For most aviation enthusiasts, watching the US president fly the B 747 Air Force One is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Because it is not an average aircraft, It has been specially tailored to provide security to the President of the United States because it is not an ordinary aeroplane.

The Boeing B747 jumbo jet is often known as the “Queen of the Skies.” It’s painted in a unique blue colour scheme with chrome accents on the front fuselage. It’s a stunning aeroplane.

As soon as President Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States. he decided to make alterations to Air Force One, which had been in operation for 30 years. As aeroplanes become older, the amount of maintenance work required increases.

So, Donald Trump has a deal with Boeing to create the new Boeing 747 Air Force One. It was an important agreement for Boeing since it could mean the end of a lot of heavy work if they agreed to build one of them.

It all began with a single tweet from Donald Trump on December 6, 2016, in the early morning hours. He stated that Boeing is developing a new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but the cost is out of control, costing more than $4 billion. Deal must be cancelled! However, according to Boeing, the total cost of the programme is more than $5 billion. There is no doubt that Donald Trump has a distinct business negotiation style.

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It was implying that the program will be cancelled. So Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg calls and accepts the agreement, congratulating the client on the order. keeping it in mind, as well as a pledge to keep the cost of Air Force One as low as possible.

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Following that, an agreement was struck to reduce the cost of the VC 25B to the Pentagon, which will replace the current pair of substantially modified 747-200s that fly as Air Force One when the president is on board. Rather than designing a new 747-8 airframe from scratch, Boeing offered a pair of stored 747-8s that had been slated for defunct Russian Transaero, capping the taxpayers’ cost at US$ 3.9 billions.

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New Boeing US Air force one model – Courtesy : Herald Net

That choice, made in this case to keep the cost of the planes down, created the conditions of technical and certification concerns. Boeing has also had to deal with the Covid outbreak, supplier concerns, and B737 Max issues. There were numerous factors that caused Boeing to suffer a significant loss. Even the New President’s plane, however, will not transport the current White House occupant until 2026, at least two years later.

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The new Presidential aircraft would be converted from Russian airline Transaero’s undelivered 747-8 Intercontinental from Boeing, which was holding them in the Mojave Desert to avoid corrosion, in order to save money on the replacement programme. These planes will be retrofitted with telecommunications and security equipment to bring them up to the required security level of presidential aircraft, but without the aerial refuelling capability originally requested because the structural reinforcements required cannot be retrofitted onto an existing airframe.

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The new VC-25Bs will have a range of 5,900 nautical miles, which is less than some Gulfstream and Bombardier private aircraft, as well as the present Air Force One’s range of limitless miles, which averages 6,800 nautical miles (or 12,600 kilometres). This is because to the VC-25As’ ability to refuel from an aerial fuel tank, allowing them to fly for as long as the president chooses while receiving top-offs.

Furthermore, the Boeing 747-8i is the company’s next-generation engines for General Electric, which are more fuel-efficient than the current Air Force One aircraft’s out-of-date engines. Despite the 747-8i’s increased square footage, the Air Force will save $1.9 billion by flying the new aircraft.

Despite their bigger size, the VC-25Bs will carry the same number of passengers: 71. This provides additional space for non-passenger areas such as the president’s office, communications bay, medical suite, or private bedroom.

According to DefenseOne, the Air Force said in April that Boeing will write the owner’s manual for the new VC-25B aircraft, for which the military branch will pay $84 million. The manual is expected to be over 100,000 pages long and won’t be ready in time for the plane’s expected delivery to the Air Force. The $84 million is part of the project’s $5.3 billion price tag.

After President Trump renegotiated the deal, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced in April 2022 that he expects the company to lose $660 million on the VC-25B programme.

The new VC 25B livery will be based on Trump’s preference for black and white, and will be featured on new president aircraft in the same colour scheme as his personal Boeing 757. However, the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, has yet to decide if the iconic blue and white theme colour on aeroplane should be maintained.

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