Surprising Facts about Air Force One That Will Blow Your Mind

Protecting the world’s most influential leader is important. The U.S president is protected by many forces such as the Secret Service, Army, and the local police. The Secret Service not only provides 24/7 protection for the president but also for his family. The U.S president may be the most powerful person in the world but he cannot decline the protection given to him but their spouses and adult children can. All the vehicles in which the president travels have tight managed security and also have many mindblowing features, one such vehicle is the Air Force One, the most sophisticated civilian aircraft in the world. The President has every necessary thing in his flight even in response to an attack. 

History of Air Force One

Air Force One is the official aircraft that carries the U.S president. Officially, Air Force one is also used to refer to any aircraft in which the president travels but now the term is used to refer to specific planes. The president must be ready to travel anywhere in the world at the moment’s notice so does the security and vehicles. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first president to travel in flight in 1943. So unofficially, the first presidential flight was introduced in the year 1943 and the name “ Air Force One ” was not coined until 1953. The first Air Force One was designated in 1953, after an incident when an aircraft carrying President Dwight D. Eisenhower crossed paths with a commercial flight of the same number “8610.” So it was named “Air Force One” to avoid confusion. 

Facts about Air Force One

• Air Force One is not the name of a plane. It is a call sign used for any Air Force aircraft that the U.S president is currently on. If the president is on a personal plane then it is called the ”Executive One.”
• Boeing 747-200 B’s is currently called the “Air Force One.”
• Air Force One is just like the White House in the air. The Air Force One Amenities includes a large office, bedroom, medical center, and a conference room which is called the Airborne Oval Office.
• A doctor will be on every flight and the kitchen in Air Force One can prepare meals for 2000 people and can serve up to 100 people at a time.
• Air Force One has security features such as ‘advanced secure communications equipment’ but its details are not fully available to the public. All the gadgets and electronic items are protected against electromagnetic pulses and hackers.
• This is one of the interesting Air Force One Facts, the flight can be refueled in mid-air whenever necessary. So two aircraft fly with each other for backup purposes. But till now situations like that have never arisen.
• Air Force One can carry up to 76 passengers including Plane’s staff, president’s members, security, cook, guests, and journalists. The President and his family use the front private entrance and exit and the passengers in the flight might never see him.
• Air Force One flies at a top speed of about 600mph and it can almost travel at the speed of sound. It is not parked at an airport terminal for security reasons.
• The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed the cost to operate Air Force One. It is mentioned that in October 2014, during one of President Barack Obama’s trips it cost over $200,000/hour to operate Air Force One. The cost excludes the president’s limo or helicopter after the landing.
• The current Boeing 747-200Bs will be replaced soon as they are almost 30 years old and they were first used in the 1990s when George Bush was the President. It is said that the new aircraft project is estimated at over $5 billion.
• Air Force One technology can withstand a nuclear blast on the ground while flying.