On Oct. 25 a new exhibit at The Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas' Love Field Airport will mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy by specifically highlighting the events that took place at Love Field on Nov. 22, 1963.
In a news release issued Thursday, the museum said the centerpiece of the exhibit will be a mockup of Kennedy's Air Force One.
On the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, Air Force One landed at Love Field after ferrying the president and his party from Fort Worth, where he had spent the night. From Love Field, Kennedy's motorcade was to carry him through Dallas, into downtown and then on toward the Trade Mart -- but a sniper's bullet forever changed history. Instead, the president was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital where he was eventually pronounced dead. His body, placed in a coffin, was returned to Air Force One as Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office aboard the aircraft.
"The Air Force One mock-up is created from the fuselage section of an actual Boeing 707, similar to the VC-137C aircraft number 26000 that became the first jet-powered Air Force One in 1962. The 47-foot fuselage section features representations of the crew seating area, the presidential stateroom, and the compartment in which Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office (becoming the first—and so far only—president to do so aboard an airplane). The mock-up also includes an accurate and detailed re-creation of the aircraft’s cockpit as it was when Col. James Swindal and his crew flew President Kennedy to Dallas.
While waiting to board the Air Force One mock-up, visitors can view a short documentary about activities at Love Field on November 22, 1963. They will also be able to take advantage of a unique photo opportunity as they exit the forward door with the Presidential seal on the fuselage beside them.
The Air Force One mockup will be in place for one month.
Admission prices for the exhibit are $10 for museum members and $12 for non-members. Children between the ages of 3 and 17 are $7 -- under age 3 are free. For more information visit, http://www.flightmuseum.com/
