Air Force One NY City Flyover
At the tail end of the Bush administration someone decided we needed new publicity photos of Air Force One (AF1), the president’s plane. This was, unsurprisingly, badly managed. NYC cops and government were told about this, but with specific instructions not to tell the public despite the objections of those cops and NYC government. Given the post 9/11 reaction to large planes flying low, there was the expected strong negative result.
The Washington Post now has a link to the photos posted by the DoD (PDF). AF1 is shown flying with a fighter jet.
I agree with a comment I read on a pilot’s email list, the photos could be a lot better. It was a waste of tax money and poorly managed photo shoot in several ways. Alarming New Yorkers was a bad idea. And I suspect the photos were shot through a window, not through an open door or photo port. I’ve done a little aerial photos and these shots don’t look usable to me, even with photoshop. You can’t fix it if the original image isn’t clear.
That all being said, I think the problem was execution, not the idea of the photos themselves. Part of our government’s role is to promote America and American ideals. PR in other words. Having nice photos of AF1 can be useful for that. Although, if portraying us as a peace-loving nation is important then having a fighter jet in the frame isn’t such a good idea.
August 8th, 2009 at 09:12
Looks to me like it was a complete waste of time. Out of 146 shots, zero useable. Perhaps the “true” test was to see how comfortable New Yorker’s are with having aircraft this close to lady liberty. It appears they are not yet ready to trust!