Sure, something like SR-71 is quite recognizable, as well as Boeing 747. But if you’re looking to identify the most famous personal plane, look no further The official plane of the US president: air force one.
Since 1953, this name has been given to the aircraft bearing the designation P .US permanent resident around, and in 1962 the name was linked to a custom aircraft created for this purpose. Before that, it was a heavily modified Boeing 707 for this mission, but today it The iconic Boeing 747 wears presidential color and holds the name Air Force One.
But throughout its 70-year history, one odd stat has followed the plane everywhere. Do you know that air force one took off more times than it landed? And no, you don’t forget any crashes, mid-air collisions or other nefarious incidents.
How can this be? Well, the story caught the attention of YouTuber Tom Scott, who shared the story on TikTok.
According to Scott, Air Force One has had more takeoffs than landings since 1974. At that time, America was going through a leadership change with Richard N.ixon started years in the officewhile Gerald Ford ended it.
After the Watergate affair, Nixon was forced to resign and hand over the power for Ford, who takes on the role of Ccommander in Chief on August 9, 1974. When the transition of power took place, Nixon was in the air aboard Air Force One, as you’d expect the president to be.
But what’s interesting about Air Force One is that it’s not really the name of the plane, mainly because there are often several in use at the same time. Instead, it’s the plane’s air traffic control sign whenever the president is on board.
This means that when Nixon got on the plane as presidents, it took off like air force one. However, by the time Ford was registered as leader and Nixon was no longer in charge, the plane’s call sign had changed. This means that while it took off as Air Force One, it landed as SAM 27000.
