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Air Force One
President George W. Bush and Laura Bush board Air Force One after attending a memorial service for the crew of the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003.
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In 1944 President
Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the creation of the Presidential
Pilot Office to provide air transportation to the President and
his staff.
For
most of the next 20 years, various four-engine propeller-driven
aircraft were used for presidential air travel.
In
1962, the first jet aircraft, a Boeing 707, was purchased for use
as Air Force One.
Air
Force One Today
The
current presidential fleet consists of two specifically-configured
Boeing 747-200B series aircraft - tail numbers 28000 and 29000 -
with Air Force designation VC-25A. When the President is aboard
either craft, or any other Air Force aircraft, the radio call sign
is "Air Force One."
While
on the aircraft, the President and staff have access to a full range
of services, including communications systems, secure and non-secure
voice, fax and data communications, along with access to photocopying,
printing, and word processing.
These
aircraft are maintained and operated by the Presidential Airlift
Group, part of Air Mobility Command's 89th Airlift Wing, based
at Andrews Air Force Base, Suitland, Maryland. The VC-25A is capable
of flying half way around the world without refueling and can accommodate
more than 70 passengers.
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