VC-137C SAM 26000 VC-137C SAM 26000 SAM 26000 was the first of two Boeing VC-137C United States Air Force aircraft specifically configured and maintained for use by the President of the United States. It used the callsign Air Force One when the President was on board, "SAM 26000" otherwise. A VC-137C with Air Force serial number "62-6000", "SAM 26000" was a customized Boeing 707. It entered service in 1962 during the administration of John F. Kennedy and was replaced in Presidential service in 1972 but kept as a backup. The aircraft was finally retired in 1998 and is now on display at the
Asheville Regional Airport transport (SST) airliner visited AVL during a 1987 promotional tour and was snowed-in overnight. Chartered Boeing 747 jumbo jets (operated by United Airlines) have also visited, as has an Airbus A340 during the visit of Charles, Prince of Wales, to the nearby Biltmore Estate in 1996. AVL's runway allows for the operation of almost any aircraft type. In April 2010, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama landed in Asheville aboard a Boeing C-32 for a weekend getaway. In October 2011, President Obama landed in Asheville in the larger Boeing VC-25 to kick off his North Carolina and Virginia