Air Force one as you know is the official airplane of the President of the United States. It is also the office of the President while in transit. But!! It’s much more than you think because Air Force one is a cool mean beast in the air equipped with the most sophisticated technology of our times. Air Force one was made famous in Hollywood with the Harrison Ford movie by the same name but it’s much cooler than that. Air Force One isn’t just a physical plane but an entity in itself and there are many interesting stories and facts associated with it. There are some amazing anecdotes too along with the out of this world features that make up Air Force One. Some of the weird facts involved with Air Force one includes presidents and their habits aboard the plane like President Bill Clinton’s habit of playing Jazz during a flight and Gerald Ford who smuggled Coors beer from Colorado. Air Force one is also equipped with some great features that will put a five-star hotel to shame. It has two huge kitchens and a host of amenities so without further ado, take a look at 17 interesting facts about Air Force One.
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Yes!! Airplane is a triple decker plane stretched across 4,000 square feet of space. Unlike conventional seating, people including the president have plenty of leg room to stretch out their legs. The triple decker feature is because of the three levels of the plane. It cost the US $660 million to build and the Air force foots the bill in $140 million payments. It also cost $56 K an hour to operate.
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The plane can easily take on speeds up to 650 miles per hour but there many who say that Air Force one can easily chalk up to 700 miles per hour. However, that isn’t really the usual travelling speed of the plane which flies at an average of 580 miles per hour. When it flies faster, there are plenty of airsick bags in the kitchen for people to puke into.
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With long flight schedules and lengthy flights, you never know when someone may fall sick on the plane. When anyone gets injured or takes ill, the mini hospital on Air Force one is fully equipped to tackle emergencies. It has a complete medical room with all medical facilities including an operation theater and specialist doctors. That’s top health care since you have pretty important people on board.
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You never know when there could be a zombie apocalypse or some mad world leader pressing the nuclear button causing al out nuclear war. Air Force One is equipped to meet all eventualities such as nuclear war, earthquake, meteor strikes or maybe even a zombie attack. E-4B is a major backup for AF1 and it is also the codename for the plane nicknamed “the Doomsday Plane”. It is always on high alert status and can fly for days outpacing any nuclear explosion or strikes.
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Air Force One can easily be refueled in midair. That is a rare feature restricted to the defense forces where a plane can be refueled even when it is flying at 35,000 feet. That’s an important requirement in terms of security for the president today.
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If there is a nuclear attack, Air Force One is perhaps a safe haven to hide but that is if you can get in of course. The body of the aircraft is designed to withstand any nuclear blast or a nuclear strike from the ground which makes it a flying bomb shelter for the President and his team.
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Communication is an extremely important feature aboard AF1 and it has remarkable items. There are 85 phones aboard the plane along with some pretty sophisticated and advanced communication technology. There are two-way radios, fax machines, a variety of computer connections, 19 televisions, 238 miles of electronic wiring which are encased in heavy shielding to protect from the electromagnetic impulse of a nuclear blast.
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AF1 has two extensive kitchens that are equipped with cooking facilities to feed a 100 people. The kitchens aren’t the mini size galleys you see on your regular passenger plane but spacious enough for cooks to do some regular cooking for the president and guests.
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Among facts of Air Force One, Coors Beer which was Gerald Ford’s favorite wasn’t available throughout the US. It was only available in 11 states. When Ford traveled on AF 1, he would make his entire staff load Coors beer onto the plane. His staff would procure the beer from states like Colorado while flying back to the Whitehouse in Washington DC.
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During the cold war of the fifties, US security was high on the agenda of the CIA. Director Allen Dulles converted the aircraft into a spy plane in 1959 on a temporary basis. The plane was fitted with secret spy cameras in the wheel wells. These were extremely powerful enough to work from 29,000 feet where they could easily read the license plate of a car.
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In a terrorist attack similar to 9/11, Air Force one has the entire necessary infrastructure to work as a command center in the air. If the White House is compromised or not safe, the President can take off in Air Force one and operate from there.
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Air Force one is always top priority which is why it is given preference over other air traffic. When AF1 takes off or is about to land, all air traffic is halted so the pilots don’t really need to bother about such things. AF1 doesn’t really interfere with commercial air traffic because it usually takes off and lands from military air bases in the US.
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Former president Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans and always ensured that the plane was well stocked with it. He always kept his jelly beans in a jar at the Oval office. President Bush hated broccoli so much he banned it from the kitchens on AF1 so it wouldn’t be served to him even by mistake. Clinton was known to play jazz music at peak volume because he had hearing issues.
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According to press reporter Frank Cormier, President Lyndon Johnson once gave him and another press reporter an exclusive interview without any clothes on as he had just finished a tiring day of election campaigning. This how Cormier described it, “He shucked off his underwear." Then, as if nothing unusual were going on, the President continued talking to the reporters while "standing buck naked and waving his towel for emphasis." Incidentally, Johnson was also sworn in aboard the plane just after President Kennedy was assassinated.
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96 people can comfortably travel on board Air Force one at a time. This includes 26 crew. All seats are marked according to white house administration specifications where most of the seats are reserved for press and the secret service.
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What you saw in the Harrison Ford movie was pretty much true regarding facts about Airforce One. AF1 is equipped with radar-jamming technology or ECM (electronic countermeasures) and it can deploy flares as a countermeasure to heat-seeking missiles.
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As reports suggest, President Donald Trump’s seeking to deliver his promise to cut expenditure by $1 billion means that the future Air Force One planes will not have this facility anymore.
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