I saw Air Force One this morning in flight.

Im not sure if this is the proper place for this story or not but i wanted to share with ATS, but I do have a question about what i saw so i figured id start here in the questions and info section. Anyway onto the story:

I was on my way to my part time job this morning around 9:00 to 9:15 am not sure of the exact time but definitely in between this time frame. I made a right hand turn onto county route 78 and all of sudden between the break in the trees was this huge plane flying extremely low. It was low enough that i could clearly see that it resembled Air Force One(AFO). About 1/4 mile down the road the trees cleared to an open field and i got a much better look at it and it definitely looked like AFO. I was thinking to myself why the hell on earth would AFO be flying over this area and so damn low. About another 1/2 mile down the road i got another clear look at it again, now all im seeing is the rear of the plane i could see it starting to climb in altitude again. I thought it was weird but didn't think much of it after that until about an hour ago when i saw that President Obama was in West Point today giving a speech. West point is about 1/2 hour to the east of my town and so is Stewart Air Force base which where AFO would fly into. So i looked on Google Maps and looked at where i saw AFO and the flight path it was on and it was heading East so i am convinced that it was AFO. I just thought that it was pretty cool to see something random like that. The only question i have is why the hell it was so low? I see military transport planes (C-17's) flying over my town all the time going to Stewart but never that low, EVER. There is small airport on the edge of my town and it was so low that i thought to myself for second that it might be landing there for an emergency, but that airport could never handle a plane that large. Any comments, questions, or info is welcome.

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

I was at the West Point speech today and this time line makes sense, but was it heading towards or away from the airport? Obama landed in West Point in Marine One (the presidential helicopter) but i didn't pay attention to the direction it was coming from.

Originally posted by Constitutioneer
I was at the West Point speech today and this time line makes sense, but was it heading towards or away from the airport? Obama landed in West Point in Marine One (the presidential helicopter) but i didn't pay attention to the direction it was coming from.

AFO was definitely heading east towards Stewart. This makes sense, AFO to Stewart then Marine One from Stewart to West Point. A motorcade from Stewart to West Point is way too long.

Although he did have a motorcade from the landing zone to Michie Stadium.

So what. Jeez, the president has to travel. Do we really want him to travel on Southwest or Continental? Give him a break for someones sake.

Originally posted by brilab45
So what. Jeez, the president has to travel. Do we really want him to travel on Southwest or Continental? Give him a break for someones sake.

Might be nice if you read the OP. Nobody was questioning Obama that I can see...

Geez people...

Originally posted by brilab45
So what. Jeez, the president has to travel. Do we really want him to travel on Southwest or Continental? Give him a break for someones sake.

Um?? Maybe you misread or didnt read my story at all but nowhere in the story did a criticize the President. I dont expect him to fly on Southwest or Continental. I just thought it was cool to see Air Force One flying by especially when i wasnt expecting it and thought id share the story. The only thing I didnt understand was why it was flying so low. No I dont think its some conspiracy that AFO was flying low, i was just curious why it was.

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

reply to post by brilab45


No, we want him to travel in his car just like us and face construction impediments all over. To see who has better patience, us or him.

Originally posted by charlie0
reply to post by brilab45

 

"Do we really want him to travel on Southwest or Continental?"

No, we want him to travel in his car just like us and face construction impediments all over. To see who has better patience, us or him.

Sorry, I'm an Air Force guy. Guess my claws were a bit extended. Didn't mean to offend.

Originally posted by brilab45
Sorry, I'm an Air Force guy. Guess my claws were a bit extended. Didn't mean to offend.

Its cool dude, im not that easily offended . But since you are a Air Force guy maybe you could shed some light on what type of protocol might have Air Force One flying at near landing height 30 miles away from the airport? Also does AFO always have fighter escorts because i dont recall seeing any.

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

Don't forget that there are 2 of those things in use at any time 1 is in use. The real Air Force One is shadowed nearby with a clone. I don't know if you saw the real one or not. The only difference between the two is that the Pres. is in one and not in the other. Generally they don't put it in the same town. Just nearby so if the Pres. was in your city then it was the one he was in for sure.

As to the stopping distance I'm sure it would surprise you how quickly it can take off and land. I've been on the flight-line and watched it (Air Force One) take off and land several times. The thing gets airborne quick. No idea about why it would fly in so low 30 miles out from the airport. It would be on a landing approach but not necessarily as low as you mentioned. They can fly lower if they want. I doubt they have the same restrictions that most airplanes do.

