The Air Force One Photo Revealed

Mark Hemingway has the picture from the Air Force One photo shoot over New York City:


And then there's this:

The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

Three-Hour Mission

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement. The total includes fuel used in flight, fuel used to power ground equipment used to prepare the aircraft, and ground maintenance, Stein said.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday’s flyover was “two training missions that became in the end a picture mission” and only Air Force personnel were aboard.

As I understand it a second mission was planned to fly low over Washington D.C. on a similar photo hop (no, that's not a joke). That flight has been cancelled, along with the career of the guy who okayed the first one.