Pentagon picks new Air Force One plane

[avgaskoolaid 292]

The Air Force currently has three of the -4's so it would make sense that they would order three of the -8's.

I thought they only had 2 -200s for the President. I'm not including the E-4B because I assume that that aircraft will not be replaced. 

 

3 of them modified for the POTUS will cost around $1.5 Billion but on the bright side they do save a salary of the Flight Engineer.

Where did you see that they will order 3? I thought I read it somewhere but I can't find the story and it's driving me crazy.

[geedub 15]

Ha, at least a few saw that I was simply being whimsical!  I suspect English humour doesn't translate that well across the pond!

 

With respect, which aircraft the Office of the US President will be re-equipped with, or how many, is of very little interest to me. But I do respect that it is of great interest to others. 

 

Regards 

[~Craig~ 10]

Have the folks replying in this thread actually read the linked article? From some of the comments, apparently not! 

 

Are we perhaps taking it a little seriously, Fr. Bill ? :smile:

 

Actually, I read Gareth's ("Geedubs") comment about "8 replacing 2" as humor (based on maths; not easy!). I think you may have missed that.

 

Ha, at least a few saw that I was simply being whimsical!  I suspect English humour doesn't translate that well across the pond!

 

So it seems Gareth! :smile:

[n4gix 4,947]

Are we perhaps taking it a little seriously, Fr. Bill ? :smile:

 

Actually, I read Gareth's ("Geedubs") comment about "8 replacing 2" as humor (based on maths; not easy!). I think you may have missed that.

Oh, I understood the humour alright.

 

The second paragraph concerned a few others who seem to have transmuted two aircraft to three, and conflated -200's with -400's

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

I doubt the C-32's will be retiring anytime soon.  I was stationed in Northern Japan when they were shaking the cobwebs off of em back around 1998 before going into service with VIP's.  All kinds of Space-A seats available to and from the states for a couple of weeks I remember.

 

I did have the pleasure of flying on the C-32's twice during my military career for duty.  We weren't Air Force One, but rather second fiddle as Air Force Two on both flights (hard to guess who else was onboard ).  Boy you talk about first class, I was treated like a king!!

 

I think the C-32's are awesome. New Zealand has three of them they use for flying the Prime Minister as well as other military duties. They have flown them in and out of Antarctica so goes to show how tough the machines are. 

 

If the US does replace them down the road I guess the 787 would be a nice replacement. 

[dave2013 1,130]

It makes sense to replace the almost 30 year old VC-25s (747-200B) with the newer, larger, and more fuel efficient 747-800.  Not to mention the proven track record and success of an airliner series that's been operating for about 45 years.

 

Air Force One needs to be a 4-engined aircraft to be able to survive a loss of 2 engines and still fly.  It could probably even make an emergency landing with only a single engine provided that enough weight is shedded.

 

The Pentagon made the right decision here.

 

Dave

[goates 576]

Not exactly a surprise. The president of the US is hardly going to be flying around the world in a foreign aircraft.

 

Minor note, but they chose the 747-8, as in eight, not eight hundred. 

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

Minor note, but they chose the 747-8, as in eight, not eight hundred. 

 

Yes and the same goes for the 787-3, 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10

 

They no longer name in hundreds anymore

[bic 44]

I heard that the C-32 that Kerry was on recently was delayed due to some maintenance issue and they have been having some problems with them.