DU aviators: Will AirForce One be able to land in DC tomorrow in light of the storm?

[mfcorey1]

Prez is speaking in Orlando earlier than previously scheduled and wants to get back to Washington as soon as possible. Meteorologists are saying that coincides with the movement of the storm. What say you?

[cthulu2016]

1. Dunno. Andrews AFB can probably alot it an unusually large landing area

[AnnieBW]

2. Those AF1 pilots can land in ANYTHING.

I saw a program about them on Discovery Channel. They are extremely well-trained and can takeoff and land in anything. They could probably even belly-land it in snow, if they had to.

[jberryhill]

3. According to the owner's manual for the 747

The maximum tailwind component for takeoff and landing is 15 knots, for both manual landings and autolands.

The recommended maximum crosswind component for manual landings is 30 knots.

For autolands, the maximum headwind is 25 knots and the maximum crosswind is 25 knots.

[mfcorey1]

4. I love DU because whatever the question, the expertise to answer is

always here.

[jberryhill]

5. It came in the glove compartment of a used Saab I bought a while back

And... I slept at a Holiday Inn Express!

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. On page 172 it says....

That if the headwind is better than 130, with full flaps, she'll fly backward

[mfcorey1]

11. Funny!!!!

[pinboy3niner]

13. I guess there is one good thing about a Saab, after all

[backscatter712]

6. I'm betting the pilots & crew for AF1 are going to be very cautious.

They won't try it unless they know they can do it safely. If AF1's planned destination has weather that's too rough, they'll divert.

They've got the tools to know what kind of weather they're dealing with, including the spare Air Force One (yes, Obama has two 747s, one that's kept as a spare in case of a breakdown - that's redundancy!)

Often, they have the spare AF1 fly ahead of the one carrying the President to scout out weather conditions.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. It will depend on the wind, the visibility and the cloud bases.

I think the AF1 the Prez is using right now is the 757, not the big 747 we are used to seeing. The maximum demonstrated crosswind component for a 757 is something like 36 knots, so if there is a direct crosswind of more than 36 knots on the runway of intended landing they'd have to go somewhere else. Also, there are visibility restrictions. I'm not sure if the Air Force uses the same limits as commercial airlines, but if so they'd have to have some certain forward visibility on landing (called Runway Visual Range, RVR), probably at least 1600 feet with certain runway lights visible, and cloud bases would have to be at least 200', less than that OK with certain equipment (autoland, CAT II or III certification). Right now the weather is better than that in DC, http://www.wunderground.com/Aviation/index.html?query=KDCA so if they go now they'll be fine. The forecast for DCA, which is close to Andrews, indicates that the wind won't get really bad until after midnight.

[rso]

8. aviators

If Andrews has very bad conditions, they can land somewhere west of there and motorcade to DC.

[SingleSeatBiggerMeat]

9. 3500 Hours In Navy Fighters......

Honestly, with the forecast I am looking at, I would be suprised they would take that risk. They can land in worse weather than what is forecast (N 40-50 mph with gusts to 60) - but it is still a risk.

They will be landing to the north (right into the forecast wind direction) so that will help...

Wow.

I hope he gets back early.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Quite possibly not.

Tomorrow night DC is supposed to be getting winds steady up to 50kts with gusts above 75kts.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I thought he had canceled all of his campaign appearances tomorrow.

[mfcorey1]

15. Rescheduled Orlando for an earlier time on Monday. He is there now.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Hope he leaves in time to beat the storm.

[Posteritatis]

17. They'd probably play it safe, but if AF1 could land on its nose I wouldn't be shocked. (nt)