US offical flight at RAF Northolt

radio ears · 7th Feb 2004, 07:32

Hi,

I passed RAF Northolt today, and noticed a smallish jet parked, marked up as the presdient of the USA. Any idea who may fly in it and was it / is it airforce 1?

Jerricho · 7th Feb 2004, 08:08

AF1 is the callsign assigned to the aircraft that has POTUS on board. The actual aircraft could have anything painted on the side.

alexb757 · 7th Feb 2004, 08:22

Don't know what you saw, but the Pres does not travel in smallish jets! It is usually a specially modified B747 Classic with the words "United States of America" on the side. It also sports the stars and stripes, of course has an N number and if the man is on board, the callsign is Air Force One.

I believe ther is also a B757-200 in same colors/livery which is usually used by other members of the cabinet and the media. However, I don't think the 757 is classified as a smallish jet.

Did you recognise the make and model? What color was it? Any markings? You sounded a bit vague

av8boy · 7th Feb 2004, 13:26

Probably a Gulfstream, also of the 89th Airlift Wing .

radio ears · 7th Feb 2004, 18:41

It was showing the standard presidential livery, it just appeared a little short for a B747, as seen from the A40

phoenix son · 7th Feb 2004, 19:15

It is a C-40, the US Air Force version of the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).They are in the process of buying a handful to update their transport fleet used for Special Air Mission (SAM) flights. These are any flights carrying US Government or Diplomatic staff.
Technically when the President flies on one of the fleet this is a SAM flight, but as already stated any aircraft with him on board will take the callsign "Air Force One"

Regards,

PHX

tyne · 8th Feb 2004, 20:54

I saw a small business jet at Teesside a few days before Dubya's visit. Painted in the green and white two-tone that the presidential helos wear. Sounds like the same thing.

By the way, I thought the presidential helos were some sort of Sea King model. The helos at Teesside were a derivative of the Black Hawk - again painted in the green and white livery.

There were at least two of these on the tarmac ahead of the visit, together with several CH53 Super Stallion and a USN C130 which I guess was there with spares and back/up teams.

What does Tony use these days? I know the PM used to use VC-10s for long-hauls and Royal Flight jets for the shorter stuff.

Rgds,

Tyne.

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