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mahatmakanejeeves

(56,889 posts)
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 07:46 PM Jul 2020

Air Force One sighting, for those of you who care.

I live in Alexandria, Virginia, some eight miles due west of Joint Base Andrews.

I ran errands at home all day long today. I quit that at 4:45 and headed off on my bicycle to pick up the weekly newspapers and grab some food at the Aldi. At 5:30, I heard a plane that is not one of the usual planes. It was a VC-25 headed west on departure from Joint Base Andrews. Some ten minutes later, I heard the same sound and looked up. Again I saw a VC-25 headed west on departure from Andrews. According to Trump's schedule, he was scheduled to depart Andrews at 5:20. I don't think I saw the same VC-25 twice. It was at much too high an altitude to circle DC for the sightseeing loop. I think I saw two different planes. I suppose Pence was in the second one, or it was being used to haul limos and whatnot. Maybe golf carts; I don't know.

Does Flightaware show Air Force One trips? The tail numbers for the two planes are 28000 and 29000, without an "N."

I see those planes often enough around here that it's not exciting, but it is noteworthy.

{edited}

Apparently Flightaware does not track them. The schedule lists Ellsworth AFB as the destination, not Rapid City Regional, which is where Cary Grant, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau, and Eva Marie Saint were going when they visited Mount Rushmore.

https://flightaware.com/live/findflight?origin=KADW&destination=KRCA

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Air Force One sighting, for those of you who care. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Jul 2020 OP
Those are the tail numbers for AF One leftieNanner Jul 2020 #1
Doesn't AF1 have a twin? MontanaMama Jul 2020 #2
I would think so. They do for marine 1 (triplets, actually) soothsayer Jul 2020 #4
Cool, I don't think I've ever seen it soothsayer Jul 2020 #3
Regardless of who's in office, I still look up to watch it. There are no 747s mahatmakanejeeves Jul 2020 #5
Oh, cool, we have a scanner soothsayer Jul 2020 #6
Both planes went out tonight unc70 Jul 2020 #7
Hey, thanks. I never got serious about listening to aviation frequencies, despite mahatmakanejeeves Jul 2020 #8
Trump is leaving Andrews at 9:50 Friday morning if you want to track the flight. NT mahatmakanejeeves Jul 2020 #9
North by Northwest is my all time favorite movie! at140 Jul 2020 #10
That thing shows weather balloons too, I think? Captain Zero Jul 2020 #11

leftieNanner

(14,997 posts)
1. Those are the tail numbers for AF One
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 07:49 PM
Jul 2020

Donnie looks like he's put on a good bit of weight since 2016. Maybe it takes two planes to fly him to South Dakota.

MontanaMama

(23,238 posts)
2. Doesn't AF1 have a twin?
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 07:50 PM
Jul 2020

Like a dummy plane so that terrorists wouldn’t know what plane the president is on? Maybe that’s an urban legend and not true.

ETA: one plane for the MF and one for his KFC?

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,889 posts)
5. Regardless of who's in office, I still look up to watch it. There are no 747s
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 07:57 PM
Jul 2020

serving Washington National Airport. Dulles and BWI are too far away for a 747 to pass overhead low enough to be recognizable. When I see one, it is either 28000 or 29000. They go out on test flights a lot.

Once, on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, maybe in 2001 or thereabouts, just before sunset, I saw one go right over the house headed for Andrews. It was Bush coming back from Thanksgiving.

You can hear them on any scanner that picks up civilian aircraft. The crews communicate with towers just like all the other air crews.

unc70

(6,095 posts)
7. Both planes went out tonight
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 08:09 PM
Jul 2020

Same thing happened for Tulsa. Here is how I have been tracking them:

https://tar1090.adsbexchange.com/

Use the U option to eliminate most normal traffic.

Think they are each on the ground now. Should be able to track them after the event.

mahatmakanejeeves

(56,889 posts)
8. Hey, thanks. I never got serious about listening to aviation frequencies, despite
Fri Jul 3, 2020, 08:24 PM
Jul 2020

having two banks of a PRO-70 filled with them. It's mostly routine stuff, as you are aware. I mean, until it isn't.

Thanks again.

Captain Zero

(6,714 posts)
11. That thing shows weather balloons too, I think?
Fri Jul 10, 2020, 09:56 AM
Jul 2020

just saw one over southern Indiana at 55k feet with a speed of 8 kt. It's shaped like a red balloon too. haha

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