Originally Posted by
Arm out the window
Seems it can be a whole lot easier to get a flight as a civvy if you are some kind of 'celebrity' - happens, or used to at least, down on our side of the globe quite a bit. A smiley-faced photo of the individual in question on the front page of the newspaper was seen as a good bit of
PR, although not necessarily the used spew bag when they were back on the ground!
Those celebrity flights still occur in the U.S. and have been going on for a long time.
For example, you can see who got a ride in the SR-71 in the Staff and VIP sections at the bottom of this sorted list:
SR-71 Crew and Riders
A friend had the honor of taking John Glenn up in a B-2, I believe it was in the late 1990's, early in the program. He said it was somewhat low profile, perhaps because Senator Glenn had been an early opponent of the aircraft due to his skepticism of the cost benefits of stealth technology.
A few politicians, including Senator Glenn and Florida Congressman Bill Nelson rode on Space Shuttle flights. The 1986 Challenger disaster pretty much ended the VIP astronaut program.
