Trump proposes new livery for AF1

neomax · Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:49 am

Current look is pretty classy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-new- ... 67488.html

ikolkyo · Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:55 am

Hell no, far too iconic.

na · Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:59 am

The current livery which he calls a "Jackie Kennedy color" is absolutely fine, the tailfin design aside. Jackie Kennedy was known for her exquisite taste, Trump more so of the opposite. What he calls "bold" is in fact often in-your-face tasteless. Lets hope this man doesnt ruin another icon.

itisi · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:04 am

Let me guess... featuring lots of gold and orange .....

skipness1E · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:13 am

He loves to troll and he thrives on attention. Love him or hate him, he's succeeding in the attention piece

WidgetsOfTheSky · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:17 am

Just when I thought the new AA livery is too "in-your-face" - now there's this :shock:

Faro · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:21 am

skipness1E wrote:
He loves to troll and he thrives on attention. Love him or hate him, he's succeeding in the attention piece

For narcissists succeeding in the attention piece is not an exploit...it’s the air that they breathe...they would be like the living dead without it...

Faro

DominoxX · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:49 am

But can the US president do this? I don't know how it works, but isn't the presidential fleet under pure AF jurisdiction? I don't want him to change the current iconic livery...

jmc1975 · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:49 am

Since it hasn’t been changed in over 50 years, at least it would be a change that you can believe in.

devron · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:00 pm

Oh yes let him work on this so he is busy.

A bit of Euro-white wouldn't hurt...

DarkKnight5 · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:04 pm

neomax wrote:
Current look is pretty classy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-new- ... 67488.html

The current look is extremely dated and didn't look good way back when it was first applied.

MSPSXMFLIER · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:26 pm

Raymond Loewy’s iconic design is just fine and doesn’t need any changing!

bob75013 · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:31 pm

itisi wrote:
Let me guess... featuring lots of gold and orange .....

With a stylized T on the vertical stabilizer -- ala his personal 757. After all it is H IS plane for at least the next two years. :white:

787Driver · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:37 pm

Well it could need a refresh. I also don't like that light blue color. Just because it's 50 years old doesn't make it iconic. But Trump would of course only settle for something tacky.

VTKillarney · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:37 pm

Call me old fashioned, but maybe we should actually see what he proposes before passing judgment.

77H · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:41 pm

skipness1E wrote:
He loves to troll and he thrives on attention. Love him or hate him, he's succeeding in the attention piece

Are you saying he’s the Michael O'Leary of Presidents? :duck:

77H

lifecomm · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:46 pm

DarkKnight5 wrote:
neomax wrote:
Current look is pretty classy. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-new- ... 67488.html

The current look is extremely dated and didn't look good way back when it was first applied.

Yep - it looked awesome on the VC-137C - it's now a little dated. Also, I am not a fan of the looks of the longer upper deck of the 747-8i - a design minimizing this would appeal to me. Also, I'd be OK with some gold - bring on some examples!

Blimpie · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:47 pm

I hope it has a middle finger sticking up on the tail in a classic Pop Team Epic design that my teenage grand-kids seem to really love.

seahawk · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:51 pm

Something like this would be smashing.

EvanWSFO · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:51 pm

I don't see a need to change. I can't seem to ever find an answer to this question: Is it going to be based off the pax (stretched upper deck) or cargo version of the 747-8?

77H · Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:54 pm

787Driver wrote:
Well it could need a refresh. I also don't like that light blue color. Just because it's 50 years old doesn't make it iconic. But Trump would of course only settle for something tacky.

The vast majority of the world’s population, 99.99% will never set foot near AF1 so I’m not sure it matters in the slightest. As an American citizen, there are far my pressing issues our country needs to address before worrying one iota about the livery on the Presidential plane.

Besides, if I recall, the Donald penned a deal with Boeing to replace the VC25s with a fleet based on the 748i. If it matters that much to him, design a livery for the new birds. Spare the American taxpayer from yet another superfluous expense. Unless he plans to bank roll the design and application of a new livery from his private coffers keep them as they are.

77H

YULACYYZ · Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:04 pm

Might as well pain the White House black!

DiscoverCSG · Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:05 pm

DominoxX wrote:
But can the US president do this? I don't know how it works, but isn't the presidential fleet under pure AF jurisdiction? I don't want him to change the current iconic livery...

