WEBVTT - How Does Air Force One Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, host of the new How Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works Now podcast. Every week, I'll be bringing you three

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<v Speaker 1>stories from our team about the weird and wondrous developments

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<v Speaker 1>we've seen in science, technology, and culture. Fresh episodes will

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<v Speaker 1>be out every Monday on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music,

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<v Speaker 1>and everywhere else that fine podcasts are found. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff, it's

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Sager here. Imagine you're on the streets of Manhattan

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<v Speaker 1>on April two thousand and nine. All of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 1>Air Force one flies overhead, lower to the ground than

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<v Speaker 1>a plane should be, and an F sixteen fighter jet

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<v Speaker 1>is chasing it. Your first thought probably isn't oh, Harrison

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<v Speaker 1>Ford is making a sequel to his classic nine action

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<v Speaker 1>film Air Force One. No, it's probably more like, oh

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<v Speaker 1>my God, New York is under attack, and then you

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<v Speaker 1>evacuate your building. Well, it turns out this actually how

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<v Speaker 1>and it was because the White House wanted to capture

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<v Speaker 1>new souvenir photos of the President's airplane flying over the

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<v Speaker 1>Statue of Liberty. The incident was blamed on miscommunication between

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<v Speaker 1>the White House and New York City Hall, but regardless

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<v Speaker 1>of who is at fault. Let me throw this fact

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<v Speaker 1>that you it costs fifty dollars per second to operate

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<v Speaker 1>air Force one. That's over a hundred and eighty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars per hour. That's the cost for your plane to

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<v Speaker 1>be considered a major symbol of technological prestige. Yeah, and

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<v Speaker 1>we were using it for a tourist photo op. Technically,

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<v Speaker 1>air Force one isn't even a single plane. It's actually

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<v Speaker 1>the radio call name for any plane carrying the president

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<v Speaker 1>of the United States. For instance, when Gerald Ford was

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<v Speaker 1>sworn in as president, the plane carrying Richard Nixon home

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<v Speaker 1>was redesignated midflight to s A M to seven zero

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<v Speaker 1>zero zero because there was no longer an acting president

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<v Speaker 1>on board. But for the most part, we've come to

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<v Speaker 1>understand air Force one as one of two Boeing seven

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<v Speaker 1>forty seven's that the president frequently travels in. While presidents

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<v Speaker 1>like Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman had official presidential air transport,

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<v Speaker 1>it was John F. Kennedy who first requested a flying

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<v Speaker 1>White House, and his first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, even oversaw

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<v Speaker 1>its blue and white interior design. The Twins seven oh

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<v Speaker 1>seven's that Kennedy Commission served the Office of the President

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<v Speaker 1>until nineteen, when the Air Force replaced them with the

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<v Speaker 1>pair of seven forty seven two hundred bees used today now.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though the New York fly over incident in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand nine was annoying, it's not the first time the

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<v Speaker 1>aircraft has been used for public relations. Presidents often used

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<v Speaker 1>the vehicle to impress other politicians. They even used to

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<v Speaker 1>have official Air Force one plane cards and candy to

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<v Speaker 1>give to visitors. But despite how much they like to

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<v Speaker 1>show it off, many parts of the plane are off

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<v Speaker 1>limits to visitors for obvious reasons. The Air Force doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to reveal too much about the crafts layout. Here's

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<v Speaker 1>what we do know, though. Like other seven forty seven's

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<v Speaker 1>air Force one has three levels, but it is equipped

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<v Speaker 1>to act as a traveling office for the President, their staff, family,

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<v Speaker 1>and the White House Press Corps. Its interior has four

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<v Speaker 1>thousand square feet of floor space that's a thousand, two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and nineteen meters, and the lowest level is used

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<v Speaker 1>for cargo space, while the top level is mostly comprised

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<v Speaker 1>of the plane's advanced communications equipment. The middle level is

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<v Speaker 1>where the passengers ride This includes the president's living quarters

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<v Speaker 1>and office, as well as an exercise room. There's also

