It’s common now to see the president of the United States climb aboard Air Force One, a plane ready to fly him anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.

But who was the first president to fly in a plane? Who was the first to have a plane designated specifically for a president?

Retired U.S. Army veteran helicopter pilot Jim Kale provided Kingfisher Rotarians those answers and more when he discussed the flight history of U.S. presidents at their meeting last Tuesday.

Kale told Rotarians the first U.S. president to fly was Theodore Roosevelt.

He flew with an aviator on an early sled-bottom open-air airplane at a gathering of people at an airshow in 1910.

Kale showed a photo of the president in the plane, holding onto a vertical support, not wearing a seatbelt and waving to the crowd.

He said the flight happened after Roosevelt’s time in the office.

The first official presidential designated aircraft was a 1933 sea plane, which saw very limited service and the first active-duty plane for President Franklin Roosevelt was a larger 1943 model Dixie Clipper sea plane which was refitted with a variety of amenities, allowing it to be considered a high-end luxury ride for the time.

Kale said Roosevelt’s first international trip on the plane was to a meeting with other Allied forces nation leaders held at Casablanca, Morocco, during the middle of World War II.

He said the first Boeing Air Force One designated jet plane that we are all accustomed to seeing now was commissioned in 1960 for President John F. Kennedy.

The Boeing aircraft have been continually upgraded since that time.

Kale noted that there have been smaller fixedwing aircraft to fly presidents over the years, but with limited use.

He said the first presidential helicopters were put into use in the 1950’s, with President Dwight Eisenhower deeming that the U.S. Marine Corps should operate that aircraft, as the U.S. Air Force operated the fixed-wing planes.

Kale showed photos on a projection screen of all aircraft used by presidents while making his presentation.

There were a few larger, refitted cargo planes used by the presidents in the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s before the larger Boeing jets were used from 1960 to today.

Kale is a Vietnam War veteran, has recorded thousands of hours of active duty flight as a helicopter pilot and served 28 years in the service.

He later served 19 years as a civilian contracted flight instructor for the military.

A graduate of Dover High School, Kale and his wife reside in Kingfisher.

He said he has also volunteered for several years as a tour guide for the U.S. Army Aviation Museum in what was called Fort Rucker, but has now been renamed Fort Norvocel, Ala., where he worked as a flight instructor.

Kale was introduced to the club by his neighbor and friendjon Benham, club secretary and president-elect, who arranged for the presentation.