Posted on 12/06/2016 6:48:15 AM PST by Olog-hai
Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump says he wants the government to cut some costs by canceling its order for a new Air Force One, the plane that carries presidents around the globe.
The government has contracted with Boeing to build two or more new planes, which would go into service around 2024. That means Trump wouldn’t fly on the new planes unless he pursued and won a second term. But the Air Force has pressed for a faster schedule, saying the current planes are becoming too expensive to repair and keep in good flying shape.
The contract for the planes was to be about $3 billion, but costs have been reported to be rising. Trump tweeted early Tuesday, “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” …
(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...
This ought to rattle the WA state libs today.
Trump’s jet is a 757...Not a 747.
Too much winning! Can’t stand it. Need a safe space.
I guess the current one is worn out by the constant travel of the emperor in chief.
He should also offer the use of his personal airplane to the Obama family after his inauguration. Leave that big 747 sitting in its hangar at Andrews.
The President should fly around on something small and agile (relatively speaking). Something like a Gulfstream G650. With the miniaturization of electronics, you don’t need a 747 to haul around communications gear.
If the Air Force needs a flying command post, that is a separate mission.
And the Press Corps can fly commercial.
Negotiation.
We’ll be seeing a lot of it in the next 8 years.
Ah ain’ nowars NEAHR tahhed !
Bombastic? Raucous? No editorial slant there /s
Look for the current plane to have “engine problems” and require an emergency landing.
Yup. They still don’t realize their jobs have been outsourced to new media.
The present AF one has counter measures like flares to head off IR missiles, and other stuff. Also need loads of communications gear to break through jamming, etc. So, maybe a C-130 sized aircraft would be the minimum size needed.
One of the reasons AF1 is so special is that it has secure communications equipment that not many other planes have. The President is able to talk (or probably even watch) anywhere on the globe at a moment’s notice. It also needs to be big enough to carry his staff.
Yes, Trump Force One is a 757. It’s much smaller than a 747 and can’t carry the staff a President requires. Not only that...if Trump intends to use that plane, it’s going to HAVE to be outfitted with the same secure commo equipment the 747 has...and I think it’ll take a pretty big cut into the space available for him.
If Boeing comes knocking on his door to try to save the order, I think Trump’s going to tell them to cut the costs or he’ll go somewhere else. I think they can bring the costs down.
The G650ER certainly has the range.
If the President really wanted to make a statement, he could fly the most advanced American airliner, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
We are selling Dreamliners all over the World. Nobody will ever buy another new 747 for passenger travel. The design is obsolete.
Jonah Goldberg is on Fox right now, babbling incoherently about this story.
What a waste of oxygen!
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