In a message dated 11/9/2003 8:09:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, matthew.sheren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: << According to the article, the cargo was going to Austintown, which is near Youngstown. If the big pieces were going to Youngstown, why not just fly into YNG, whose main runway is the same size as CLE's? Also from the article Maybe CLE has the cargo facilities for whatever was coming and YNG not. Also, CLE probably has more customs officers than YNG. Finally, YNG's taxiways are the most likely culprit, as that thing needs a hell of a lot to taxi into position. Runways are not the only part of the infrastructure that would be strained by the Mirya. >Other fun facts: The plane has two huge ridges between the wings, effectively a luggage rack like the >ones a lot of Third World buses have. Also, it has to go where it goes on one 200,000-gallon tank of >fuel. It cannot be refueled in the air, which remains oddly reassuring, because this is a former Soviet >aircraft and who knows just how former. Yeah, but that "luggage" was supposed to be Buran. It doesn't hold anything otherwise. And who cares if it can't be refuelled in the air? It can always do things like, uh, land and pick up more fuel. There's also something about AF1 being a "stretch 747," which is a quote from the Airport Commissioner >> Well, considering that any 744 is bigger than the 742s that often serve as AF1, they must be "super stretch." You are right about the land and get more fuel thing. The damn thing is a heavy lift cargo plane, it is not made to attack anyone. It needs a lot of space and is not going to be dropping tanks on anyone, a la C-130 any time soon.