| 1954 | Delivered to 1254th ATG |
| 1954 | Christened “Columbine III” |
| 1961 | Assigned to 1254th ATW Andrews |
| 1969 | Assigned to 89th MAW (SM) Andrews |
| 1966 | Stored Davis Monthan |
| 1966 | Retired at Dayton-Wright Patterson |
| today | Exhibit in the Presidential Aircraft Hangar |
The pilot, Lt Colonel William Grafton Draper in front of Air Force One 53-7885 Columbine III VC-121E Super Constellation. Draper was the personal pilot for General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, between 1950 and 1952 and later served as President Eisenhower’s personal pilot of Columbine III, the predecessor of what we now call “Air Force One” until 1961.
On November 26, 1964, he committed suicide, reportedly depressed after a heart attack ended his service as a pilot, which he had been continuously since he was 19.
