January 14, 1943—FDR the first president using an airplane for official business
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Boeing 314 Clipper
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President Roosevelt flew in a Boeing 314 Flying Boat (Dixie Clipper) to meet with Winston Churchill at Casablanca in North Africa. The trip was a 17,000-mile round trip.
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FDR in flight, with TWA pilot Otis Bryan. (FDR Library)
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The trip began on January 11, with the plane stopping several times over four days to refuel and for its passengers to rest. It began in Florida and made stops in the Caribbean, Brazil and then across the Atlantic to Gambia. They reached Casablanca on January 14. Roosevelt retraced the route back to the United States, celebrating his 61st birthday somewhere over Haiti.
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Franklin D Roosevelt (seated on the left) and Passengers in First Official Presidential Flight
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| FDR cutting his birthday cake while in flight back to the USA |
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| Air Force one today |
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