Air Force One

[Guest EHAM]

Good afternoon,I have a question. I want to fly a flight from Moskou to Washington DC Int Airport with the 747 Air Force One. There has been a discussion in the DutchVacc about this. They say that since the September 11 you may not use any callsigns that has effect on that day.But I saw yesterday that some one flew with the callsign AF1. I heard that when you fly under this callsign that you are banned from VATSIM for lifetime. But I have absolutle no intension to take advantage of it. I just want to fly an ordinary flight with Air Force One. I hope that you can understand my question and I hope that you can give my the green lightRegards,Guy Haalebos (member of the DutchVacc)

[Guest rcritz]

There is no restriction on use of the Air Force One callsign (though if you put it in as AF1, you'll be called Air France 1 since that's what AF1 means).The restriction is on the use of any of the four callsigns: AAL11, AAL77, UAL175, UAL93.

[Guest EHAM]

>There is no restriction on use of the Air Force One callsign >(though if you put it in as AF1, you'll be called Air France >1 since that's what AF1 means). >>The restriction is on the use of any of the four callsigns: >AAL11, AAL77, UAL175, UAL93. So if I understand I can use the callsign USAF1 or other callsigns that will be used with Air Force One.Thank you very much for your reactionRegards,Guy Haalebos, Netherlands (member DutchVacc)

[Guest Martin]

AF1 would be the IATA code for Air France 1, but online one would of course use ICAO codes, and Air France 1 would thus be AFR1.About the callsigns, out of curiosity, does the restriction only apply to those four callsigns, or to callsigns of other aircraft involved in accidents/terrorist attacks. Most, if not all, airlines remove the flight numbers of accident flights, so that would include flights like EgyptAir 990, Alaska 261, TWA 800, etc.So, is this restriction consistent with callsigns of all flights involved in (major) accidents, or only to the four flights involved on September 11?MartinIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest CX001]

The VC-25s are only called "Air Force One" when the President is aboard. Otherwise, they are "Air Force(tail number)" Whwen the Vice President is aboard, and the president isn't, the aircraft's callsign is "Air Force two." It is merely a callsign, not a title of a certain aircraft. Regardless of type, if the president is flying in a US Air Force aircraft, that aircraft will carry the callsign "Air Force One" If he flies on a Navy aircraft, the aircraft carries the callsign "Navy one." The same goes for all other US military aircraft.

[Guest tocart]

Sorry rcritz, but the correct aircraft identification for POTUS flights is definitely AF1. Cheers

[Guest]

One gentleman who's an real-world ATC mentioned that the callsign A1 is used... This makes sense if the USAF uses "A..." for all their ATC designations. For example, I see transport and other aircraft flying with the ATC callsign "A401A." My stepdad retired as a training captain for Cathay Pacific on the 747-400... He was involved in training a former VC-25A pilot, I'll ask and see if he knows anything!Sincerely,Phil Geddes

[Guest Lobaeux4]

I'm not sure about the actual designation a controller would see for an Air Force aircraft. But, I do know that no air force callsign is just "Air Force" (except maybe the 89th out of Andrews). Most air force aircraft use a tactical-type call sign such as Raven, Bull, Props (all good c-130 callsigns) or if on a TACC or higher headquarters mission (and an airlift-type aircraft) the "Reach" callsign. There are others to designate air evac, commander's and such. But "Reach" will be the one most people hear.Lobaeux

[Guest]

There is ONLY one plane that uses the CALLSIGN AIR FORCE 1 -that is whatever USAF plane the President is on.... be it a C-5, C-17, etc....To bad I left my old unit - the President was at TCM about 3 months ago and took a ride on a C-17 - the CO took the president around Mt. Ranier and back.....at that time a plane from the 62 Ops unit was known as AIR FORCE1 for about 2 hrs....that plane IS KNOWN by ATC as Air Force 1 - I will check the offical designator - but I have heard the calls on milband before.Richard GreenVATUSA4Events and VA Director

[Guest]

>Sorry rcritz, but the correct aircraft identification for >POTUS flights is definitely AF1. >>Cheers Sorry again tocart, but the correct identification is actually A1.A=the correct identifier for 'AIR FORCE' in the USA, and Air Force One is simply 'A1'.How do I know? I had the honor of working A1 once in real life as an ATC, and have the flight strip in a scrapbook as a souvenir.Jeff Clark

[Guest]

While Lobaeux is correct in saying that tactical callsigns are probably more common, it -is- still fairly typical to see "A53334" type callsigns about - they're just not as common as the others.Jeff Clark

[Guest tocart]

You are, of course, absolutly right. AF is used by Air France for it's domestic flight only.Cheers