Did W forget

[DoYouEverWonder]

about al Qaeda and the reports that U.S. officials were increasingly worried that terrorists will use shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles to shoot down one or more U.S. airliners?

Seems like this was a pretty risky stunt for any president to pull, no less a war president? Funny, just a few weeks ago we were at Orange Alert.

[name not needed]

1. actually

he is landing at daytona international.

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. Actually the picture I used

is of Air Force One taking off.

However, the press report states that Air Force One did a flyby of the Daytona International Speedway as President George W. Bush arrived for the race. That's implies that they flew close to the track on purpose. Even with the most sophisticated equipment on earth, it was still a risky stunt that not only endangered the pResident but anyone else is the area as well. Seems that W is more interested in getting a good photo op, then he is with anyone safety.




Yahoo News

[JohnyCanuck]

2. I think a telephoto lens makes AF1 look closer than it really is

If you look at this MapQuest map of Daytona Beach, (you might have to zoom in one click to see the airport runways located just to the East of I95 and south of Hwy 92), you'll notice a long East West runway. It's not identified on the Map as such but that runway would be 7L/25R. The orange splotch between the long runway and Hwy 92 is the speedway. From the photo it looks like AF1 was taking off heading to the West using Runway 25R (ie the long runway heading West). I am assuming it's taking off because the nose gear is in the partially raised position. It's unlikely they would be lowering it that close to the ground, therefore my conclusion they're taking off rather than landing.

Now that close to the ground and barely after lift off, it's very unlikely the pilot would be engaging in any hot dogging maneuvers (if he valued his job) to bring him closer to the speedway crowd. Telephoto lenses are notorious for causing an illusion that makes the distance between foreground and background shorter than it really is. So my best guess right now is that AF1 was making a standard take off from runway 25R which runs parallel to the speedway and the photographer's telephoto lens made the aircraft appear closer to the crowd than it really was. Sorry but I don't this particular occasion is a showboating maneuver for Dubya's benefit :)

Edited to fix my directions. AF1 would be taking off to the West not the East as I initially stated.

[buycitgo]

5. maybe the freepers can figure out a way to have Kerry shooting a TOW

or a stinger at it

[Az]

3. AF1 has some of the most advanced ECM on the planet

Not really threatened by shoulder fire weapons.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. I am curious

how is this ECM stuff supposed to work, under low flying conditions, in a heavily populated area, during a major US sports event?

The flyby stunt and the rest of it just shows that W and the people who are supposed to protect him blatantly disregarded his safety and the safety of everyone else who attended this event in order to get good pictures for his campaign and to boost his image.

It would seem that if they were really concerned about W's safety, they would have landed in an undisclosed location and come in by helicopter? Of course, that would have been no where near has impressive?

[sleipnir]

9. Not at that close of a range

The ECM wouldn't have time to properly react, they need at least 1/2 nautical mile to effectivly react to a threat. Though, a shoulder-fired SAM wouldn't be that effective either at that distance. You also need some range for them to work properly. So in the end, no one was really in danger. Ground fire would be another issue, but that's pretty damn obvious and would take some serious firepower to bring down such a large jet.

[imax2268]

6. is it me

or is that first one photoshopped...?

[sleipnir]

10. I don't think so.

It's on a proper approach to Daytona. But you have to remember how massive 747s really are. It's an amazingly huge plane and the pic seems about right in scale.

[mike1963]

11. I'm sure it is. The angle of attack is too high for landing, and the nose

gear isn't down, which it would be long before it got that low in an approach. That picture is during takeoff, just as the gear is retracting, and it was pasted into a picture of the Daytona stands.
I'd bet a C-note against a cold cup of coffee I'm right on this one.
(commercial pilot, instrument, multi-engine, flight instructor, L-18,
L23 since 1964...not to brag, just saying I know a bit about airy-o-planes) :D

[democrank]

8. What`s next ?

Bush wrestling alligators on the Survivor show and Laura taking the blue ribbon in the national Betty Crocker Bake-Off ?