Bill Holder's Errors
I have recently acquired a copy of the book titled, “Planes of the Presidents” by Bill Holder. I wish to point out a number of glaring, factual errors in this book. I work as a volunteer at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and my specialty is in the area of the Presidential Planes, of which I have spent quite a bit of time researching.
Here are some of the factual errors in this book:
On page 14, in the caption under the picture of the C-54 [Sacred Cow] he writes that it has been selected as the next presidential aircraft, in fact, it shows that it has already been assigned to the FDR Malta-Yalta trip. Note the tail number; it shows that it was changed to 272252 [a fake number] from its actual number of 210751 for that trip in order to confuse any enemies. [In fact, it may be that this picture is one of the Sacred Cow after restoration at the NMUSF]
On page 24, he writes about Columbine I, actually it was not called Columbine I, but simply Columbine. He writes that it was not saved, in fact it was saved, and is on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ., and Columbine II rests in a nearby boneyard airpark just outside of Tucson.
On page 33, he writes that in 1961, the C-118 [tail number 3240] replaced the Sacred Cow. Actually, the Sacred Cow had been retired from Presidential duties in 1947 and it was replaced by Harry Truman’s C-118, the “Independence.” The “Independence” was removed from presidential service in 1952. Between Columbine III and SAM 26000, there were three Boeing 707’s that came into presidential service during Eisenhower’s term; SAM 970, SAM 971, and SAM 972. They were moved from primary presidential service in 1962, during Kennedy’s term, and starting with the arrival of SAM 26000, they were assigned back-up duties. They were retired from their back-up roles in 1996. The C-118 [tail number 3240] was added in addition to these jets and they primarily served Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on short trips.
On page 36 & 37, he writes that President Eisenhower used SAM 26000. Sam 26000 did not come into service until October of 1962, a year and about nine months after Eisenhower had left office. President Eisenhower did fly on a 707, but it was SAM 970 and it is currently on display at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle.
Also, on page 37, he writes that it was SAM 27000 that brought Kennedy’s body back from Dallas in 1963. SAM 27000 was not even delivered until 1972. It was, of course, SAM 26000 that brought Kennedy’s body back from Dallas.
On page 43, he writes that “27000” was back-up to “26000.” Actually, it was the other way around, “27000” became the primary presidential plane and “26000” became the back-up plane.
On page45, he incorrectly writes that the VC-137 was to be replaced the VC-32A, whereas on page 38 he correctly writes that the VC-137 would be replaced by the VC-25A.
In addition,
On page 33, the caption under the picture of the radio operator's station, reads "...Kitchen..." And the caption under the kitchen, reads, "…radio operator's station..." Also the picture of the kitchen is turned sideways.
On page 35, there is a picture captioned, "President Kennedy deplaning from...SAM 26000 in this early 1970s photo" an obvious error as of course Kennedy died in 1963.
On page 40, under the picture of the conference room it says, "2800" and it should be "28000"
All-in-all, this isavery poorly researched bookRead full review
