playing nice with Air Force One

I've been grounded by a mighty TFR that began at 3pm yesterday.
Evidently Bush 43 is having a weekend at Bush 41's house in
Kennebunkport. So I took my binocs and my radio down to the dock and
waited for the various Ones to do their thing.

First there was a helo sweep of Great Bay, I think by the Coast Guard
because there was a red-orange flash on the aircraft.

Then a grimy gray airliner took off on 34, the usual runway because it
leads away from Portsmouth. Shortly thereafter a voice on the radio
says "We are conducting a sweep of the runway at this time." Gotta
love it: at this time! What were they looking for, debris from the
airliner's tires.

Then Air Force One called in on a 12 mile base leg. The air was a bit
misty so I didn't see it until final. What a huge mother! You don't
often see 747s at Pease International Tradeport, formerly Pease Air
Force Base.

But here's the cute thing: the controllers at Pease (or Portsmouth, as
they generally refer to themselves these days) are always impressed by
their military connection, and they invariably say: "Check wheels
down" to the incoming pilot, even if it's a Cessna 172. But not to Air
Force One! It was the prevailing wind and "Cleared to land." So even
an air traffic controller can be awed by the trappings of power.

Evidently it doesn't take a president long to inspect Pease
International Tradeport! About fifteen minutes after Air Force One
landed, Marine One called ready for takeoff. But by that time the deer
flies were getting to me, and I was indoors.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
forthcoming from HarperCollins www.flyingtigersbook.com

On 6/29/2007 6:04:01 AM, Cubdriver wrote:

snip
But by that time the deer flies were getting to me, and I was indoors.


Enjoyed your entertaining story. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

--
Peter

On Jun 29, 6:04 am, Cubdriver usenet AT danford DOT net wrote:

snip Presidential aviating story

I recall seeing AFOne fly into PVD (Providence) in '99 when I was
doing my instrument training. It was a shock to see something that big
fly into an airport that normally accomodates 737/757 traffic.

Sucks being grounded because the Commander in Cheese is visiting.

In a previous article, Cubdriver usenet AT danford DOT net said:
leads away from Portsmouth. Shortly thereafter a voice on the radio
says "We are conducting a sweep of the runway at this time." Gotta
love it: at this time! What were they looking for, debris from the
airliner's tires.

Not an unbelievable thing to do. Just ask the victims of the one and only
Concorde crash if they would have appreciated somebody doing a FOD sweep
after that Continental departure ahead of them?

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
Compared to system administration, being cursed forever is a step up.
-- Paul Tomko

Just ask the victims of the one and only
Concorde crash if they would have appreciated somebody doing a FOD sweep
after that Continental departure ahead of them?

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
Compared to system administration, being cursed forever is a step up.
-- Paul Tomko

Kind of hard to do considering they are all dead...

Cubdriver wrote:


But here's the cute thing: the controllers at Pease (or Portsmouth, as
they generally refer to themselves these days) are always impressed by
their military connection, and they invariably say: "Check wheels
down" to the incoming pilot, even if it's a Cessna 172. But not to Air
Force One! It was the prevailing wind and "Cleared to land." So even
an air traffic controller can be awed by the trappings of power.


I learend to fly at NAS Alameda as a dependent in their flying club.
Normally an enlisted man with binoculars would be stationed at the
approach end of the runway with the sole job of visually checking that
each aircaft had their gear down. It was only when this station was not
manned that the tower was required to say 'Check wheels down' to which
we invariably replied 'Gear down and welded' for the fixed gear GA
aircraft. It is quite possible that for Air Force One there may have
been someone on the ground who verfied the gear were down and thus the
tower did not have to ask them to check.

Steve

On Jun 29, 11:16 am, wrote:
Just ask the victims of the one and only
Concorde crash if they would have appreciated somebody doing a FOD sweep
after that Continental departure ahead of them?

--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
Compared to system administration, being cursed forever is a step up.
-- Paul Tomko

Kind of hard to do considering they are all dead...

Just yell out the question real loud.

In a previous article, said:
Just ask the victims of the one and only
Concorde crash if they would have appreciated somebody doing a FOD sweep
after that Continental departure ahead of them?

Kind of hard to do considering they are all dead...

That was my point.


--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
Like the man said: "Nothing good ever goes in /opt."
-- Tim Foreman

Steve Schneider wrote:
Cubdriver wrote:



But here's the cute thing: the controllers at Pease (or Portsmouth, as
they generally refer to themselves these days) are always impressed by
their military connection, and they invariably say: "Check wheels
down" to the incoming pilot, even if it's a Cessna 172. But not to Air
Force One! It was the prevailing wind and "Cleared to land." So even
an air traffic controller can be awed by the trappings of power.


I learend to fly at NAS Alameda as a dependent in their flying club.
Normally an enlisted man with binoculars would be stationed at the
approach end of the runway with the sole job of visually checking that
each aircaft had their gear down. It was only when this station was not
manned that the tower was required to say 'Check wheels down' to which
we invariably replied 'Gear down and welded' for the fixed gear GA
aircraft. It is quite possible that for Air Force One there may have
been someone on the ground who verfied the gear were down and thus the
tower did not have to ask them to check.

Steve

At Ellington here in Houston, it's a joint tower (busiest by USAF
standards allegedly). They almost always say it.. wether its civil
traffic or military.

Dave

When Bush 43 paid a visit here the Coast Guard had a Dolphin flying
sniper support for the motorcade. They made several passes over my
house since I live close to the airport (KATW). The sniper was hanging
out the door with his big rifle. During the motorcade through town,
several workers at a local paper company were standing on the roof of
their building...the helo over a loudspeaker told them to get inside
or they would be shot...the Secret Service entered the building within
seconds of the warning to investigate. There were some scared and
embarrassed workers.

I learned to fly at Scott AFB (KBLV), "check wheels down" was standard
in the clearance to land statement. More airports need to do the same,
several unintentional wheels up landings could have been prevented. I
always responded "down and welded" sputtering along in my C-172.