Amazing Facts You Never Knew About Air Force One
Although we think of Air Force One as referring to the planes themselves, it is technically a radio call name for any plane on which the president of the United States of America travels. So, “Air Force One” is simply the plane flying the president.
Although it is Air Force One, the military has two planes that are designated as the official planes for presidential travel under the call sign Air Force One. The two planes serving in the Air Force One fleet today have been in service since 1990, and one of them is always ready to fly.
Presidents have a mobile command center at their disposal on the Air Force One aircraft. The onboard electronics are hardened to protect the plane from an electromagnetic pulse, and the plane is equipped with advanced secure communications equipment, according to the White House website. In the event of an attack on the United States, the president would have everything needed to respond.
Although many different types of planes have been used as Air Force One, the current planes in operation are both Boeing 747-200 aircraft. It has four engines and is a successor to the Boeing 707, which President Dwight Eisenhower added to the fleet in ’58. Eisenhower also flew in Lockheed C-121 Super Constellations.
The “Air Force One” naming convention was established for communication purposes. The name was adopted in 1953, after a commercial plane, Eastern Air Lines Flight 8610, entered President Eisenhower’s airspace when he was on board his plane, which had a similar name — Air Force 8610. After the incident, the term “Air Force One” was coined to avoid any confusion about which aircraft is carrying the commander-in-chief.
Air Force One isn’t the only official fleet for carrying the important people in our government. Air Force Two is the radio call sign for the plane the vice president is using. Typically, the V.P. flies on a C-32A, a military plane similar to a Boeing 757.
What happens if there is a medical emergency aboard the plane? The president and White House staff would be in luck since the Air Force One planes include a medical suite that can even function as an operating room, and there is always a doctor on board.
The two Air Force One planes have been in operation since 1990, so it should come as no surprise that they are in need of an update. In fact, they’re scheduled to be replaced within the next decade. In April, Boeing won a $3.9 billion contract to create new Air Force One planes to replace the current fleet. The new planes should be ready to fly the president by 2024.
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