IIRC, when the US government placed the order for the VC-25A, 747-400 was = not available yet. VC-25 (inside) is very different from a conventional = 747 and it took much longer time to build. So when it was delivered the = -400 was available. C.S. >>> Stanley Powroznik <avialot@xxxxxxxxx> 04/10/03 02:40pm >>> Quote: ....The first VC-25A -- tail number 28000 -- flew as "Air Force = One" on Sept. 6, 1990, when it transported President George Bush to = Kansas, Florida and back to Washington, D.C. A second VC-25A, tail number 29000 transported = President Bill Clinton and former Presidents Carter and Bush to Israel for the = funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Introduction Date Dec. 8, 1990 (tail No. 28000); Dec. 23, 1990 (tail No. 29000) Date Deployed Sept. 6, 1990 (tail No. 28000); Mar. 26, 1991 (tail No. 29000) -------------------------------------------------------- I was always curious as to why the basic 747-200 airframe was chosen for = the two VC-25A's and not the updated with the newer 747-400 airframe = considering that both VC-25A's flew for the first time in 1990 while the = very first 747-400 made its maiden flight a year or two before and put = into commercial service with PW4000 engines by Northwest Airlines. The 747-400 airframe already existed, so why not using this airframe for = both VC-25A's ? In any case, why isn't both VC-25A's retrofitted with -400 winglets either = to make it the only 747-400 passenger transport that has the shorthened = -200 upperdeck which is only found on the -400 freighter ? Any clue(s) ? --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more