Is there really only four Boeing E-4's (Doomsday Planes)?

I'm just curious about what I watched fly over as I drove through Asheville, NC a few days ago. This plane which heavily resembles the doomsday plane Boeing E-4 passed over me twice as I neared the Asheville airport. The only differences was the blue stripping that is always pictured wasn't present. The dome right above the cockpit was there along with the USAF emblem on the sides.



I read on wiki ( I know not to be really trusted) that only 4 of these planes exist. Is this true? If so one of them was circling the Asheville, NC airport last Wednesday.

Is there another real similar plane I could be confusing this one with? It looked just like the picture of an E-4 though.

Did anyone else in the area happen to also notice it? It was around noon to 1 o'clock June the 8th.

This isn't majorly important to me but knowing the plane is used like a mobile Oval Office or mission control during chaotic times unsettled me a bit when I first noticed it.

reply to post by TheLieWeLive


Boing, them self says it is only four.
History - Boing E-4.

Those are just modifed Boing 747's.

But those are very old planes.
There are some newer, better planes now. Like the C-40B :-)

I can imagine one of those without the stripe just looking like a regular 747 from a distance.
what makes you so sure it wasn't one of these?

edit, looks like i got beat to my point.

reply to post by lewman

what makes you so sure it wasn't one of these?

I could very well have been another plane. I'm not trying to sensationalize anything.
It looked exactly like the E-4 though and was flying really low but I figured it was circling the airport in order to land since it passed over the same area twice at low altitude. It definitely had the dome on the top near the cockpit.
I'm not saying anything was abound just wondering why it was circling my neck of the woods since it's suppose to be a rare sight to see one if there is in fact only four of them.

reply to post by tomten


Thanks for the input. I waited a few day to even ask since I wasn't sure. I looked around a little but never found a picture of a E-4 without any pinstripping. This plane was plain white with only the USAF emblem and of course that hump on the top.

ALL 747s have that hump on top. Originally it was a lounge for first class passengers. Now I think it is usually used for regular seating.

According to af.mil fact sheet, there are only four active E-4b.
www.af.mil...

When I was in the AF, they were in Nebraska. We we're told the plane is the twin to the presidents plane. .

As for the white one, it reminds me of the other aircraft we had at Offutt, it was an E-6, and was a remnant of the looking glass mission. Is this the plane you saw? It doesn't have the distinctive hump on the cockpit.en.wikipedia.org...
If not, then the plane you saw might have been an unpainted E-4B. I may have seen one like the one you described, a long time ago at Offutt, but I can't seem to remember or find photos.