Amazing Air Force One Facts That Only A Few Presidents Have Been Willing To Confess

The Beast 

The presidential limo nicknamed the ‘Beast’, goes everywhere the president goes—without exception.  The reason for this is that the Secret Service will be better able to maintain the safety of the POTUS during vehicular transport.  When the POTUS arrives, the limo is there waiting for him when he lands at his destination, to carry him to wherever he needs.  However, the limo, a Cadillac, does not actually travel with the president.  In actuality, it is sent ahead of the president, transported aboard a military cargo plane. Since it is ahead of the president the limo can be waiting and ready on the tarmac when the president arrives.

A Long History

Contrary to popular belief, Air Force One has been around for many decades.  The patriarch of the Air Force One lineage was spearheaded by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his administration.  He formed the then Presidental Pilot Office, which then in 1944 became the Presidental Airlift Group.  For the following fifteen years, the aircraft that served the president were propeller driven in nature.  It wasn’t until JFK’s administration that a sitting president flew in a jet built expressly for that very purpose.   His aircraft was a modified Boeing 707 jet.  Over the years, a variety of jet aircraft has put into service for the president.

New Planes Are the Norm

The consistent ordering of new planes to serve as Air Force One is not a new concept.  From the first version, every so many administration would put in an order for the newer, faster, shinier model.  The entire Air Force, not just Air Force One, has an ongoing order at one time or another for updated aircraft.  The problems that usually arise are based within the technical requirements the new aircraft need to provide.  Since taking over the acquisition of new aircraft, and the specific requirements each newer version is required to have, the Pentagon is constantly being dogged by one set back or another.  After years of budget battles, the Air Force finally announced it would hire Boeing, the only remaining manufacturer of large aircraft, to deliver future orders of planes needed.