You are at netAirspace : Forum : Air and Space Forums : Military Aviation

That works out to fifty bucks a SECOND...

The U.S. military has provided an updated estimate on that cost, first published by a taxpayer watchdog group and confirmed by FoxNews.com, and the number is staggering -- $181,757 per hour. That's the price tag for shuttling around President Obama, who, as it turns out, has spent more days abroad in his first two years than any other president.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11 ... latestnews

It's no real surprise that Obama has set a new record for using the plane.

Boris wrote:That works out to fifty bucks a SECOND...

The U.S. military has provided an updated estimate on that cost, first published by a taxpayer watchdog group and confirmed by FoxNews.com, and the number is staggering -- $181,757 per hour. That's the price tag for shuttling around President Obama, who, as it turns out, has spent more days abroad in his first two years than any other president.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11 ... latestnews

It's no real surprise that Obama has set a new record for using the plane.

Yep. Why stay at the WH doing your job when you can live the high life on AF1?

The UK government (during the Tony Blair era) were looking at an Air Force One-style jet but couldn't justify the cost. I recall at the time figures of around £100k per hour being quoted, so the figures in this article seem about right. Would purchasing a newer, more efficient, possibly smaller, aircraft be considered wasteful, or would the US public see the advantages?

JLAmber wrote:Would purchasing a newer, more efficient, possibly smaller, aircraft be considered wasteful, or would the US public see the advantages?

Such aircraft already exist and are part of the 89th Airlift Wing. The issue is that only the VC-25 has everything the President needs to have at his fingertips. Literally, a flying White House. It is also the only aircraft in the 89th that has aerial refueling capability.

The C-32A has been used for Presidential trips, but only to locations that could not accommodate the size of the VC-25.

The Secret Service and USAF make the decision on which aircraft is appropriate. POTUS has control over how many trips he takes, though.