Air Force One aircraft are specially-made planes for the use of the United States presidents.When the president travels on any other civilian aircraft, that plane is called ‘Executive One’. The aircraft that carries the vice-president is called ‘Air Force Two’.The Air Force One planes have been carrying US presidents for a long time, but the current two Boeing 747-200s have been carrying the president since 1991. These are equipped with the latest technology and all necessary amenities to survive any and all emergencies, from medical issues to nuclear attacks.Features Of Air Force One PlaneAir Force One is actually the call sign of the planes that have been in the service of all presidents of the United States. From 1991 to now, two identical Boeing 747-200 planes are used by the president and there were other aircraft models used before that.Air Force One is actually the radio call sign for the Air Force planes that take the United States President out of the country. However, it has become a more generalized term, and people identify the two identical Boeing 747-200s now and others before that reserved for the president. If the presidents use any other civilian aircraft for their travels, many people still call the plane ‘Air Force One’. However, the call sign for that particular aircraft is ‘Executive One’.The amenities available inside this aircraft are something to marvel about. The total floor space of the three levels of the plane equates to 4000 sq ft (371.61 sq m). There are many luxurious and necessary inclusions on the plane in case of emergencies, including kitchens, a pharmacy, a lavatory, a large office that includes a conference room, and more. The upper level of the three levels on the plane features the telecommunications center, while the lower level of the plane is a cargo hold. This level comes with a self-contained system that handles baggage.The middle level contains the amenities that serve for the security and comfort of the United States presidents and the other passengers accompanying them. This level can accommodate 70 passengers along with 26 crew members. These accommodations and amenities include a presidential suite, a combined dining-conference room, work and seating spaces for security staff, media representatives, and other personnel, a medical suite, and two kitchens.Air Force One galleys can prepare and bring up 100 servings for every meal. Most of the meals that are served on the flight are actually cooked in a safe and special kitchen at the Joint Base Andrews. Then those foods are vacuum-sealed and frozen. The kitchen crew of the plane then reheats or cooks the meals onboard. The kitchen crew is aware of how the presidents and their company like their coffee, for example, President Bush liked his coffee black with equal instead of sugar.The medical suite in the plane holds emergency medical equipment and an in-flight pharmacy, and it can even work as an operating room if needed. The presidential suite is actually at the quieter forward side of the plane and includes a lavatory, a bedroom, and an office.Technology On Air Force OneAir Force One carries the president of the United States around the world. The plane carries enough technological features for the president’s safety, security, and comfort. We’ll discuss a few of them, but most of these are unknown to the public for obvious safety reasons.Communication suite: The aircraft has an entire communication suite which gives the president the convenience to be available at all times. Features allow the president to make calls, video conferences, video calls, public addressing, and more, all available when in mid-air.Ejecting flares: The aircraft was designed with enemy attacks in mind. That’s why although it doesn’t carry any missiles, it has flares that can throw any coming missiles off course as missiles follow heat signatures. Their onboard electronics can also jam any electromagnetic pulse detected from an enemy plane.Refuel mid-air: This is one of the most remarkable features of the Air Force One plane in case of emergencies, as it can keep the president in the air for an indefinite time. A fuel plane arrives and connects with the refueling probe on the nose of the plane to refuel Air Force One. A boom operator mainly stays responsible for this task with a pilot overlooking.Medical facility: Air Force One has an entire medical suite that can even function as an operating space with a pharmacy, emergency medical equipment, medical crew, and more on the plane to cater to the president and his personnel.Encryption devices: Communicating with the outside world while the president is still in the air is one of the main features and a necessity of the Air Force One aircraft. However, this line of communication can be an easy thing for the enemies to manipulate. That’s why Air Force One uses scrambling and encryption devices to keep the information going out and coming in safe and protected.Self-handling baggage system and retractable stairway: There can be no compromises made when it comes to the safety of the president. That’s why the aircraft has a self-contained baggage handling system and a retractable stairway that doesn’t require the airport to provide one for the president and their crew. This helps to reduce any chances of tampering with the president’s luggage.Features that can withstand a nuclear attack: The body of the Air Force One aircraft has been designed in such a way that it is itself a de facto bunker. The plane has an armor-plated body, nuclear shielding, hardened equipment, and glass in the windows, along with a wired mesh that prevents radiation.Vairous Parts Of The Air Force One PlaneThe Air Force One aircraft are built to survive a war, and in case of emergencies, it’s even accompanied by fighter jets that have similar abilities to withstand the harshest of situations. However, the occurrence of fighter jets following Air Force One is rare. It happened when the tragic attacks of 9/11 took place.Today’s Air Force One aircraft, the two Boeing 747-200s, are the largest plane ever used by a president and feature the latest technologies. The