# Air Force One question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 21, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066 "2007-04-21T14:36:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2025, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/61 "2025-02-28T02:27:23Z")
> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> But I guess the new VC-25s won’t have in-flight refueling capability.
If this capability is left off, it would be pretty surprising, given that Air Force One may arguably be _the_ aircraft in the world that needs this ability the _most_. It would mean Air Force One could theoretically find itself in a situation some day where it has no choice but to land in a less-than-friendly nation due to being low on fuel. Of course, though, one could argue that that sort of unfriendly airspace would have made it hard for a USAF tanker to link up with Air Force One in the air anyway.
I am also curious what would have happened if Boeing had simply refused to make any Air Force Ones, period - the US government would have had no choice but to go with Airbus. Would be interesting optics.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/62 "2025-03-10T03:02:35Z")
And not helpful in later getting other USAF contracts.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/63 "2025-05-12T01:51:27Z")
What could _possibly_ go wrong?:
> **[Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-poised-accept-palace-sky-gift-trump/story?id=121680511)**
>
> President Trump poised to accept "palace in the sky" as a gift from Qatar: Sources
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### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/64 "2025-05-12T12:58:42Z")
They better get a good exterminator; I’m sure it’s filled with ‘bugs’.
Also, AIUI, the entire second floor of the current AF1 is staffed by military & secure comms, I’m guessing a flying palace doesn’t have all those comms, & it’s not like the retrofit can take place over night. Is he just planning on traveling in the dark?
Hmmm, maybe they can use a secure payphone in a street corner where anyone can listen in to their conversations.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/65 "2025-05-12T17:47:53Z")
Accept bribe/Trojan horse/bug nest first; figure out “legalities” later:
> **[Legal details over accepting Qatari plane to use as Air Force One ‘still...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/qatar-jet-gift-trump)**
>
> “Any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2025, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/66 "2025-05-12T18:55:37Z")
NVM, not really FQ response
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/67 "2025-06-11T18:34:14Z")
_The Onion_ has its own prediction:
> **[Rusted Qatari Plane Sitting On Blocks On White House Lawn](https://theonion.com/rusted-qatari-plane-sitting-on-blocks-on-white-house-lawn/)**
>
> Est. reading time: 1 minute
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/68 "2025-06-13T01:40:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Given that the 747 is pretty long in the tooth, one would have thought the Boeing 777X would have been the more appropriate replacement jet.
The major advantage of 777X over 747-800 is economic – lower cost per passenger mile.
That’s not a major consideration for Air Force 1.
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### Author:  [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/69 "2025-06-13T04:29:33Z")
Plus a 747 has four engines vs the 777 with two.
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2025, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/70 "2025-06-14T05:01:58Z")
And you know Donnie Two-scoops would be all over that.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/71 "2026-06-18T18:23:28Z")
Bumped.
An update:
> **[White House staff bids farewell to planes used as Air Force One for more than...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/18/politics/white-house-staff-bids-farewell-to-planes-used-as-air-force-one-for-more-than-35-years)**
>
> After an early Thursday morning landing near Washington, two White House officials posted social media farewells to the heavily modified Boeing 747-200, which has flown as Air Force One since 1990, as the first of three planes being modified for the...
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/72 "2026-07-10T21:04:55Z")
They got the Qatari gift plane and converted it fast, but not completely, it appears.
> **[Security concerns prompted Trump to depart Turkey on older plane while...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/09/politics/plane-trump-air-force-one-security)**
>
> President Donald Trump’s decision to depart Turkey on an older plane while sending his new, Qatari-gifted jet ahead to England was driven at least in part by security concerns around the escalating conflict in Iran, according to four US officials.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/73 "2026-07-10T21:24:28Z")
As I said in another thread, it didn’t make sense to me that they were able to make the Qatari plane (Boeing VC-25B Bridge) into one capable of carrying the POTUS in less than a year, including whatever time was necessary to ensure that it was bug-free (and even bomb-free). Especially since it’s taking roughly a decade to make the new VC-25B planes ready as replacements for the existing VC-25A planes. So the answer is that the Qatari plane received only a half-assed upgrade.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/74 "2026-07-10T21:26:34Z")
But it sure is shiny!