Originally posted by dbates
Don't forget that there are 2 of those things in use at any time 1 is in use. The real Air Force One is shadowed nearby with a clone. I don't know if you saw the real one or not. The only difference between the two is that the Pres. is in one and not in the other. Generally they don't put it in the same town. Just nearby so if the Pres. was in your city then it was the one he was in for sure.

As to the stopping distance I'm sure it would surprise you how quickly it can take off and land. I've been on the flight-line and watched it (Air Force One) take off and land several times. The thing gets airborne quick. No idea about why it would fly in so low 30 miles out from the airport. It would be on a landing approach but not necessarily as low as you mentioned. They can fly lower if they want. I doubt they have the same restrictions that most airplanes do.

I guess i will never know for sure if it was the real AFO or just the secondary one or why it was so low. I could understand if there was something cool on the ground that someone on board might want to look at but there is nothing there other than lots of woods, crappy condos and open fields. Either way it was a cool thing to see, especially because i wasnt expecting it.

[edit on 22-5-2010 by middleclasssoldier]

I'm respectfully out of this conversation. Not that I don't like ya'll, just sayin bye for now.

Originally posted by dbates
Don't forget that there are 2 of those things in use at any time 1 is in use. The real Air Force One is shadowed nearby with a clone. I don't know if you saw the real one or not. The only difference between the two is that the Pres. is in one and not in the other. Generally they don't put it in the same town. Just nearby so if the Pres. was in your city then it was the one he was in for sure.

Uhm, no - they do not fly the two VC-25s (the two 747s that make up the main aircraft in the presidential fleet) at the same time, what you say is complete tosh.

AF1 is typically accompanied by at least one C-5 cargo plane, which flies in before hand and carries Marine One, the motorcade and all the specialist equipment that the Secret Service needs to operate.

On long haul trips, a second aircraft from the presidential fleet accompanies AF1, and it is usually either one of the 757s or 737s but I cannot recall a single time when it has been the other VC-25.

Depending on the current security threat level, a trip by AF1 may be accompanied by one of the US Air Forces 4 E-4 command and control aircraft - these are also 747s, painted similiarly to the VC-25s, but each have a very visible hump behind the upper deck which houses communcations equipment. However, this aircraft is *not* a dummy or decoy, it operates as the airborne command and control point in case of any serious incidents as it has significantly better systems than Air Force One.

Originally posted by middleclasssoldier
There is small airport on the edge of my town and it was so low that i thought to myself for second that it might be landing there for an emergency, but that airport could never handle a plane that large. Any comments, questions, or info is welcome.

Maybe they we're just having some fun!

The aircrew in the Prez's aircraft are the best of the best, and I don't think they would ever make a standard approach to any airstrip, every landing would be a unique one, and they may have to change plans in the blink of an eye... So a nice safe airport is just another chance to practice?

Coming in low, hard and unpredictable makes you very hard to hit, it's probably standard procedure to let the pilots have a bit of fun and give everyone on board a wild ride.

Thats my tuppence any way.

Some military plane do this for security reasons.

The radar will only cover but so low, so when AFO flew that low, it probably vanished from radar. When it pulled back up, it would make it seems as if it took off from the airport you saw, on the radar of course. So, it someone was tracking it without authorization, it would be difficult to tell where it took off from unless the entire flight was recorded.

On saturday afternoon, I saw 3 Chinooks escorting 2 Marine Ones over downtown Baltimore in the direction of DC. Listening to the Orioles game later, they mentioned that the helicopter escort came over the stadium to drop off President Obama at the White House (they were playing the Nationals down in DC).

I gathered that he had taken Marine One all the way to West Point, otherwise, I do not know why the helicopters would be coming in over Bmore.

As an aside, I saw one the huge transport aircraft come over not long after the Helicopters, also going towards DC from the northeast ( towards Andrew's I assumed). My assumption was that it may have been carrying auxillary equipment back from West Point, although it could've been unrelated.

Just thought I'd add my own observations to the discussion. I wondered whether he would take AFO to West Point or Marine One all that way, and based on my observations, it seemed he took Marine One.

[edit on 26-5-2010 by Virgil Cain]

reply to post by RichardPrice


Well then perhaps what I saw was the 4 E-4. I've seen them several times (on the ground) when the President was at a nearby location. It was a 747, white and blue with "United States of America" on the side. I honestly don't remember seeing the hump on the plane but you're probably right. I was told it was a back-up plane and assumed it was a clone of AF1. We only saw them when the Pres. was in the area. I'll see if I can dig up a photo. I have a good one of it parked alongside some B-1 Bombers.

Originally posted by middleclasssoldier
iI saw Air Force One this morning in flight..

Its only air force one if the President is aboard

[edit on 26-5-2010 by tarifa37]