Hello Rob,I've often seen the TV programme "Airport" which is about Heathrow. And I always love the part when there comes a royalty, all the panic and security checks :D .I was wondering......if you watch the program you'll always see one aircraft, but is there parking space for the aircraft on Heathrow? Because as far as I know/heard, Heathrow is always busy with both runways heavily used and filled taxiways. Is there any space left for Royalty planes?In holland there is Valkenburg it's near The Haque, and when a royalty or a VIP comes to Holland they almost always land there. A reason for that is, the airfield can be protected very very well. There is only one access road, so that can be protected very easy. Is there something like Valkenburg in the UK? I was nice when Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima married, all the friend of the royal family came on Valkenburg NAS, which is only 20min from my home.And I was able to spot lots of new aircraft!!!! such as Swedisch Gulfstream, Danisch CL-106, a Royal Brunei Flight Gulfstream etc... that's what I think is "a once in a life time".Regards,Evert

Yeah, that's basically what it means...

Scott, hit it on the nail with Air Force One, in 1952 Columbine II, a C-121A with the tail number 48-610 was President Eisenhower's aircraft. There was some confusion with the Call sign Eastern 8610 and Air Force 8610, so "Air Force One" became the offical callsign for the president, in a fixed-wing aircraft. on a side note Columbine II is now at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio. Along with 8 other "Air Force Ones",.:-outtahttp://publish.hometown.aol.com/p3superb/images/675-2fs.jpg

You're wrong. Airforce one is only called Airforce one when the President is onboard.

I guess the Queen's Flight (the RAF BAe 146-100s they use) still use RAF Northolt to the North of LHR. That would prevent that kind of disruption (it's where Diana, Princess of Wales' coffin was returned to in 1997). Anything bigger goes to Heathrow.I once saw an RAF VC10 land at LHR, and it appeared to just be slotted into normal traffic, before taxying off 27L onto the royal suite stand - which is pretty small (near Terminal 4 - close to the World Cargo Centre - so visiting royalty always get a nice view!).Rob

I think it may be Columbine III that's at Wright-Patterson. I know Columbine I is at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ, and I thought Columbine II was parked at the Municipal Airport in Santa Fe, NM, (I haven't seen that one). But whatever, they're all fine historical aircraft and worthy of a visit.Trip

Jeff,Maybe you can answer this. I forget what was the airplane that was the original first official dedicated Persidential plane. They eventually wouldn't let Rosevelt(?) fly in it, but the First Lady was allowed to travel the world in it (Peru Or Brazil I think). It was melted down. Too bad since it was a "first".I need to pay closer attention to the Discovery Wings Channel. :-lol Or was it the History channel on "Modern Marvels"?I'm gettig old.As for Columbine, since it the is the state flower of Maime, I can relate to calling the plane that. ;-)

Scott, Unfortunately you are wrong about not being able to hear AF1 arrive on any frequencies. When I started flying again, I bought a 99.00 Radio Shack scanner to listen to Des Moines Approach, Tower, Ground and other Unicom and Multi-com freqs in the area. The president has been to Des Moines Twice this year and I have heard AF1 talking to approach and tower both times (I cant get ground because of line-of-site rules). However, it is a VERY brief communication between the two, I still can hear it plain as day. I was pretty surprised this last time Pres Bush came that I heard them talking to approach, I looked outside and they were only on a downwind for 13. As anyone knows who watches 747s, it looked like they were barely flying along for the entire downwind and their long final over the city of Des Moines. I dont know, maybe they dont think Des Moines is a threat?Craig

Scott, I'm gonna have to shoot this down too:but the Air Force does not use any commercial or other frequencies any scanner can receive, and they are all coded now in any case. If you go to a commercial airport where you know the president is arriving, you'll never hear it on your pocket Radio Shack scanner.For the G8 in July here in Calgary, I used my Radio Shack Pro-92 to listen to Air Force One, Sam 29000, and every single dignitary, helicopter, and cargo plane hauling fake dog sh_t from Hong Kong! :-lol That day, a few people thought the freqs would be scrambled, or that a password had to be used to land, but no such things happened.

>>I can't speak for the Pope, but the Air Force does not use >any commercial or other frequencies any scanner can receive, >and they are all coded now in any case. If you go to a >commercial airport where you know the president is arriving, >you'll never hear it on your pocket Radio Shack scanner. >Same for the Blue Angels in air shows (although they do >occasionally use the 238-280mhz range), or any military >aircraft. >Actually, you can still hear US military traffic on open ATC frequencies. It depends on whether the particular aircraft is VHF equipped. Typically, transports and tankers are what you will hear because of this. However, there are some ANG tactical aircraft units that were tasked with air defense equipped with VHF and you can hear those also. I haven't noticed any changes in the way they conduct business in the open since 9/11, if anything, there was more traffic out there, including even AWACs and NATO over the US.

I'm not Jeff but..it was a modified B24 Liberator bomber they called a C-87A. The one assigned to Roosevelt was named "Guess Where 2". Eleanor did fly it to Central and South America but the president never used it. By the time FDR flew from Malta to Saki to Cairo for the Yalta conference the new C-54 (named "Sacred Cow") was being used and the Guess Where 2 was scrapped at the end of WWII never having a president aboard.Trip

I always thought that the Fokker 70 looked like the front half of an airbus and the back end of an md-80 :-lol !!!

I hate to differ with you. You are right the newer version scanners do not pickup these frequencies. The older AOR and Yaesu scanners do get all these frequencies as well as the cellular frequencies. They get the DEA, Secret Service, military flight frequencies and more. Unfortunately the DEA, Secret Service and other government frequencies are now scrambled so they are unintelligible. When I was at KLAX these are the radios I used, I guarantee you. Best regards, Bob.

Bob, I think he was referring to just govermental aircraft and not top secret stuff like the secret service that you mentioned. Flights like AF1 (the only one I can speak first hand about) can be heard on any scanner that picks up VHF aircraft freqs. Like I said, I dont know if they take more security measures in airports where the threat would be larger than lets say, where I live....Des Moines :), but you can most definitely hear the approach here (and departure for that matter).Craig

...for the correction. I had heard differently, but even then I found it difficult to believe all the equipment was changed in a timely manner (like anything moves fast in military or aviation).The Des Moines airport issue may be due to lack of the new or military equipment in TRACON, but that's one place I'd certainly think there would be some regard to the military. ;-) I honestly can't even tell you what DIA (KDEN) has.