747-8 chosen to replace air force 1

[drichard]

Reuters are reporting the decision to replace AF1 with 747-8

Air Force picks Boeing 747-8 to replace Air Force One: sources

[fantom]

Would you expect them to choose a magnificent Airbus?

[captplaystation]

Can't beat 4 engines !


Good to see Obama maintaining some sort of standards in his shift.

[TOWTEAMBASE]

I thought the -8 was a donkey ? Mind you, won't be run of the mill will it. I know QR have bought 3 BBJ versions too, some private toy THAT will be

[Stuff]

Bloomberg: "The first new Air Force One isn’t expected to be delivered until 2018, when it will be tested before entering service in fiscal 2023."

5 years of testing? Seems a little excessive considering it only has a planned 30 year lifespan.

[Prada]

I think there was a requirement, that AF-1 planes should be physically assembled on US soil. That was one of reasons why Airbus did not participate with its A380 in bidding.

[Jet Jockey A4]

I believe the extensive testing is because of the sophisticated electronic gear onboard.

[NigelOnDraft]

Bloomberg: "The first new Air Force One isn’t expected to be delivered until 2018, when it will be tested before entering service in fiscal 2023."

5 years of testing? Seems a little excessive considering it only has a planned 30 year lifespan.

Partly because they don't need it until 2023 (or maybe won't pay for it), but the 747-8 is selling badly, so the prod line might close ~2016.

[Una Due Tfc]

I was thinking there probably won't be any 4 engined passenger aircraft in production in 2023 alright....

[Admiral346]

"Airforce1, descending to FL 270 due to icing"

That plane is a joke, a disgrace to modern air travel - and the president of the US of A is going to ride in one.

He probably rides in a Cadillac instead of a BMW, too.

To quote Top Gear: "In Europe the meassurements in autoconstruction are rounded to the nearest millimeter, in the US it's the nearest - foot!"


Good Luck, Mr. President...

[N707ZS]

Do you think if he asked nicely they would give Dave one of the old ones! We must be one of the only country's in the world that hasn't got a decent first jet.

[carlrsymington]

I know I am too lazy but...

What do the Greeks, Italian & Spanish "topC" politicians get to fly on?

[aterpster]

What a waste of U.S. taxpayer money.

With the present clown-in-chief it spews huge amounts of carbon to take him from Andrews AFB to PHNL on a regular basis. But, none of them, past, present or future, are royalty.

[Turbine D]

Originally posted by Admiral346:
To quote Top Gear: "In Europe the meassurements in autoconstruction are rounded to the nearest millimeter, in the US it's the nearest - foot!"

Err, I seem to remember that the A-380 was delayed for a significant period of time resulting from miscalculation of dimensions, CAD-CAM version screw-up (auto-construction). Lead customers were rather miffed. Do you recall that?

[jimmynes]

And what makes it OK for royalty to spew huge amounts of carbon ???

[LiveryMan]

Originally Posted by Admiral346

That plane is a joke, a disgrace to modern air travel

That's not what Lufthansa have been saying about theirs.

I believe I also read that Cargolux find they are more efficient than promised, even without the engine performance enhancement package.

The icing issue you refer to was an engine issue

[Ian Corrigible]

Amusing to see Flight report that the 747-8 "bested the A380," even though it wasn't offered.

By that metric, the 747-8 also 'bested' the Spruce Goose, H.P.42, Cri-Cri and X-37B.

I/C

[Evanelpus]

The US government would have gone for a Triple 7 in preference to the A380. In fact, the French could have 'bidded' till they were blue in the face, they would have had as much chance as a snowball in hell!

[tdracer]

5 years of testing? Seems a little excessive considering it only has a planned 30 year lifespan.

Rollout in 2018, Service introduction 2021.
3 years is consistent with the current 747 Air Force One aircraft - IIRC the first one rolled out in 1986, after normal production flight testing it, was flown to Wichita were it was modified into the VC-25A configuration (executive interior, tons of communication and avionics changes, dual APU installation, Aerial Refueling, etc). Delivered to the USAF late 1989. Second airplane followed a year later.
Presumably the new 747-8 AF1 will be a similar deal - it'll roll out as a pretty much typical 747-8i but without an interior - and they'll fly it to a mod center somewhere for all the upgrades.
It probably won't be Wichita though - Boeing Wichita no longer exists

[Intruder]

Could still be Wichita... Spirit, which Boeing spun off several years ago, is still in business, likely with many of the same ex-Boeing workers.