See inside Harry Trumans historic Air Force One plane featuring a stateroom and a cartoon eagle paint job

• President Harry Truman used The Independence, a Douglas VC-118, as his Air Force One plane.

• The plane entered service in 1947, retired in 1953, and grew to become a museum piece in 1965.

• Visitors at the National Museum of the US Air Force can stroll through the historic Air Force One.

It’s a hen! It’s a plane! It’s Air Force One!

It seems, President Harry Truman‘s presidential plane, a Douglas VC-118 named The Independence, was a bit of both. The plane was painted with the cartoon face of an eagle on the cockpit and a wing design on the fuselage.

Flown from 1947 to 1953, The Independence was only the second plane constructed particularly for the use of the president of the United States. The first was a Douglas VC-54C Skymaster named “The Flying White House,” also identified as the “Sacred Cow.”

Now an exhibit at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, The Independence is one of a number of past presidential planes that guests can stroll through in the William E. Boeing Presidential Gallery.

I visited the museum in August to step inside Truman’s Air Force One. Take a nearer look.

The Independence, a Douglas VC-118, served as the presidential plane from 1947 to 1953.

The Douglas VC-118 was a navy model of a Douglas DC-6 business airliner. The plane was named for Truman’s hometown of Independence, Missouri.

The Independence arrived at the National Museum of the US Air Force in 1965.

After its tenure as Air Force One, the plane transported other VIP passengers as an Air Force plane.

Upon buying The Independence, the National Museum of the US Air Force restored its eagle-themed paint scheme to the way in which it seemed under Truman.

Visitors to the museum can board the plane and stroll through the aisles once reserved for the president and top authorities officers.

The self-guided tour started in the cockpit.

The Independence was powered by 4 Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, each with 2,100 horsepower. At top velocity, it traveled at 360 miles per hour.

Its fuel tanks have been bigger than the Sacred Cow’s, which allowed it to fly wherever in the continental US without refueling.

Behind the flight deck, the radio room featured old style navigation tools that predated GPS.

The plane’s navigator used a useless reckoning pc, a handheld mechanical machine that functioned like a slide rule, and an plane navigational plotter, which resembled a ruler with a protractor.

Crew seating was positioned behind the radio room.

A crew of 9 people operated The Independence.

The VIP passenger space included home windows with curtains and a desk for eating and enjoying playing cards.

On one of the plane’s most well-known flights, Truman flew to Wake Island during the Korean War to meet with Gen. Douglas MacArthur in 1950.

The playing cards displayed on the desk have been Air Force One-themed.

Modern Air Force One planes still offer memento mementos like Air Force One-themed M&Ms.

More seating was positioned additional into the cabin of the plane.

The Independence may maintain 24 seated passengers or sleep 12 people in slim bunks identified as berths.

In the galley, flight attendants ready meals for the president and his entourage.

The galley featured a stovetop, sink, oven, and fridge.

The president’s stateroom was positioned in the back of the plane.

Truman loved a personal workspace furnished with a desk adorned with the presidential seal.

Walking through The Independence confirmed me just how rapidly Air Force One has developed.

The Independence was only retired 72 years in the past, yet it seems tiny and outdated in contrast to the Boeing VC-25A jets used by fashionable presidents, that are geared up with full medical suites, state of affairs rooms, midair refueling capabilities, and other superior applied sciences.

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