Air Force One, a Cherished Perk Awaiting an Upgrade
WASHINGTON — President Obama has already made clear what he will miss the most when he leaves office in 15 months. “People sometimes ask me what the biggest perk of being president is,” he told visitors at the White House last week. “No. 1 is the plane.”
In September, he told another audience that “the plane is nice” and that unfortunately for him “my lease is running out,” so he might soon have to “start taking off my shoes again going through security.” In Kenya in July, he noted that when he visited as a young man his luggage was lost: “That doesn’t happen on Air Force One.”
Let’s face it: The plane is, in fact, pretty nice, and the president’s luggage is indeed very rarely lost. But the plane is also getting old. And so after more than a million miles of flying while in office, its current primary passenger is planning to bequeath his successor — or perhaps his successor’s successor — a new-and-improved Air Force One spiffed up for the smartphone age.
Members of the Air Force One crew set the steps in place for President Obama's return to Washington after a trip to Michigan and Arizona in January.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/air-force-one-a-cherished-perk-awaiting-an-upgrade/ar-AAfBApD?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=mailsignout
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Since Boeing is phasing out production of the 747 airframe, the Air Mobility Command will order 2 or possibly 3 of the last 747's to be assembled, specifically the 747-8. Sales numbers have fallen off dramatically for the largest plane Boeing builds so the 2 or 3 airframes to be built for the use of the President will be the last or nearly the last to be assembled at Boeings Everett facility.
The current "VC-25's" are 747 -200's;
The -8 has an extended upper deck and is longer than the -200
Aircraft pictured out front of one of the massive doors of the Everett Assembly hall.
