Who's afraid of the big bad jet?

The "president" made a speech at the Naval War College yesterday. (today??) He came all the way to New England just to find a friendly audience. How about he speaks at Providence College, that would liven things up.

Anyway, I happened to notice on the teevee this morning the footage of him climbing the stairs to big, ol' Air Force One.

That's right, he took a 747-400 three hundred miles up the coast to Newport, then went even further to make the hop to Pease AFB in Portsmouth, NH so he could go visit his momma.

That's ridiculous. Couldn't he ride a smaller jet? I recall seeing that it costs $1900/hour just in fuel costs alone, never mind the personnel and support.

But, who am I to argue. I haven't been president, I suppose GW gets nervous if he's too far away from the symbols of power.

you know if it does not have the presidential seal emblazened boldly on it,
he will not fly in it.

Even Marine One has significant upgrades for Presidential use


Its not about the seal etc, its the connectivity and equipment.

It's either that, or two planes.

Actually, AF1 doesn't carry his stuff. There's also a C-117 Skymaster that flies with him with all the support vehicles.

And regarding the communication equipment, I don't think that makes a whit of difference...what does he do when he's in a motorcade? They have all the portable and hand-held equipment (as well as the 'football') near him at all times. It wouldn't kill the "president" to fly on a 737 for shorter-haul flights.

Hell, they could even paint the presidential seal on it if it would make him feel better.

Another 50 million dollar(??) plane just to save a few thousand in fuel costs?

What would be the difference in hourly costs between a 737 and a 747?.....factoring in the costs to equip another AF1?

There's at least two of the big 747s in service fully equipped as "Air Force One". There's also a number of "Kneecap" aircraft with all the same gear and equipment. (National Emergency Airborne Command Post, one of which is in the air somewhere as we speak.)

Since the 'president' is going to fly with two or more aircraft anyway...if he's doing a local photo-op, why wheel out the big jet and waste all that fuel, when a smaller jet will do?

no longer flies ALL the time.

All the equipment, limo, black suburbans, etc, are flown on Air Force cargo planes. I believe the C141 has been used extensively for this purpose. There are two teams of cargo planes that hopscotch around to preposition the equipment; there are there are, generally, about eleven vehicles in the presidential entourage (plus extra 'black' vehicles that aren't even in the parade, but watch from a distance). At least that's what my friend, an Air Force C-141 pilot, said back when was detailed to one of the teams during the Clinton administration.

Let's beat up on Bush for something else.

:shrug:

The TYPES of aircraft (more than one of each) currently in use include ...
VC-25A "Air Force One" (Boeing 747) ... there are TWO of these
C-20B (Gulfstream III)
C-32A (Boeing 757) ... there are FOUR of these
C-37A (Gulfstream V) ... there are NINE of these
C-40B (Boeing 737) ... there are TWO of these