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<v Speaker 1>a conference room that doubles as a dining room, the cockpit,

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<v Speaker 1>a medical suite with an extensive pharmacy office, areas quarters

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<v Speaker 1>for staff, the press area, and two galleys. These hold

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<v Speaker 1>as many as two thousand meals and are capable of

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<v Speaker 1>feeding up to a hundred people at a time, which

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<v Speaker 1>is perfect since the plane can carry up to seventy

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<v Speaker 1>passengers and twenty six crew members. And let me tell you,

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<v Speaker 1>the President's ride is pimped out more than anything Exhibits

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<v Speaker 1>ever worked on. It has four General electric c F

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<v Speaker 1>six eight zero C two B one jet engines that

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<v Speaker 1>give it a top speed between six d thirty and

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<v Speaker 1>seven hundred miles per hour with a full tank of

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<v Speaker 1>fifty three thousand, six hundred and eleven gallons of fuel.

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<v Speaker 1>This means Air Force one can fly halfway around the

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<v Speaker 1>world without even gassing up. Now. Unlike other seven forty sevens,

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<v Speaker 1>this one has retractable stairways and its own baggage loader,

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<v Speaker 1>so it doesn't even require airport facilities. The technology on

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<v Speaker 1>the top level is also pretty amazing. Air Force one

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<v Speaker 1>has numerous onboard telephones, radios, television's computer connections, and fax machines,

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<v Speaker 1>and you can bet the WiFi is better than your

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<v Speaker 1>last commercial flight to All these electronics add up to

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred and thirty eight miles of wiring that are

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<v Speaker 1>shielded well enough to protect them from an electromagnetic pulse attack.

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<v Speaker 1>Beyond that, the planes advanced avionics and defenses are classified,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's definitely designed to withstand an air assault, jam

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<v Speaker 1>enemy radar, and eject flares to confuse heat seeking missiles.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it even has awesome turrets like the Millennium Falcon.

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<v Speaker 1>Probably not, but could the Millennium Falcon refuel midflight? Air

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<v Speaker 1>Force one can do that. In fact, it can stay

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<v Speaker 1>in the air indefinitely as long as other planes keep

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<v Speaker 1>bringing thousands of gallons of jet fuel to feed it.

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<v Speaker 1>An air Force one isn't the only aircraft to a

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<v Speaker 1>company the president to sea. Five Galaxy planes tag along

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<v Speaker 1>as well, carrying limousines, secret service agents, and a special ambulance. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>an advanced C one four one starlift or cargo carrier

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<v Speaker 1>flies ahead of the President to deliver his or her motorcade.

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<v Speaker 1>All of these vehicles are maintained by the Presidential Airlift Group,

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<v Speaker 1>which classifies every flight as a military mission. All crew

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<v Speaker 1>members are military personnel operating with high security. Even those

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<v Speaker 1>who prepare meals aboard Air Force one have to purchase

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<v Speaker 1>the food undercover from random locations. As awesome as these

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<v Speaker 1>planes are, the current seven forty seven serving the White

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<v Speaker 1>House have been in operations since nineteen and it's about

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<v Speaker 1>time for an upgrade. Maintaining the current vehicles is expensive

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<v Speaker 1>because commercial airlines have already retired their seven two hundred fleets,

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<v Speaker 1>so the Air Force is planning on getting three new

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<v Speaker 1>aircraft delivered for nineteen and one. After a chance to

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<v Speaker 1>bid for contract. Boeing is once again the company commission

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<v Speaker 1>to build the new planes and are considering either a

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<v Speaker 1>seven four, seven eight or a seven eighty seven as

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<v Speaker 1>models for the design. To keep up its reputation as

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<v Speaker 1>a flying base for one of the most powerful people

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<v Speaker 1>in the world, Boeing better come up with something pretty

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<v Speaker 1>swank for Potis to ride around it. Maybe it'll get

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<v Speaker 1>laser turrets. Check out the Brainstuff channel on YouTube, and

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<v Speaker 1>for more on this and thousands of other topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com.