Navy 1

This is usually the designation for the Blue Angel Boss's Airplane; however, that title was taken by an S-3B Viking in an historic event at the end of the Gulf War 2003.

I know this is not a Blue Angel Airplane; however our Commander in Chief did sit in the second seat and apparently got some "hands-on" flying time, and the plane now resides at Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, Home of the Blues, so we decided to feature it here.

Remember Navy 1, the Navy aircraft that flew President George W. Bush onto the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) on 1 May to announce the end of major hostilities in Iraq? It has been retired and given to the National Museum of Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, home of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

The historic event of the first time a sitting President ever made a cable-arrested landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier took place 39 miles off the coast of Southern California. S-3B Viking No. 700 from VS35 was flown from North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego to its new home in Pensacola on July 15. It will join the Naval Aviation's marvelous collection of over 180 aircraft, including George H.W. Bush's yellow Stearman N2S-3 Kayder biplane which the former President flew while training during World War II.

"We asked if that plane could be designated for us, and it happened to be up for retirement soon," Museum Director retired Navy Captain (and Blue Angel) Bob Rasmussen told the Pensacola News Journal. The S-3's are due to be phased out of Naval service by 2009.

If you ever get a chance to visit the Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, don't miss the opportunity!

A BIG THANK YOU
to Tim Melancon for sending us photos of Navy 1 from his recent visit to Pensacola.