Air Force One. An Era Comes To An End......

[DEEPNHOCK]

Sadly, Time marches on....
The Air Force One paint scheme created by Raymond Loewy for the Kennedy administration in the early 1960's is being replaced. Should be on the 'new' planes being delivered in 2024.

(snippet copy... See link for complete article)

[bezhawk]

Surprised it's not gold. Things change, good design doesn't have to.

[Gunslinger]

I think the current color scheme is timeless...regardless of its Loewy origins. The proposed new schemes look too much like something an airline would do...not bad but less distinctive than the current colors scheme.

[Commander Eddie]

Yuk! What's wrong with the current paint job?

[Chris Pile]

I didn't scan the article and I haven't heard anything about it yet.... Is the new Air Force One supposed to be a MAX?

[skyway]

Listened to the interview.
Alas, I read this as "Change what you can, when you can, and make sure folks know you're the one that did it."

[rockne10]

Two new 747s had been in the plan even before Trump lost his ability to be a private citizen; but he is not fond of the original Kennedy era paint scheme.
The new planes are supposed to be a bit larger than the existing 747-400s, but full plans for the interior, as well as the paint, may still require congressional approval.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/13/trump-air-force-one-design-1363766

[52-fan]

I guess the new paint scheme is okay, but the old one was fine.

[GrumpyOne]

All I can say is, "Iconic" no more!

Not at all inspirational...

[studefan]

Was never a fan of the baby/powder blue color so it was time to go. Nothing more patriotic than a red, white, and blue plane so those are the most appropriate colors. The design possibilities are endless though.

[Mike Van Veghten]

From what I've seen (TV) and read, the current, blue and white was a "collaboration" between Mrs. Kennedy and Loewy. Not just a Loewy design and color scheme. There was an hour long TV show about in a coupla months back.

In any case, it seems it may be going back to earlier colors that were proposed (according to Wiki) by the Air Force that Jack Kennedy did not like with the red and gold that they wanted. He let Mrs. Kennedy handle the new "fresh" design and paint colors. Seems Loewy was more on the design and she was more on the colors. According to the TV show and sorta verified in (Wiki)

Mike

[StudeDave57]

The proposed new schemes look too much like something an airline would do...not bad but less distinctive than the current colors scheme.

Not to mention something the US Marines have already done....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23032926@N05/5223859837

I didn't scan the article and I haven't heard anything about it yet.... Is the new Air Force One supposed to be a MAX?

Uhhhhhh..... no. Because there is no such thing as a 747Max.

There are 737 variants in the fleet at the 89th Airlift Wing though. They are based on the 737-700BBJ.
Those are known as C-40Bs, and the 89th has two of the four built.

The new planes are supposed to be a bit larger than the existing 747-400s, but full plans for the interior, as well as the paint, may still require congressional approval.

A 747-8I is bigger than a 747-400, yes. But the current VC-25 isn't a -400. It's a -200 with many parts from the -300 line.

Seems Loewy was more on the design and she was more on the colors.

If you've ever seen photos of what the jet (SAM 26000) looked like before the redesign-- you'd see that he didn't work too hard on his part.

[showbizkid]

Nice historical pix, Dave!

[Silverplate]

The US Marines have been painted that for many years, nothing new there.

[1951Champion]

Here's a comparison of one of the original designs by Raymond Loewy Associates (courtesy of the Hagley Museum in Delaware, which has many of Loewy's papers) and an englargement of one of the options in the earlier photo from the Oval Office. President Trump says he's making this change "for future Presidents," but it's interesting to see how Loewy pitched the idea (supposedly in the same Oval Office) of a red, white, and blue AF One -- but President Kennedy opted for the blue on blue with silver bottom design instead.

While I am generally a Trump supporter, I don't like this change. The new design -- to me -- looks like some old USAirways jet...