The President of the United States - whoever he or she may be at any given moment - is the Commander-in-Chief of the USA's military. In fact, "Air Force One" is the call-sign used by any USAF plane carrying the President. So, by definition, Air Force One is a USAF plane, and by definition, the President is in charge of it.

But... does this article smell like fake news to anybody besides me?

DaveFly · Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:45 pm

He could use Frontier’s paint scheme as an example......and paint a big pussy on the vertical stabilizer.

na · Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:02 pm

seahawk wrote:

Something like this would be smashing.

Smashing everything that has to do with good taste, yes...

gzm · Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:06 pm

It is inspired either from the "Olympic Eagle" or from "Clipper Bald Eagle". Anyway, welcome to the club, Air Force One!

EA CO AS · Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:35 pm

DiscoverCSG wrote:
DominoxX wrote:
But can the US president do this? I don't know how it works, but isn't the presidential fleet under pure AF jurisdiction? I don't want him to change the current iconic livery...

The President of the United States - whoever he or she may be at any given moment - is the Commander-in-Chief of the USA's military. In fact, "Air Force One" is the call-sign used by any USAF plane carrying the President. So, by definition, Air Force One is a USAF plane, and by definition, the President is in charge of it.

But... does this article smell like fake news to anybody besides me?

I was thinking the same thing; I doubt there’s any validity to the story. Having said that, the current look has become one of the world’s most widely recognized aircraft liveries and probably shouldn’t be messed with.

CitizenJustin · Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:45 pm

787Driver wrote:
Well it could need a refresh. I also don't like that light blue color. Just because it's 50 years old doesn't make it iconic. But Trump would of course only settle for something tacky.

No, but there’s no debating that AF1 is iconic.

dragon6172 · Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:20 pm

EvanWSFO wrote:
I don't see a need to change. I can't seem to ever find an answer to this question: Is it going to be based off the pax (stretched upper deck) or cargo version of the 747-8?

I believe they are pax versions. They are using airframes originally built for a Russian airline Transaero. They were built but never delivered.

EvanWSFO · Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:26 pm

dragon6172 wrote:
EvanWSFO wrote:
I don't see a need to change. I can't seem to ever find an answer to this question: Is it going to be based off the pax (stretched upper deck) or cargo version of the 747-8?

I believe they are pax versions. They are using airframes originally built for a Russian airline Transaero. They were built but never delivered.

That's what I thought. I know there are a couple of white tails sitting somewhere. The stretched upper deck will look good with the VC25 livery.

INFINITI329 · Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:25 pm

I understand the want for livery refresh.. as iconic as it is... the design is approaching almost 60 years old. I for one would love to see some red white blue is the presidential livery. Several governments have shown you can incorporate their countries flag colors and still keep the design classy.

DarkKnight5 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:01 am

It would be easy to make me happy. Get rid of the awful teal on the bottom of the plane and the engine cowls and replace with the blue from the top. Then paint the whole tail with the same blue.

The teal makes the plane look like an old lamp.

LMP737 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:28 am

Until I hear otherwise I'm going to assume that this is just something you would see in The Onion.

ltbewr · Fri Jul 13, 2018 12:38 am

A comment on another website as to Trump's repaint idea made and interesting point, especially the light blue, that the current colors make it more difficult to see in the sky so maybe a bit more secure. You also don't want a too much in your face livery for your top government plane.

weekendppl · Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:09 am

This has been reported in mainstream press, e.g., http://fortune.com/2018/07/12/trump-air ... -redesign/. So it's not The Onion talking.

I'm not opposed to professional design and branding people updating the livery. Why not? I can't imagine that's what Trump has in mind. Hire experts? Accept the judgement of experts? Honor the tradition? Look at his fleet... Look at his buildings... Look at pictures of his interiors... This can't end well.

weekendppl · Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:47 am

BTW, Raymond Loewy, a professional at this sort of thing, did the 1962 design pro bono. Mr. Trump probably won't be able to get anybody to do a new one that cheaply. Unless he and his kids color something up in crayon while sitting around a table at Mar A Lago.

DocLightning · Fri Jul 13, 2018 3:55 am

For once I agree with Mr. Trump (well, kinda). The current livery looks extremely anachronistic.

I think that there is probably a tasteful way to update to a more modern look while respecting the lineage of the livery.

