The Boeing C-137 Stratoliner is a retired VIP transport aircraft derived from the Boeing 707 jet airliner used by the United States Air Force. Other nations also bought both new and used 707s for military service, primarily as VIP or tanker transports. In addition, the 707 served as the basis for several specialized versions, such as the E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft. The designation C-18 covers several later variants based on the 707-320B/C series. The C-137 should not be confused with the similar Boeing C-135 Stratolifter; although they share a common ancestor the two aircraft have different fuselages, among other structural differences.
Boeing C-137 Stratoliner
An EC-18B Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) takes off on its first flight at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, following its conversion from a Boeing 707-320.
Spectators watch one of two C-137B Stratoliner aircraft returning freed hostages after their release from Iran in 1981
VC-137C SAM 27000 (Air Force One) at Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy in 1987
The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial 707-120 first flew on December 20, 1957.
Pan Am began regular 707 service on October 26, 1958.
With versions produced until 1979, the 707 was a swept wing quadjet with podded engines. Its larger fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, retained in the later 720, 727, 737, and 757 models.
Boeing 707
The 707 was based on the 367-80 "Dash 80"
The six-abreast cabin
Early 707-120 in Boeing livery. This aircraft, N709PA, would later crash in 1963 as Pan Am Flight 214.