Air Force One
Published on Nov 7, 2006 at 1:18 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under aeronautics, skywatching.
Well, if you are outdoors doing astronomy, eventually you see all sorts of things in the sky. And, there’s always something new that you’ve never seen before. Last night was one of those nights. During lab, I had the students out observing the Moon. Then, this rather larger than average aircraft flew over the campus. Now, it wasn’t that low over campus — probably about 2500 feet, but that is much lower than normal for such a large aircraft flying over the campus (there aren’t any interesting places to fly in that direction, so we normally don’t anything bigger than a 737 unless they are going around weather, and it was clear last night). Also, it didn’t sound like the normal planes in and out of this airport. So, being curious, I picked up a pair of binoculars that the students weren’t using (they’d all switched to the telescopes), and took a look at the aircraft. It was unmistakably a Boeing 747. Those things are very distinctive. They do fly in and out of this airport, but very rarely on the side of the airport that the campus is located. The tail was lit up, and it looked familiar. Then, the moonlight glinted off the fuselage, and I could see markings. I knew at once what had that paint scheme.
“No,” I thought. “It can’t be. I’m imagining things. It’s got to be a cargo plane, or something.” Well, today, I learned that President Bush had been in the area at a political rally, and had flown out last night to go to Crawford to vote. I am sure that he could have voted absentee, but presidents like to make a show of voting in person. (Speaking of which, I voted today. Did you? We should all take seriously our responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic republic.) The timing was right, the direction of flight, altitude, and location were all what would be expected for an aircraft taking off from the big airport here with the wind from the north, and then turning west and south. And top it off, the 747 that I saw had the right markings. I had seen Air Force One, and just hadn’t believed my eyes!
Air Force One is a term used to describe whatever aircraft the president happens to be on. Usually this is one of two special built Boeing 747-200B aircraft maintained by the Air Force specifically for presidential use. This aircraft has been specially customized for presidential use, with two galleys capable of serving up to 100 meals at a time (real food, not airline food!). When fully stocked, supplies for 2000 meals can be carried. There is a suite for the president, with sleeping quarters, a shower, and a private office. There is regular office equipment on board, with photocopiers, and computers for writing speaches and the like. I’m sure that there’s probably wireless internet, too. There’s certainly satellite telephones and satellite TV, as well as all the special communication gear that a president needs. This particular 747 is equiped for mid-air refueling, and it has missile defensive measures. There’s medical staff onboard, with a fully equiped mobile emergency room, complete with operating table. The aircraft has hardened electronics to protect form electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and electronic countermeasures (ECM) to jam radar. Truly a remarkable plane.
And I saw it completely by accident while teaching an astronomy lab.
-Astroprof
(Images courtesy of Boeing and www.whitehouse.gov)
Flygirl on November 10, 2006 at 10:27 am: 1
Very cool! I’ve seen Air Force One only once myself from a distance in Chicago.