09-0016 —

After hearing that Air Force One would be landing on 34L, I climbed The Snake and made it to the top about ten minutes before it appeared. There were several people at the top when I arrived. One was a man about 25-30 years old. We conversed a bit. He planned to take pics of AF One on his cellphone. I prepared my Canon. When I heard the tower clear AF One to land, I called to the man to tell him it was coming. Moments later, AF One appeared from the south, flying low as seen here as it approached 34L. I was busy taking pics and did not pay attention to the young man. After AF One had landed, taxied to the NevANG ramp and parked, I had a free moment and asked the man if his pictures were good. He told me he had not taken any. I asked why. He told me that the plane (seen above) was not Air Force One. I told him it was, but he then looked at me and "patiently" explained to me that this plane had been a "decoy" plane. He told me that whenever a US President goes anywhere, a "decoy" plane that resembles AF One always precedes AF One and lands first so that if anyone wants to attack AF One they will attack the decoy (ie: wrong) plane. When I asked where he got his information, he replied that "everyone knows that." I did not bother discussing anything more with the guy. As I was walking away to start down, he told me that if I left I would miss seeing the arrival of President Trump in "the real" AF One. I wonder how long he hung around up there waiting to take pics of "the real" AF One.

Great photo!

Maybe he's still standing there :-)

Perhaps he's a bit confused with the standard operations of the Marine helicopters that fly in three-ship formation with only one being Marine One vs the other two decoys.

Outstanding catch of Air Force One at RNO, Gary! Fun fact for those who see this comment is that Air Force One can be ANY United States Air Force aircraft the President is currently in. That includes anything from the giant VC25a to a CAP Cessnas.

Super photo...as always!! And as I was reading your comment Gary, I was thinking exactly what Tom's comment is!!

An absolutely glorious photo - color, lighting, spot on clarity of the aircraft -superbly done and what a hoot the story of the patient man. Top stuff all round.

GAry ! amazing story (which could be true.. why not but ) every countries would have to buy a lot of planes for that dont they?)
By the way excellent picture but it's so common with you!!

The earth is flat, the sun turns around the earth and Air Force one is always a B747

Gary...............

Proof crazy people are out there.

Saw AF 1 in a VC-32A land at Janesville WI after dark last Saturday. I only saw one 757 come in.

Spectacular photo by the way !!

well done Gary , fine to see natives believing ...

I like to listen to the ATC controllers converse. Is there a website I can go to hear these communications? Thanks in advance

Dear Robert Jarwin,
The best way to listen to the ATC live is with a handheld radio and you could just tune to the frequency. But if you do not have a radio https://www.liveatc.net/ is the best.

Did Mr. Know-it-All know that the primary Air Force One is a 742 and not a 752? We have a name for people that know everything.. Mr. Peabody. In an unrelated story, in 2000 right before Bill Clinton was re-elected, he came to Oakland, CA on a campaign stop. We knew he was supposed to arrive around 5 pm and my two sons and I were at the San Leandro Marina with a view similar to yours. The plane would have been lower than a thousand feet because at that point they would have been on a one mile final. Anyway, it showed up right as the sun was going down. The boys' picture was a big ball of sun with a silhouette. They got home and wrote the president and told him what had happened. A few weeks later they received an autographed copy of Air Force One flying over Mt. Rushmore. I wasn't the one that wrote the letter, but before every return visit he would always mail me tickets to his rallies.

What a cool photo!! I have heard that there are several Air Force Ones.

Nice Photo! Regarding a 'decoy a/c', this I know...after 911 there was reason to believe anti-aircraft weapons were about to be used in the US. When Geo. Bush flew into John Wayne(SNA)~2005, (2)'official' 757's landed in tandem about a minute apart. Each shot a series of flares on final approach. Neither had the paint scheme of the 757 in the photo. They were dark blue with governmental insignias I could not make out.

A big thank you to the person who took this picture!!

Funny story, Gary. As good as the shot. Yes, the Marines fly "decoy" helicopters. Not sure that's the real reason though, or if it's just about reliability. If the president's helicopter has to make an emergency landing, the second chopper can whisk him away. It is much more likely that a helicopter with the president on board would develop mechanical problems than that it would be attacked.

Robert Jarwin, you can listen on LiveATC.net or their app. They don't have every airport but certainly most of the major ones.

At 2 miles from the runway on a standard 3:1 glide path the aircraft should be 600 feet above the touch down elevation. from this angle and depth of field the airplane looks much lower.

Excellent Photo.

Excellent effort and pic

Air Traffic Control monitoring: also recommending https://www.liveatc.net/ for both PC and iPhone. use it all the time to lurk on WarBirds out of local Phoenix airports

I love this pic man

Cool Shot! LOL - Great story!