YOUR AD HERE »

Presidential plane crew spends some time training at the Eagle County airport

Randy Wyrick
rwyrick@vaildaily.com
An Air Force crew spent some time in the Eagle County Regional Airport with the plane that would be Air Force One, or Air Force Two, if the president or vice president was on it.
Randy Wyrick, Vail Daily

GYPSUM — The plane the president sometimes rides in has the presidential seal on its seat belt buckles.

We thought you’d want to know.

Yes, that was Air Force One or Air Force Two or something similar to that parked at the Eagle County Regional Airport recently.



No one really important is in town, unless you count the U.S. Air Force crew that flies the plane. They’re pretty important and should count.

The Boeing 757 parked at the Vail Valley Jet Center last weekend is staffed by a crew on training missions for future VIP visits, said airport manager Alex Everman.




President Donald Trump was not here, nor was Vice President Mike Pence, at least not last weekend.

There will be upcoming missions, and the crew wants to become familiar with the altitude, the approach, the departure and the lay of the land at the airport.

Also, it’s not actually Air Force One unless the president is on board. It’s not Air Force Two unless the vice president is on board, Everman said.

Air Force One is not a plane; it’s a call sign the Air Force uses when the boss — and we don’t mean Bruce Springsteen — is on board.

Neither of them are here, so it’s just a really amazing aircraft, a Boeing 757 with security and communication gadgets installed.

NOT A LUXURY LINER

It’s not as tricked out as you might think.

We asked if the Air Fore crew could show us around the inside of the plane.

They smiled and said — and this is one of those happy taxpayer moments — “Sure!”

Campers should note, when you climb those stairs, you feel downright presidential for a few moments, standing at the top with all of those high-tech SUVs poised at the bottom. You’ll even find yourself waving to an imaginary but adoring crowd below.

As taxpayers, you’ll be happy to learn that the Boeing 757 is not adorned with wood or brass or anything else you might see in the movies. The modifications favor function over form.

We’d show you, but the Air Force crew wisely took our cameras and cell phones away before they let us on board. There’s secret stuff in there.

About the only adornment is the presidential seal on the seat belt buckles.

There are several seats for Secret Service agents. However, with the conspicuous suits they wear and their earpieces, they’re not all that secret.

In the middle is what one should call the Winged White House. It’s a compartment for the president, or vice president, or VIPs traveling with staffers.

While that compartment isn’t exactly economy class, it’s pretty no-frills. The seats recline, the couch folds down into a bed and there are a few more of those presidential seal seatbelt buckles. Seatbelt buckles remind us that we are a nation of laws and even the president has to buckle up.

The crew members conducting the tour grinned and explained that the further you go back in the plane, the less important you are.

Reporters sit in the rear.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.