height of the plane is 63.32 ft (19.3 m), its length is 231.82 ft (70.66 m), and it has a wingspan of 195.67 ft (59.64 m). It weighs around 526463.88 lb (238800 kg) without fuel, and the aircraft can hold 53611 gal (202939.71 l) of fuel. It can fly a maximum height of around 45100 ft (13746.48 m) at a maximum of 630-700 mph (1013.89-1126.54 kph).The planes have the ability to fly halfway around the entire world if the tank is full. However, if that doesn’t impress you, the planes have a refueling probe on the nose, which comes into use during emergencies when the president is mid-air. This ensures that the aircraft can fly indefinitely.Additionally, the current Air Force One planes don’t only have hardened walls and windows that can survive nuclear attacks, but they also have hardened onboard electronics with the latest software.Along with these, they have a medical room, a presidential suite, and two kitchens. The kitchen crew is always aware of the likes and dislikes of the travelers, starting from the jelly beans that president Ronald Reagan loved, to the coffee black with equal that President Bush preferred and to decaf with cream and equal on the side which was preferred by the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.Amazing Air Force One Plane FactsAir Force One planes have been serving the United States president for a long time, even when the term hadn’t yet become a call sign. There are many fascinating facts surrounding these aircraft.People might think that fighter jets escort Air Force One in the sky like security cars escort presidential cars on the road, but that’s not the case. It happens, but on very rare occasions, like on 9/11, fighter escorts could be seen almost throughout the day, especially during the first one to two hours of the incident. Flying fighter jets along with the Air Force One on a regular basis can be dangerous for civilians, especially in the American skies, where the air traffic is quite heavy.There is an aircraft, just as heavily built and with just as much security as the Air Force One planes, called the ‘Doomsday’ plane. The E-B4 Advanced Airborne Command Post only follows Air Force One if there is a war or disaster-like situation. The plane is a command center and an airborne nuclear bunker, and it was designed during the Cold War to withstand a nuclear attack. Similar to Air Force One, for obvious reasons, most of its high-tech security features are unknown to the public.For security reasons, the president of the United States and the vice-president never travel together. The call sign of any Air Force aircraft the vice president travels in is ‘Air Force Two’. Most of the time, the vice-president travels on a C-32A aircraft which is a military plane, quite similar to the Boeing 747 in which the president flies in. Some other aircraft models that have served as the ‘Air Force Two’ planes are C-37A, Boeing C-40 Clipper, CT-37B, C-20B, and even the VC-25A.The 747-200s have been serving as the Air Force One aircraft since 1991. During the time of President Barack Obama, he ordered the replacements of these two planes with the modified model, Boeing 747-8 planes. These planes would include state-of-the-art technology that would help the United States president to conduct all his work even mid-air, almost like a flying Oval Office.The budget of the United States Air Force for the revamp program was projected to be around $4 billion USD. They contracted Boeing in December 2016 for preliminary development, which was worth around $170 million USD. Including the new aircraft model Boeing 747-8, which would eventually become the VC-25Bs, the cost was estimated to be more than $5.3 billion USD.Other Interesting Air Force One FactsAir Force One has been a matter of interest for a lot of people throughout the country, and there are also a lot of interesting incidents surrounding this aircraft starting from the first time a United States president flew to the first time the term Air Force One was used and more.There has even been a movie made named ‘Air Force One’ in 1997 after the real Air Force One aircraft. The movie starred the renowned American actor Harrison Ford and the plot featured the United States president flying on the aircraft when the plane got hijacked.The term ‘Air Force One’ was used for the first time during the time of the United States president Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1953 there was a commercial aircraft with the same sign ‘8610’ as the then-presidential aircraft and the two planes came close to each other. This could have become dangerous, but thankfully an accident was avoided. Additionally, it was important for the Commander-In-Chief of the military to know where the presidential aircraft was at a certain time, and it was also necessary to know if the president was on it or not, especially given the Cold War was ramping up at this point of time.The journey of the presidential aircraft starts back in 1933 when a Douglas Dolphin seaplane was purchased by the navy for the purpose of travel for the then United States president, but a president flew for some official state business for the first time only in 1943. That first flight was four-days long when Franklin D. Roosevelt flew with Winston Churchill for a war strategy meeting in Casablanca, Morocco. Starting from Florida, the flight hopped through the Caribbean, Brazil, and Gambia, respectively, and then reached Morocco.In 1944, the Airlift Group was founded, and for the next 15 years, many aircrafts served the presidents. In August 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower flew in VC-137A, which is a Boeing 707 Stratoliner, to Europe and other countries. Then in 1962, a modified Boeing 707, was specially built for the use of the then-president, John F. Kennedy. The current Air Force One planes, the two identical Boeing 747-200s, were used for the first time in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush. These models are on their way to being replaced by two modified Boeing 747-8s.
Air Force One aircraft are specially-made planes for the use of the United States presidents.
