I still want to know who was on the aircraft as a passenger and not essential military personnel. Until I see proof then I still have reason to believe that this was a pay off to top donors and lawmakers.

On August 1st, 2009 at 12:59 am, Rob Roy said:

Since the “cash for…” program is the only thing that has “worked” for obama so far, he is going to franchise the idea.

Oldcollegeguy – the missiles on the wingtips are AIM-120s, not AIM-9s. There are AIM-9s loaded inboard, however.

Boomer – blue is indeed the color for inert, but brown and yellow stripes are used on the live ones (If memory serves, yellow is for the warhead).

Unfortunately, the poor fidelity of the photos/frames is such that I can’t really tell if these are live or not. If you can tell that they’re blue, I’ll accept it.

I think what most folks missed in the first reporting of this incident was that the mission lasted ~ 4 hours. This is common, they regularly fly training missions to practice tactics and maneuvers that would be not just classified, but unnerving and risky to passengers as well. I work near the New Castle County Airport in Delaware, the aircraft are occasionally spotted flying “touch and go” there, as the airport is on a very long list of diverts for AF1 and the crews are expected to have a familiarity with diverts in excess of what any other type of pilot would have (after all, a divert for AF1 may be needed when events have rendered services such as ATC and radio navigation aids inoperative). Point is, though, that the the claim of “X dollars spent for a photo op” is a bit of a stretch since the flyover was a small percentage of the overall mission. Also, if they were flying that type of training mission, the likelihood of passengers is small due to risk and classification of maneuvers performed.

All of this comes not from my political views (which are solidly conservative) but my experience as a 20-year USAF veteran who still works in the defense industry. A joyride for dignitaries would never be combined with a 4-hour training mission, and an order to do so even from the WH would be an unlawful one.

Friday is the day they announce the bank closures too

And there were 5 more this friday.

Plus one more for last week, bringing last fridays number to 7

Here’s one of the pictures:

I can see my sailboat docked just underneath the port wing in this picture of AF One banking left!

Can I sue?

Those pictures were from the cash for your clunker jet program.

Coming soon…

Cash for your grandma healthcare program.

Cash for your failed local bank program.

Cash for your failing school program.

Cash for your carbon footprint program.

Cash for your failed state dictator program.

Cash for your green energy jobs program.