Airforce One to be replaced.

[thatone1967]

Apparently the Yanks are looking to replace the ageing 747-200, I wonder what with... It would be a cold day in Hell before they looked at the A380... but wouldn't it be great if they did!

Edited by thatone1967 on Thursday 13th May 16:34

[john_p]

No question it'll be a Boeing, presumably the 747-8 if it enters service with no problems?

Edited by john_p on Thursday 13th May 16:36

[anonymous-user]

Looks good!

[Lost soul]

Only 20x 747-200's left in service , can that be right

[Eric Mc]

Probably a 747-400 or 800.

I wouldn't be surprised if the number of 200s left is down to 20. They would all be at least 20 years old now ( the 400 1st flew in 1988).

[anonymous-user]

john_p said:

No question it'll be a Boeing, presumably the 747-8 if it enters service with no problems?

or a 777-300ER?

[Lost soul]

el stovey said:

Looks good!

never ever going to happen is it

[TEKNOPUG]

Airforce Two?

[Eric Mc]

TEKNOPUG said:

Airforce Two?

There are two Air Force Ones.

Air Force One is not an individual aircraft - it is a call sign. Two aircraft are usually allocated to Air Force One tasks.

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Airforce Two?

There are two Air Force Ones.

Air Force One is not an individual aircraft - it is a call sign. Two aircraft are usually allocated to Air Force One tasks.

And two Air Force Two's

[Lost soul]

Eric Mc said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Airforce Two?

There are two Air Force Ones.

Air Force One is not an individual aircraft - it is a call sign. Two aircraft are usually allocated to Air Force One tasks.

Air Force 1 is any aircraft that the Pres is aboard

[rpguk]

Yes, I seem to remember when his helicopters were flying into Regents Park that they had the Airforce One callsign too.

[Eric Mc]

The USAF maintains a small fleet of VIP transports. They used to operate under the "SAM" callsign (Special Air Missions). When we were spotting back in the 70s we used to pick up the US Vice Pres and others wending their way over Ireland on the way to summits, G4 meetings, SALT talks etc. In those days they used various derivatives of teh C-135 airframe as well as a couple of genuine Boeing 707s (VC-137s).

[Eric Mc]

rpguk said:

Yes, I seem to remember when his helicopters were flying into Regents Park that they had the Airforce One callsign too.

The helicopters are supplied by the US Marine Corps so go under the callsign "Marine One".

[sherman]

wikisays said:

Presidential aircraft replacement

The U.S. Air Force is seeking to upgrade Air Force One by replacing the Boeing VC-25 (two heavily modified 747-200Bs).[59] Boeing is reported to be exploring a 747-8 proposal, along with a Boeing 787 variant.

[Mojocvh]

ROFL, either "grandfather rules" or the experimental electric jet ...........some choice...

[Simpo Two]

rpguk said:

Yes, I seem to remember when his helicopters were flying into Regents Park that they had the Airforce One callsign too.

Like a flagship - any ship the Admiral is on is the Flagship - even if it's an MTB.

[Geneve]

Under George Bush there was a plan to replace the Presidential helicopter with a derivitive of the Augusta Westland 101 - but for some reason they needed 28 of them - at a cost of US$13 billion

For some reason President Obama cancelled it. Can't imagine why?

[RDE]

It's not a 742 anyway, it's a VC-25A (ok, so it's the same airframe).

Something i'm curious about is whether AF1 as a callsign is used all the time in air traffic communications when flying long distances. I'm not sure how it could be, but it just seems that it might be exploitable from a security point of view.

[davepoth]

It'll be the 747-8, since Boeing Business Jet are already refitting them for oligarchs...