Presidential Trivia Answers (Oct. 11 & 12)

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(1) QUESTION: Who was the first President (or ex-President) to fly on a plane?

ANSWER: Theodore Roosevelt. The Wright exhibition team was performing at an air meet in 1910. A pilot offered to take Roosevelt up in the air. Roosevelt refused at first, but eventually agreed to do it. When Roosevelt flew, he was an ex-President. The first President to fly during his term in office was FDR in 1943, but John F. Kennedy was the first to fly on a plane resembling our modern idea of Air Force One. (There’s an argument for Eisenhower, but JFK was the first to fly a plane specifically for presidential use.) My story about Theodore Roosevelt’s flight can be found here: https://taraross.substack.com/p/tdih-roosevelt-flight

(2) QUESTION: Who was the first President (if any) to ride in a dirigible or blimp?

ANSWER: FDR. The National Archives reports: “FDR may have set an additional aviation first – we think he may have been the first president to fly on-board a dirigible airship (also known as a blimp or zeppelin)! During World War I, serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR traveled to Europe to inspect US Navy facilities. Several weeks into his trip, on August 17th, 1918 he visited a base in Paimboeuf, Western France where he was offered a ride aboard a French-built airship.” FDR described his experience: “The sensation is distinctly curious, less noise than an areo and far more feeling of drifting at the mercy of the wind.”

(3) QUESTION: True or False? The term “Air Force One” was coined during JFK’s administration?

ANSWER: False. It was used for the first time in the earlier 1950s when a plane carrying Dwight Eisenhower entered the same airspace as an Eastern Airlines flight using the same call sign. Today, the phrase “Air Force One” is often used to refer to the President’s airplane, but it is technically a radio call sign for any plane carrying the President.