Air Force One Travels from Andrews AFB to the Air Force Academy

By

OSIN

(Scenario IV)

The images for this scenario are located here.

In this scenario AF-1 will be traveling from Andrews AFB to the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado to give the commencement address. I will make the following assumptions:

1. The entire route AF-1 will take is probably unpredictable due to the large number of possible routes, but might be more predictable as one comes closer to the point of destination or departure.
2. Nearby VORs/VORTACs will be key navigation tools in guiding AF-1 to its destination.
3. There are no intermediate stops along the way.

Airnav.com says this about the trip: 1296.3 nautical miles, West, initial true course 279 degrees.

Since I will be concentrating on both the departure and destination points, this scenario and subsequent phases 4&5 (see Project2 Homepage) will be structured around Andrews AFB and .

Andrews AFB

According to http://www.airnav.com, these are the nearby VORs/VORTACs around Andrews:

Red Star- Andrews Vortac (ADW)- at field (-76.8662511 38.8072125)
2- Washington VOR (DCA)- 8.4 miles from ADW (-77.0364350 38.8594531)
3- Nottingham VORTAC (OTT)- 8.5 miles from ADW (-76.7447453 38.7058667)
4- Baltimore VORTAC (BAL)- 23.6 miles from ADW (-76.6612561 39.1710636)
5- Armel VORTAC (AML)- 29 miles from ADW (-77.4666953 38.9345964)
6- Brooke VORTAC (BRV)- 36.5 miles from ADW (-77.3529033 38.3362833)
7- Patuxent VORTAC (PXT)- 38.3 miles from ADW (-76.4002250 38.2878472)

Nearby Airports:
Ronald Reagon National
Dulles International
Dover AFB (Delaware)

Military Assistance: 113th Fighter Wing (Andrews)

Secret Service Offices that can provide assistance:
Washington, D.C. HQ
Eastern Shore Office at the Naval Academy
Baltimore (possibly)

Colorado Springs (COS)

In between harassing non-Evangelicals and raping women, the cadets of the Air Force Academy hold their graduation ceremony on Wednesdays at Falcon Stadium. From what I can tell, they hold them the last week of May or the first week of June. Assuming I'm right about the rotation cycle, I expect Bush's last (hopefully) commencement speech to a military academy will be held either May 28th or June 4th of 2008. The problem is where he will go. I know AF-1 has been to Peterson AFB (see the photo below). But, I can't find any reference to Peterson on AirNav.com. Subsequent research shows that AF-1 was at the Colorado Springs Airport, as reported by a disgruntled traveler that watched AF-1 taxi down the runway. And I know AF-1 did go to Denver International during a G7 summit meeting. And finally, Fort Carson (Butts Army Airfield) is another possible landing place, although its longest runway is about 4500 feet. Although the Air Force Academy does have their own landing strip, I can find no reference of AF-1 ever landing there and its longest runway is about 4500 feet. So, I've decided to use Colorado Springs as the test case since it uses the same VORs/VORTACs that Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, and probably Peterson AFB use. It's longest runway is more than adequate to accomodate any of the AF-1 aircraft.

According to Airnav.com, these are the closest VORs/VORTACs:
Red Star- Colorado Springs Airport (38.8058056 -104.7007778
2- Butts VOR (FCS)- 8 miles from COS- (38.6806667 -104.7570000)
3- Blackforest VORTAC (BRK)- 8.9 miles from COS- (38.9445067 -104.6334656)
4- Pueblo VORTAC (PUB)- 33.2 miles from COS- (38.2942517 -104.4294417)

Nearby Airports:
Denver International
Peterson AFB
Butts Army Airfield (Fort Carson)
Air Force Academy Airfield
Military Assistance: Fort Carson lies to the Southwest of Colorado Springs. Undoubtedly, there are probably military police units stationed in and around the Air Force Academy.

Secret Service offices that could provide assistance-
Colorado Springs
Denver