For President Johnson’s 102nd birthday, aircraft becomes showpiece acquisition at LBJ Ranch

Refurbished LBJ plane goes on display at LBJ Ranch

STONEWALL, Texas —

Luci Baines Johnson remembers as a teenager riding in a shiny jet trimmed with sky blue and white paint and emblazoned with black letters proclaiming “United States of America.” It would land on a narrow Texas airstrip behind what Americans would come to know as the Western White House.

She spoke this week about the roughly mile-long airstrip behind President Lyndon Johnson’s ranch, her childhood home and now part of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.

The National Park Service manages the park. And on Friday, it will formally acquire the JetStar aircraft Johnson used as vice president — then during his five-plus years as the nation’s 36th president.

It’s also LBJ’s 102nd birthday.