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The
"year" was 1976 and Ronald Reagan
was ready for his first run at becoming
the President of the United States of America.
The job would be no easy task as he
would have to take on the incumbent, President
Gerald Ford for the nomination of the Republican
Party. As fate would have it, Reagan
lost the nomination at the party's convention
in Kansas City that August by the narrowest
of margins. Ford then ran against
Jimmy Carter that fall for the Presidency
and lost. Reagan finally achieved
his goal four years later in 1980 and the
rest, as they say, is history.
Hughes
Airwest played a major part in Reagan's
attempt to unseat Gerald Ford. The
"Committee to Elect Ronald Reagan"
was headed by long time Reagan friend, Michael
Deaver. It was Deaver who first contacted
Hughes Airwest after becoming unhappy with
their previous carrier. The first
Reagan charter flight was on April 9, 1976
from Los Angeles to Cheyenne, Wyoming. During
the next three months, Hughes Airwest DC9's
would carry the former Governor of California
over 50,000 miles with visits to 19 states
and 62 cities. Deaver was always present
on the charter flights along with a wide
array of long time Hollywood friends of
the Governor. People like Jimmy Stewart,
Robert Stack, and Efram Zimbalist Jr. were
ever present in their support of Reagan
and his quest. Here are a few photos
that were taken along the way.
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We're
not sure just where the "Command
Center" is aboard "Air
Force One" but in 1976
aboard "RW One," Gov.
Reagan always took seat 1E.
When "First Lady"
Nancy Reagan was on board, seat
1D and 1E were occupied, otherwise they
were available for interviews
with on board members of the
press or conferences with members
of Reagan's travelling staff.
In the above photos, we
find "The Governor"
seated in seat 1E, removing
a nail from his shoe with the
"crash ax" that is
normally found mounted
on the fire wall behind the "left
seat," enjoying a bit of
"RW" on-board cuisine,
and then checking out a
preview of the "Flying
Banana Ad Campaign" courtesy
of the ever present "after
dinner" fruit tray."
"CLICK
on an individual image for a
larger view.
Just
a few of the Hughes Airwest
"in-flight" gang that
contributed so much to the success
of "The Reagan Year."
A
stop in Indianapolis and a trip
to Indy that included a fast
lap around the famous 2.5 mile
oval with Reagan at the wheel
of one of the two 1976 Olds
Cutlas Pace Cars. Jimmy
Stewart drove the second while
the press crew followed in a
series of vans.
In
flight Memories
"CLICK
on an individual image for a
larger view.
And
some great times on the ground....
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