On June 29, the Nixon Library held a grand sendoff for the Presidential Helicopter as it temporarily departed the campus for a complete restoration at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California. The ceremony kicked off the Richard Nixon Foundation’s plans to build a new educational center on its Yorba Linda campus. The fully restored helicopter will return in 2028 as the centerpiece of this new building.
Opening the ceremony, Jim Byron, President and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, announced, “Today we are pulling back the curtain on a new endeavor to preserve and enhance the legacy of President Nixon.” Speakers throughout the event described the flying Oval Office as iconic, reflecting on the history it represents and its continued power to inspire and educate. The six-ton Sikorsky VH-3A “Sea King” served from 1961 to 1976, carrying Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford.
Brigadier General Matthew Tracy, Commanding General of the Marine Corps Education Command and President of the Marine Corps University, spoke to the significance of preserving the artifact: “This is iconic of the weight of public service…so, what this Library needs to do is to inspire the next generation who will come behind us and take up this gauntlet of public service. To continue to serve our communities, our state, our nation and the world. And this is why it’s critical that we restore this aircraft—it must inspire the next generation to follow in our footsteps and continue to build a better world, nation, or community for our children.”
The ceremony also included remarks from Michael Ellzey, Director of March Field Air Museum, who shared details about the restoration project, and from philanthropist Charles Keller, whose gift to the Richard Nixon Foundation’s American Civics Campaign is making the restoration possible. Keller’s contribution honors his great-grandfather, a general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War I and a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the helicopter was lifted by crane for transport to March Field Air Museum, escorted by Orange County Sheriff’s deputies. Gordon Ponsford of Ponsford Ltd. will lead the restoration team in the same hangar where it was restored twenty years ago.
Upon its return, the helicopter will anchor a new building housing the Nixon Library’s Center for American Civics Education—an initiative offering interactive programs that deepen public understanding of America’s systems of government. The space will also display the presidential limousine known as “The Beast” and the “woody” station wagon used by then-Congressman Richard Nixon during his 1950 U.S. Senate campaign, alongside a cafe. In 2028, the restored “Sea King” will return, ready to once again carry the weight of public service into the next generation.
Watch here:
