Air Force One is the designation of the plane on which the President flies. Since 1989 the President has usually flown on one of two Boeing 747s, each able to carry 80 passengers and 23 crew members to any point on the globe. Each plane is outfitted as a mobile command center and is linked to all U.S. military and national security communications networks.

The planes are coated in silver and have blue trim, and they carry the Presidential seal on their sides. They are operated by the Special Missions Fleet of the 89th Military Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base. Expenses for Air Force One come out of the Defense Department budget, unless the President is on a campaign trip, in which case the political party's national committee or campaign committee foots the bill.

Marine One is the designation of the VH-3 helicopter that transports the President from the helipad on the South Lawn of the White House to local destinations or to the hangar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland where he boards Air Force One. Marine Helicopter Squadron One usually consists of eight craft, located at a base just down the Potomac River from the White House. Marine One is often used to take the President and his guests to his rural retreat at Camp David in nearby Maryland.

The cost of operating Air Force One is $40,243 per hour of flight. Each year the Pentagon spends approximately $185 million on travel expenses for the President and his top aides, according to the House Post Office Committee's Subcommittee on Human Resources.

Sources

• Bradley Patterson, The Ring of Power (New York: Basic Books, 1988).
• Jerold F. TerHorst, The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1979)