Friday, October 24, 2014

Who made air force ones?

Who made air force ones?
Air Force One is a call sign for any airplane that the US president is in at the time. It does not refer to a specific airplane, although several have been specifically built for the USAF to use for that purpose.The first airplane built for and assigned to transport the president was a DC-4 used by (I think) FDR. Harry Truman used it and called it the "Sacred Cow." Eisenhower used the same plane and called it the Columbine. That aircraft was a standard Douglas Aircraft Corporation DC-4 modified by Douglas for the task.Then, John Kennedy I think, was provided with a Boeing 707, also specifically modified with extra communications gear and luxurious seating and sleeping arrangements. There were two made and modified by Boeing. By the time Richard Nixon got in office, the presidential airplane was upgraded to a Boeing 747 -- by Boeing, of course. And there were two of them. Several smaller aircraft are in the fleet, maintained at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington DC. and those smaller aircraft could be used for shorter trips, but mainly are used by people other than the President, and, therefore, do not use the call sign Air Force One. Is Air Force Two the vice president flying around? Got me.The latest airplane is a new version of the Boeing 747, and there are two identical ones. When the president uses a helicopter he is being flown about by the US Marine Corps and the call sign is "Marine One."

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