Slug71 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:08 am

While the current livery is iconic, I wouldn't mind seeing a new livery. It would actually be cool to have one of them in the current livery and one in a new livery (that will be used going forward). Kind of to mark and symbolize a transition period (last quad) and exit of the 747 (possibly even the last to fly).

Spiderguy252 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:42 am

If a past president had proposed this, there would be no uproar.

I for one am up for change, the livery looks very dated.

DarkKnight5 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:02 am

ltbewr wrote:
A comment on another website as to Trump's repaint idea made and interesting point, especially the light blue, that the current colors make it more difficult to see in the sky so maybe a bit more secure. You also don't want a too much in your face livery for your top government plane.

In 2018 the paint on the airplane is less relevant than ever when discussing defense from attack. A stealth jet she is not.

flyingclrs727 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:24 pm

DocLightning wrote:
For once I agree with Mr. Trump (well, kinda). The current livery looks extremely anachronistic.

I think that there is probably a tasteful way to update to a more modern look while respecting the lineage of the livery.

I agree. I'm not as fond of the VC-25 and VC-32A liveries as I am of the Kennedy era VC-137 livery. The Kennedy livery was a tremendous improvement of the USAF bare aluminum and day glow orange.

I don't mind the color of the 747 livery, but the way the blue stripe flares out over the nose of the 747 does not appeal to me. The imitation of the 747 livery on the nose of the C-32A looks dopey. A really dark color isn't a good idea due to well known issues with absorbing heat. Trump tends to like rather gaudy designs, especially in the interiors. Hopefully some designers could tone that down.

flyingclrs727 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:39 pm

jmc1975 wrote:
Since it hasn’t been changed in over 50 years, at least it would be a change that you can believe in.

But it has been changed. The adaptation of the Loewy design from the original 707 to the 747 made some changes. It wasn't just a straightforward application of the original livery. Look at the difference between the VC-137 and VC-32 liveries. The VC-137 livery is superior.

Tugger · Fri Jul 13, 2018 7:36 pm

weekendppl wrote:
BTW, Raymond Loewy, a professional at this sort of thing, did the 1962 design pro bono. Mr. Trump probably won't be able to get anybody to do a new one that cheaply. Unless he and his kids color something up in crayon while sitting around a table at Mar A Lago.

Actually I almost guarantee it could be done for free as many people as well as agency's would love to be credited with a successful livery! This is as big and global as it gets.

While I see no reason to change the current design (I like it fine), it is always nice to see a new well done livery (there are just so few).

So does anyone have any designs they've done that they'd like to share? We always see them offered when an airline is doing one, someone must have one. I love to see some.

Tugg

FW200 · Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:01 pm

Usually well informed sources have leaked the first design concepts:
https://cdn1.ijr.com/wp-content/uploads ... 24x608.jpg
https://blogofthebeardedone.files.wordp ... .jpg?w=700

FrmrKSEngr · Sat Jul 14, 2018 5:13 am

It really needs to represent what our government has become.

Sell space to sponsors. Southwest did Shamoo, the Simpsons were flying around for awhile, and ANA had Star Wars. Why not "Air Force One, sponsored by Koch Industries, Las Vegas Sands and Hobby Lobby".

WIederling · Sat Jul 14, 2018 6:51 am

FrmrKSEngr wrote:
It really needs to represent what our government has become.

Sell space to sponsors. Southwest did Shamoo, the Simpsons were flying around for awhile, and ANA had Star Wars. Why not "Air Force One, sponsored by Koch Industries, Las Vegas Sands and Hobby Lobby".

Too near the truth.
They never do "The Truth".

LockheedBBD · Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:43 am

Perhaps Mr. Trump will put an image of himself on the plane.

TWA772LR · Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:03 pm

I dont see all the hype. It's just gonna be a 787 swoosh.

prebennorholm · Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:55 pm

LockheedBBD wrote:
Perhaps Mr. Trump will put an image of himself on the plane.

Nah, whoever president puts himself on AF1, it will hardly be Trump.

Trump will leave office no later than 2025. Who imagines that the VC-25Bs will be ready for paint already in 2025?

That sort of projects always take forever. Suddenly new facilities will have to be installed, then it comes to a years long halt while cost overruns are sorted out. And that happens again and again, stretching the project to last at least a decade.

Seabear · Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:58 pm

Trump confirms new paint job for Air Force One

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/17/politics ... index.html

"Red, white and blue," Mr. Trump said. "Air Force One is going to be incredible. It's gonna be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it's gonna be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate."

What eloquence!

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