In honor of the festivities and traditions that are taking place over the next two days in my home of Washington, DC and the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, it was only fitting to offer a Movie Monday in honor of the peaceful transition of power my country is about to undertake.
This week’s documentary is a one hour look inside Air Force One by the National Geographic Channel that was produced in 2000 and 2001 just as President Clinton was leaving office and President Bush was beginning his first term. The documentary explores the symbolic, diplomatic and historical significance of the twin VC-25A aircraft that act as the President’s aircraft during their term of service.
Eight years later, the VC-25A is beginning, what could be, its final service for the full term of a President with replacement and retirement as a Presidential transport expected in 2017. On January 25 at 8 PM ET, the National Geographic Channel is once again taking us into the corridors of the modified 747-200Bs for a look at some of the most dangerous missions the aircraft has ever undertaken, including the 2003 secret mission to fly President Bush to Iraq for Thanksgiving with US troops. It promises to be an exciting look at the life of this flying symbol of the United States.
Last week, CNN’s Wolf Bitzer sat down with Col. Mark Tillman who serves as Presdient Bush’s pilot aboard Air Force One. In addition, the documentary has taken to twitter to promote the documentary and you can interact with “Air Force One” one tweet to tweet.
There’s a chance this video may be only viewable by a US audience, so I apologize in advance if that’s the case.
This post was originally published to the internet between 2007 and 2012. Links, images, and embedded media from that era may no longer function as intended.
This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.