- or should it be called "Air Force Two"?
Construction of this plane, the equivalent of America's "Air Force One", started in Voronezh several years ago.A Bristol firm "Diamonite Aircraft Furnishings" has won a £10m contract to refurbish the Russian presidential plane.
"All technical information on the closed project is a state secret," Russian NTV Mir television told viewers. Well, now's the time to show you the first leaked-out pictures of the top-secret interior.
In-flight Bible:
Sources: BBC, Hectop, Kommersant
2. Russian Presidential Helicopter
From the same source come these leaked-out pictures of Mi-8MTV-1 helicopter. The interior seems to echo the style of Mr. Putin's jet.
3. Previous Russian Presidential Planes:
"Aeroflot" has six Ilyushin 96 (like the one shown below) in its fleet.
Previous Russian presidential planes included IL-62M:
(Photos from JetPhotos and FlightForum)
and IL-96 (Boris Eltzin's plane) which will stay in service as a backup plane:
It's current price is estimated 300 million dollars (40 million spent on interior only). Photos by Carsten Blumel
Fidel Castro's Presidential Plane
The camaraderie between some political leaders extends quite far:
Castro's new plane Ilyushin Il-96-300 was imported from Russia, and even has the same interior design and upholstery colors (read BBS article)
When you look on the picture below, note that a bedroom light is still on
Air Force One History
Why does the picture above say "The Sacred Cow"?
The first president to fly in an aircraft while in office was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who traveled on a Boeing 314 flying boat to a 1943 conference in Casablanca on the progress of World War II. The first aircraft officially designated for presidential flight was the C-87A Liberator Express, a reconfigured B-24 bomber. This plane was called "Guess Where Two."
President Harry S. Truman's first airplane, a C-54 which is under the control of the Air Transport Command, was called "The Sacred Cow"
Eisenhower also introduced two other propeller aircraft, the Lockheed C-121 Constellations (VC-121E) to Presidential service. These planes were named "Columbine":
Douglas VC-118A Air Force One: (source here)
Boeing 707 Air Force One:
Sources: 1, 2
2. SULTAN OF BRUNEI'S FLYING PALACE
Sultan Air Still Rules
A spy in the US Air Force says he toured the Sultan's latest personal aircraft after it had just been remodeled in Waco, Texas. The Sultan bought the Airbus A340-212 brand new for roughly $100m and had it flown to Waco where the interior was completely removed. Then he had the US defence contractor Raytheon install $120m worth of improvements inside and out. And yes, he says, the sinks are indeed solid gold and one of them is Lalique crystal.
The spy said he had gained entrance into nuclear weapons storage areas more easily than getting in to see the Sultan's latest toy (with his concealed camera).
Source: TallRite
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