Trump seems to think that turning an existing production 747-800 into an AF1 plane is simply a matter of changing the seating layout and the paint scheme.
The AF1 747s are built with vastly different communications and avionics so they can serve as secure flying command posts during emergencies. They can be refueled in mid-air (a tanker plane follows it around when the president is on board, just in case).
They're also used in pairs, with the other plane on standby at a nearby airport.
So in other words, this whole scheme
- is likely illegal, and certainly unseemly, given the plane is a gift from a foreign government.
- would be extremely expensive for the taxpayers
- probably won't actually accomplish what Trump wants.
trump can't even afford to maintain his 757. It disappeared from campaign photos after the wingtip got clipped at a campaign stop and would have needed millions in repairs.
The Qatari's are also shedding storage and maintenance costs for plane they haven't used in 5 years, nor have been able to sell.
trump also wouldn't be able to use it much. Only one runway in West Palm Beach airport is long enough for a 747-8, and the airport in NJ that he uses for golf is too short.
Pics of trump at the NJ airport show Air Force "2" - the 757 that the vice-president normally uses in NJ.
(and for those who forgot AF-1 is any US airforce plane the President is flying on - so if the president were flying a Cesna-172 - its call sign would be AF-1 while the president was on board)
@maya_b @quinn They use the "AF2" 757s (I think there are 4 in the fleet) fairly often - when they're flying to smaller airports, and also when one of the 747s is out of service.
They normally use those for VP flights (AF2) and other senior executives/VIPs (I believe they sent one of them to pick up Zelensky last year).
iirc when Biden did his surprise visit in Kiev, they flew in one of the 757s with a regular military call sign (not AF-1) in and out of Poland, from where he travelled overland by train for the visit.
The point about the size though, other than to service his vanity, what could trump do with the "gift" later on? He can't use it for golf.
The Qatari's have had it on the market for 5 years now - not much market for a blinged out used 747-8i. They've already given one the 3 747s they had away.
and all its sit around and do nothing costs. good write-down for the Qatari's.
(though should anyone be able to afford a write-off like that?!)
Eventually it'll rot in West Palm Beach. Unless the airforce keeps it and adds it to the rotation with the other 747-8s being converted. Or kept as a parts donor for non-special parts. The engines alone are worth keeping it for.
It is a white elephant in the truest diplomatic tradition.
Matt Blaze
Quinn Norton
maya_b 🇨🇦
Phosphenes