 at 08:42

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It certainly is!

As Du Volant > MTY19855 09/16/2015 at 09:00

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The Ilyushin IL-62, a classic Soviet airliner, also had that ekranoplan look.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SaRcAsTiMoDe: ON 09/16/2015 at 09:20

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15,000 is thin air, but by no means impossible to work in. There are five towns in Tibet and Peru above that altitude, one of which has a population in the tens of thousands. In other words, no pressurization needed.

Sean > MTY19855 09/16/2015 at 09:32

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The ekranoplan designs generally had the engines on winglets on either side of the cockpit, except for Orlyonok, which had the sustainment propellors up on top of the tail and two engines embedded in the nose exhausting under the wing (a PAR-WIG — Power-Assisted Ram Wing in Ground — configuration).

Ben > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 09:50

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I used to work with one of LBJ’s pilots who flew the Jetstar. Of the 8 or so that are left flying in the world, all the crews do their recurrent training in Atlanta in the only operational Jetstar simulator there is.

I had the opportunity to actually get in one of these incredible things in For Lauderdale one time. I was sitting at the airport waiting for my passengers (I was flying a Lear at the time), and I saw it out on the ramp. I knew I’d likely never get that opportunity again, so I asked if I could experience the inside of it. It is deceptively large on the inside.

Fun fact: Howard Hughes bought two of these with the intent to convert them to two-motor aircraft. To my knowledge, he fitted one with two motors, but ended up leaving the other alone.

special_k_side > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2015 at 10:15

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I do not understand why everyone is surprised about four engines at the the rear. Vickers VC-10 pictured here.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > special_k_side 09/16/2015 at 10:18

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Yes, the VC-10 did it, and the IL-62. That doesn’t mean when I first saw the film at probably age 13 or so that I’d ever seen either of those. There are literally hundreds of models of commercial aircraft, and you don’t think something featured on *three* of them is an oddity?

Matttathome > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 10:29

1

Only flying jetstar I've seen in person was owned by an evangelical group! I can't imagine a more inefficient way to blow through the money taken from the elderly! Lol it was cool seeing the plane though!

ShiroZ31 > dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter 09/16/2015 at 10:29

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If Clinton couldn’t get the SSBJ, nobody can amirite?

ttyymmnn > Matttathome 09/16/2015 at 10:42

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I would wager that many of those charismatic evangelicals exist solely to live the high life off other people’s money. Who knows, maybe they bought cheap at an estate sale. Still, it can’t be that cheap to operate.

dagibby > Wizzee 09/16/2015 at 11:21

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The Government is why it had 4 engines, it was required for transporting VIPs trans-Atlantic at the time.

special_k_side > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/18/2015 at 15:09

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No I do not think it is an oddity. It is the comments about the mounting of two engines side by side on each side, in the rear. Wow, lots of “Side by side” here! LOL