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Friday, May 20, 2011

LBJ Ranch

This was LBJ's Lockheed Jet Star aircraft. When he was aboard it was Air Force One, but he called it Air Force One Half because it was so much smaller than his Presidential Boeing 707. It mostly flew between Austin, TX and the ranch with the Johnson family and guests, a distance of only 50 miles each way. Locals called it Smoky Joe because it produced a huge trail of black smoke and deafening sound when it took off. This plane may be one reason LBJ passed the aircraft noise abatement act. It was found about a decade ago in an Air Force bone yard in AZ, trucked to TX, and given a fresh coat of paint.

Here are a few photos from the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) ranch west of Johnson City, TX. He was a President with huge accomplishments and huge failings. He never did anything in a small way. This house was known as the Texas White House. It was large, having multiple additions, but was not a grand or palatial house. The 1500 acre core of the ranch, with the house, barns, garages, airport runway, family cemetery, Hereford cattle, and surrounding fields was willed to the National Park Service so long as it remains open free to the public. The rest of the 6000 acres of ranch is still owned by the Johnson family.

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