It's sitting on the runway a mile from my dorm window right now. Half an hour ago, I watched it land from the parking lot adjacent to my dorm hall. There are most certainly snipers on top of buildings on campus right now, quite possibly on my own dorm. Yesterday I watched the C-130 that precedes Air Force One and carries all his limos and assorted equipment. The day before that, I realize now, I saw Marine One. Though at the time I dismissed the idea that it could be Marine One.
My friggin' god, I love this school...
(and yes, in my opinion, the coolness factor of this merited a new thread)
Posted by thoughtcriminal84 (Member # 480) on :
No, it's thread worthy. I saw AF1 at DFW a few years ago when Clinton came to Dallas. The men in black were all over the place. Didn't see any snipers (but if I'd seen them, they wouldn't be doing their jobs, now would they?)
Although nobody cares, I also got to shake his hand. I was underwhelmed at his grip.
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
That's one hell of a view.
Posted by Tahna Los (Member # 33) on :
I hope you had a videotape.....
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
He might have ended up with a sniper bullet for video taping out a window like that. MIB are very touchy now.
Posted by OnToMars (Member # 621) on :
And so the excitement passes.
I just watched the C-130 (131?) Galaxy take off. I can't begin to describe how cool this was - that is one FUCKING BIG PLANE.
Cool shit. Very very very cool shit.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
C-5. C-130 is the Hercules, C-141 is the Starmaster, C-17 is the Globemaster III.
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
Ah, but WHICH Air Force One was it? You know that there are actually about 4 or so of the same identical plane. One is kept at Edwards Air Force Base, the second used to be held (not sure if its there anymore) at Grissom Air Force/Air Reserve Base in Kokomo, Indiana. Dunno where the others are kept. One's probably at Dulles.
And yes the C-5 is the Galaxy.
The Blue Angles use the C-130 "Fat Albert" with the JATO Rockets.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Wouldn't it make more sense for one to be at Andrews?
Posted by Veers (Member # 661) on :
Take a look at this plane. It's not Air Force One, but it is a cool Airborne Command Post!
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
According to The History Channel special a few months ago on Air Force One, there are only two of the familiar silver/white/blue airplanes with the presidential seal. Both of them are kept at Andrews Air Force Base and go in and out of rotation. Also onhand are a couple more planes that are decked out with sophisticated scientific and communications equipment. I can't recall the designation given for the planes, but there are modified Boeing 747's. President Bush used one of them on September 11th when he was ushered out of Florida.
On posting, I see Veers found the plane I was talking about. The E4B.
I really need to stop watching so much damn television, even if it is educational television.
[ February 07, 2002, 19:27: Message edited by: Siegfried ]
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
All right, found more information. There are two VC-25A's, which are modified Boeing 747-200B's. They are operated by the 89th Presidential Airlift Wing out of Andrews Air Force Base. These craft are used by the President and his family. This wing also oversees the Executive Transports, the C-32A's. They are modified Boeing 757-200B's, and they are used by the Vice-President, Cabinet officials, and other high-ranking administration officials. There are currently four of them.
Posted by David Templar (Member # 580) on :
If you think the E4B is cool, wait until the ABL enters service.
Posted by OnToMars (Member # 621) on :
I saw that same special, Siggy. My roomate and I thought it was pretty cool that we were now witnessing right in front of us what we saw on the fucking History Channel.
Anybody into NASCAR? Going to watch the Daytona 500? Watch closely for me, cause I'll be workin' it. Which means I get in for free!
I'm working 'hospitality', which means I greet people and that kind of thing. But once the race gets going, the people stop coming, and there's nothing left for us to do but sit back and watch the race. Have I mentioned this school kicks ass?
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
A friend of mine painted a mockup of AF1 for a movie last year. He did it in London, Ontario. He said it looked pretty cool. He got to dine and drink on Paramounts tab for about a week. Said it was great.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
OnToMars, that was an excellent special, I thought. It was nice that the offered a lot of history on the earlier Air Force Ones and on Presidential air travel. The first twenty years of Presidential air travel saw only the use of military planes. Eisenhower named his Columbine. Kennedy ushered in the first non-military-plane based Air Force One and gave us the familiar blue-silver-seal color scheme. And I'll never forget that one of the earlier Air Force One's was orange and gray.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I wonder if someone has built an Air Force One out of Legos ... hmmm ...
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I'd be willing to bet that someone has. I think everything but a jar of jalopeno peppers has been built in Legos.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Out of LEGO maybe... out of Legos, I doubt it.
Posted by NightWing (Member # 4) on :
I came as close as about 15 meters distance from several F-117 Stealth Fighters at an airport in our own country
And president Clinton has flown almost directly over my own house towards an airport nearby, although not in Airforce 1... But damn, those Chinook helicopters make quite some noice!
And I live in The Netherlands Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
If he was in an airplane, it was Air Force One. If the President gets on a Piper Cub, that Piper Cub's official designation is Air Force One.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Yeah, but he said he flew overhead in a helicopter
So was he in Marine One ... ?
Posted by OnToMars (Member # 621) on :
So does any boat the president steps on automatically become referred to as Navy One?
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I think that designation only applies to aircraft that the President uses. If he were to ride on a Navy helicopter or aircraft, it would be designated Navy One much like the Marine helicopters he uses are designated Marine One when he is aboard them. A slight bit of trivia I learned is that if the President is aboard a non-military aircraft, it is designated Executive One.
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and gray.
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