Air Force One

[Pints]

Eric Mc said:

It has a fair amount of special "kit" on board that you won't find on a regular 747.

Such as?

I don't normally frequent these fora but AF1 does fascinate me.

[Eric Mc]

Pints said:

Eric Mc said:

It has a fair amount of special "kit" on board that you won't find on a regular 747.

Such as?

I don't normally frequent these fora but AF1 does fascinate me.

Satellite communications (going back to the dawn of such things).

Radar jamming.

Infra Red decoys and chaff etc etc.

It has to be said that some of these items are now commonplace on other VIP aircraft and even some airliners but the Air Force One aircraft were the first to be extensively fitted out with such equipment.

The 747s were ordered in the middle 1980s (during Ronald Reagan's tenure in office) and replaced two Boeing 707s (technically VC-137s). They didn't arrive until George Bush senior was in power.

[ErnestM]

Boeing is supposedly working on a replacement based on the 787 at the moment.

[stuart-b]

I assume AF1 isn't flying around all the time, so the pilots are likely to be highly experienced fighter/bomber pilots? Or are they civvies?

I would have thought a very special pilot would be flying the president around. And I expect the plane to be maintained a bit better than the normal passenger aircraft!

[mattdaniels]

knight said:

A lex said:

A few years ago now (Clinton era I believe) AF1 flew through the airspace I now work on but had filed under a different callsign and even aircraft type so as to avoid being known. Somewhere over Belgium a different aircraft was told to look out for the Learjet in his 1 o'clock high (or whatever it was) and when peering out of the window saw a big blue and white 747!

Sounds a bit naughty to say the least! But I don't suppose there was much you could do when that happened?

It's all covered in the documentary programme linked to above. Bush did a suprise flight to Iraq and the AF1 captain was telling the above story about the other pilot being somewhat surprised that the lear jet was 747 shaped.

[Mr E]

shakotan said:

It's the same size as a 'regular' 747, nothing really unusual about it.

Big for a private jet though....

[Eric Mc]

Mr E said:

shakotan said:

It's the same size as a 'regular' 747, nothing really unusual about it.

Big for a private jet though....

Some Arab sheikh has ordered a VIP Airbus A380.

And Air Force One isn't a "private" jet as such. It's a military VIP aircraft. There are a few genuine "private" 747 biz jets knocking around. There used to be a private 747SP as well.

Air Force one aircraft are flown by crews from the US Air Force (as the aircraft are part of the USAF), presumably selected from those who have come up through the transport and tanker route (rather than fighter pilots).

[Lord Pikey]

There is a really good documentary on AF1 and Marine 1 that was filmed just at the end of the George Bush 2 era.

It was done by Nat Geographic. I think i have it on a hard drive somewhere but i found it on the usual torrent sites quite easily if you are interested in the aircraft

[BruceV8]

Marine 1 is parked a few hundred yards from me at the moment.

[eharding]

BruceV8 said:

Marine 1 is parked a few hundred yards from me at the moment.

Photo of you, Barry and a tin of custard posing in front of it required.

Off you go.

[TimJMS]

Eric Mc said:

Some Arab sheikh has ordered a VIP Airbus A380.

Prince Al Waleed http://sherifzn.posterous.com/flying-palace-prince...

[Rollcage]

Is it true that AF1 is the call sign given to whatever aircraft the President is flying in at a given time, so doesn't have to be the big jets?

[BigS]

Rollcage said:

Is it true that AF1 is the call sign given to whatever aircraft the President is flying in at a given time, so doesn't have to be the big jets?

Yes, they have to use a different one if they're flying without him.

[Pints]

Eric Mc said:

Intesting stuff.

Thanks.

Sounds a bit more hi-tech than the 747 I jump on when flying out to South Africa.

[mattdaniels]

Is it true that people are just posting to this thread without actually reading it?

[XB70]

I remember reading years back how there was a push for the UK equivalent of "Air Force One" to be a Concorde.

Certainly would upstage AF1 at any summit!

[mattdaniels]

XB70 said:

I remember reading years back how there was a push for the UK equivalent of "Air Force One" to be a Concorde.

Certainly would upstage AF1 at any summit!

Nice pipe dream maybe. I think there's a reason why the US president uses a large aircraft - because of all the kit and kaboodle he needs. Can't see Concorde would have worked. "Welcome to Washington, Prime Minister. Take a seat, the rest of your entourage will be here in 6 hours".

[Eric Mc]

The Queen had to make do with a chuggy little BAe 146 last week.

[Fat Albert]

Eric Mc said:

The Queen had to make do with a chuggy little BAe 146 last week.

I noticed it was a civvie one and not one from the Queen's Flight, I presume that was a political decision?

[Olf]

Apparently his entourage on this trip numbers 1,500. No wonder he needs big planes. Anyway, Eric, you said it should be replaced soon, I imagine that's to bring AF1 into the 21st century which is fair enough, rather than due to air miles which surely must be a fraction of those of a normal commercially flogged 747?