What was he thinking? Louis Caldera, until recently Director of the White House Military Office, was not doing anything radical when he activated a plan to send “Air Force One,” the President’s Boeing 747-200B jet airliner, low over Manhattan for a photo-opportunity. Apparently the plan never got President Obama’s thumbprint, nor did the plan get top-level approval at the Pentagon.

Photo-shoots with Air Force One are nothing new. One of my favorites shows the huge aircraft viewed from above, flying rather low over Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Another good photo (we get credit!) shows the recent stop that Air Force One made on the White House front lawn, presumably so that our nation’s Commander-in-Chief could have a little chat with the pilot. Or maybe to provide a quick escape for Mr. Caldera?

But why should New Yorkers be so touchy about an airliner flying a bit low? Do they remember the jet, crippled by birds hitting its engines, which then barely missed Manhattan and landed on the ice-choked Hudson River? Or was it the TWO jets which on 9/11 hit the World Trade Center buildings in Manhattan (total casualties 2,603 in the Twin Towers and on the ground)?

– COST of one Air Force One flyover of Manhattan: $357,000.00

– STREET PRICE (5/10/09) of PHOTOSHOP SOFTWARE for Macintosh (able to create composite photo of Air Force One flying over Manhattan or any other place you prefer): $650.00

QUICK QUIZ….

How many “planes called Air Force One” exist (trick question)?

How many miles per gallon of fuel does a Boeing 747 get (on the high way)?

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 1:57 am and is filed under Media, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.