Roosevelt Plane

Ohio History

Presidential Gallery

Of course there were a number of planes used during World War II on display at the museum. This new form of high speed travel allowed this war to affect more civilians than perhaps any war in history through bombing. But the plane from the WWII era that interested me most was one used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was located in the Presidential Gallery, which we accessed by riding the shuttle bus across the base. This gallery boasted the world's largest collection of planes used by U.S. Presidents, including four that we could actually get inside. President Roosevelt was the first President to fly while in office in 1943 (imagine that - it took forty years after the first flight to get a President in the air!). His plane is the silver one in the background of this picture; it was nicknamed The Sacred Cow.

Cockpit

We got to walk all the way up and down through the narrow passages of the plane. Here is a view of the instrument control panels surrounding the pilot's and copilot's seats.