#AirForceOne #NetGalley #USAF

This is a good idea of gift for aircraft fans. The books is a collection of stunning pictures, technical descriptions and historical facts.

Wow! This book is much more comprehensive than I was expecting. I really thought this book would be a look inside the current plane, not a history lesson on flying, the birth of the presidential air flight, and the people involved. So much research went into this book, i’m surprised the secret service allowed some of it. Overall i quite enjoyed this book, but I will be honest, I would have preferred more interior shots of Air Force one, and less shots of Trump.

This book was well researched and will definitely appeal to history buffs. I never knew that the presidential plane had so many names before Air Force One. This book is filled with all sorts of trivia.

Sophie read Air Force One: The Aircraft of the Modern U.S. Presidency – a fascinating micro-history about all the planes that have served as Air Force One, the call sign reserved for any plane carrying the sitting US President, and the helicopters which are known as Marine One. Although there are some mentions of early aviation, the book really begins in the 1940s when FDR became the first sitting president to take flight, to the objections of many in the White House and Secret Service who considered the activity too dangerous for the president. FDR’s wife’s uncle – Theodore Roosevelt – had been the first president to fly at all back in 1910, but this took place after he left office.

While intended for the layperson, Air Force One does go into a lot of detail and Sophie admits she did find herself skipping over long sentences filled with technical details about engine thrust and similar subjects. Instead, she was fascinated by the procedures surrounding the planes, their history, and the role they have played in major world events including the assassination of JFK, and 9-11. While a lot of information about the current planes that operate as Air Force One is classified for obvious security reasons, there is still a lot packed into this book about how the president gets to and from the planes, their defense mechanisms, and many of the rooms on board.

Alongside all the fascinating information are dozens of gorgeous photos going back to early presidential planes like the Dixie Clipper and the Guess Where II, and right up to 2017 with stunning pictures of the Boeing 747-400s that serve as Air Force One today, as well as information on the new planes that are due to take over from 2024 when the current ones finally finish their working lives. For anyone interested in aviation, the US government, military history, or any combination of those, this is a beautiful and well-researched look at some of the world’s most iconic aircraft and it has made Sophie want to visit the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio next time she visits the USA.