The VC-25 Visits Detroit

As I said a couple of posts ago, I found out that President Trump was coming to visit the Ford Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti.  Since I didn't have any pictures of the VC-25, I figured that I would try to catch it.

 The winds were coming in from the south and he would be landing on Runway 3R, so that meant getting pictures of him would be tricky unless I went to the parking deck or a spot just south of the airport.  I figured that I would try for the spot south of the airport.

 I decided to have my scanner on and I heard the following, "Air Force One, you are cleared to land on Runway 3 right".  I looked in the sky and I saw that the plane was coming in, so I had to pull over and these two pictures were the best I could do.

 I found a copy of his itinerary online and saw that he was going to leave the Ford Plant at around 5:10.  That gave me enough time to head over to the airport to try and get some pictures of his take off.  I figured that he would be taking off from the same runway, but I saw that the winds had shifted, so he would be taking off to the south.  I headed up to the parking deck because I figured that would be my best opportunity to get pictures.   While I was there, I figured I would get some pictures of other planes.  This CRJ-200 was heading to Allentown (where they're closing all the factories down.....).

 His plane was still there, as I was waiting, I was talking to my mom because she was kind of watching his speech on TV.

 So then I caught this Southwest 737 heading for Baltimore.

 I think I like this picture better.

 A Delta A319 arriving from Tampa.  Before Covid-19 hit, this would have been a 757 flight.  It's kind of sad.

 Another A319 arriving from Baltimore.

 5:30 rolled around and my mom said he was still on TV.  I decided to pack it in because I didn't want to be much later.  As I was leaving the airport, I saw the helicopter that was flying over the north side of the airport turn back towards his plane.  I figured that meant he was coming back from the Ford Plant.

 I thought maybe he was taking Marine One from Ypsilanti because I saw pictures of that as well.  He wasn't.  It was still pretty cool to get a picture of the motorcade.  This is only the second time I've seen a Presidential motorcade.  I don't care who is in it, it is still impressive.

 Everybody back on the plane and it gets ready to take off.

 In 1985, the 707 based VC-137s that carried Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan were 23 and 13 years old, respectively.  It was determined that they needed a replacement for those aircraft.

 The Request for Proposal stated that the aircraft had to have at least 3 engines.  McDonnell-Douglas proposed a version of the DC-10 and Boeing proposed a version of the 747.  The Boeing version won and the US Air Force had two of them produced at a cost of 325 million dollars each.

 Each plane can accommodate 70 passengers.  The cargo area can carry food and other stuff.   I think this plane is electro magnetic pulse hardened, so I could be used in the event of a nuclear war.  But I also think that the President would be transferred to the Doomsday plane.

 It is capable of flying 7,800 miles without being refueled.  That is roughly 1/3 of the distance around the globe.  With refueling, it can stay in the air for three days before some components need some loving.

 This is office space and I believe WiFi capability.  There is also a pretty serious communications suite.  The President can conduct all of his business in the sky if he needs to.

 Anyway, I was expecting the plane to take off from 18R but they got the clearance to take off from 27L.  I think that made for better shots anyway.

 This aircraft is only designated as "Air Force One" when the President is on board.  It is used to take the replaced President back home.  When the President is not on board it is called Special Air Mission 28000 or 29000 depending on which plane is used.

 While President Reagan never flew on it while he was alive, it was used to transport his coffin to his state funeral in Washington DC and back to his library in Santa Barbara.  It was also used to carry the caskets of President George H.W. Bush and President Gerald Ford.

 This plane first flew in 1990 which means it was used by Presidents George HW Bush, Clinton, George W Bush, Obama and Trump.  These are going to be replaced by the VC-25B which is based on the 747-8.

 When these planes get replaced, they will feature a new (uglier) color scheme.

 After taking off to the west, the plane banked and headed back towards Washington D.C.

One more shot before it disappeared in the clouds.