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/75 "2026-07-11T01:21:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> it didn’t make sense to me that they were able to make the Qatari plane (Boeing VC-25B Bridge) into one capable of carrying the POTUS in less than a year, including whatever time was necessary to ensure that it was bug-free (and even bomb-free). Especially since it’s taking roughly a decade to make the new VC-25B planes ready as replacements for the existing VC-25A planes.
I’ve heard that the biggest time delay comes with installing its defensive capabilities. Air Force One can survive a nuclear attack.
> [@](#):
>
> Boeing 747s are generally not equipped with missile countermeasures; however, the older presidential fleet is widely believed to include them.
>
> Aviation observers studying pictures of the aircraft said the new plane appears to lack external modifications to the tail cone associated with a type of directional infrared missile defense system…
>
> The older planes are also believed to carry chaff, bundles of metallic strips shot out of the aircraft to create false radar targets and confuse radar-guided missiles…
>
> It’s also not clear what kind of defense the new jets have in case of nuclear attacks and associated electromagnetic pulses compared to the old ones which were designed during the Cold War.
> **[The newest Air Force One is flying, but is it ready to deal with all the...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/10/us/air-force-one-threats)**
>
> When President Donald Trump departed Turkey this week, he boarded a 35-year-old modified Boeing 747, not the newly converted plane parked across the tarmac that had been introduced with much fanfare just days earlier.
I have little doubt that Trump was told that he couldn’t be guaranteed that his new plane would avoid being attacked when he left Europe. That’s why he took the old one.
As a true AF1, it’s not sufficient. But as a plane for his “presidential library”, it’s perfect. The plan is to put it on display inside the building. Of course, when it turns out it won’t fit, he’ll just have to appropriate it for his own personal use.
> [@](#):
>
> Past museum projects show just how complex such installations can be. The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum required extensive disassembly and reassembly of aircraft components to fit large aircraft into indoor spaces, whereas the Ronald Reagan Library project involved removing the wings and tail sections before transporting the aircraft and reconstructing them around a purpose-built pavilion. Replicating that level of engineering in a dense urban environment like downtown Miami would be significantly more complex, costly, and time-consuming.
[https://simpleflying.com/trump-new-400-million-boeing-747-8-never-land-presidential-library/](https://simpleflying.com/trump-new-400-million-boeing-747-8-never-land-presidential-library/)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [July 11, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/76 "2026-07-11T16:43:12Z")
And now the Department of Justice issued subpoenas to several New York Times reporters who wrote on the security concerns about the Qatari plane being used as Air Force One. Great way to respect the constitution there.
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### Author:  [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)
#### Post date: [July 12, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/77 "2026-07-12T15:58:43Z")
> [@Moriarty](#):
>
> Of course, when it turns out it won’t fit, he’ll just have to appropriate it for his own personal use.
Another alternative would be to slice it into 10-foot sections and have it displayed that way like an “Amazing Interiors” illustration. At least, that’s my suggestion.
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### Author:  [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/78 "2026-08-11T13:04:08Z")
Updating this thread with this news story that came out today:
> **[Trump secretly switched planes in Turkey amid security concerns, official says...](https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/10/politics/trump-secretly-transferred-planes-security-concerns-af1)**
>
> President Donald Trump secretly slipped out of of Turkey last month on an alternate military plane, which he boarded while hidden inside a catering truck, as part of an elaborate ruse prompted by an Iranian threat, according to a US official.
TL;DR: To fly back from the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump boarded the 747 he got gifted from Qatar (the one that’s meant to be the new main Air Force One) but clandestinely left it within minutes while the plane was still on the apron. On a catering truck, he was quietly shuttled to an otherwise undistinguished C-32A while the media pool boarded the 747. Both planes took off, with the 747 using the Air Force One call sign even though the President was not on board. Both planes then had a stopover at Mildenhall in England, where Trump was secretly shuttled back onto the 747 which he then exited in full view of the media.
So this would constitute a case of the President flying on a plane that wasn’t using the Air Force One call sign, while another did, serving as a decoy.
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/79 "2026-08-12T00:15:50Z")
Yes, and some of the [reporters did not appreciate](https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/11/trump-reporter-from-air-force-one-threat-demands-transparency-from-white-house/) being on the decoy plane.
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-one-question/401066/80 "2026-08-12T17:02:44Z")
Pfft! They should have been grateful, with tears in their eyes, for such an opportunity. 😭
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