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Air Force One Needs New Refrigerators. They Cost $24 Million

Would you want to be the President's official taster?
 
Dittohead not! said:
You mean to say that the president and his entourage doesn't eat the local food when they're in "semi friendly" countries?
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It depends. They even take the turds home so no one does an analysis of what medication the Prez is taking. (spare me the kitten bones joke)
 
chuckiechan said:
It depends. They even take the turds home so no one does an analysis of what medication the Prez is taking. (spare me the kitten bones joke)
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That would be a horrible job
Presidential Poo Collector
 
chuckiechan said:
It depends. They even take the turds home so no one does an analysis of what medication the Prez is taking. (spare me the kitten bones joke)
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Holy crap. I had no idea.

Presidential turds must be classified.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
That would be a horrible job
Presidential Poo Collector
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I think that's Paul Ryan's side gig.......


I think most commercial airlines bring in the contents of the crappers in for offloading.............used to dump underway like trains. There was a sign in early trains about not flushing while in a station......
 
Dittohead not! said:
Since no plane can fly for weeks without landing, it follows that the only purpose of those meals would be a crash/forced landing. I'm picturing a scenario in which those meals would actually be necessary to keep the POTUS and his entourage fed. I'm having trouble foreseeing such an event. Are we supposed to picture AF1 down, unable to take off again, and the CIC directing a lengthy war from some remote spot? Sounds like a theme for a bad movie to me.
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They plan for even the most unlikely scenarios.

The logic being: they don't to be standing around with their thumbs in their asses saying "why didn't we plan for this?".
 
apdst said:
They plan for even the most unlikely scenarios.

The logic being: they don't to be standing around with their thumbs in their asses saying "why didn't we plan for this?".
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I posted this once already... but I believe the concern has more to do with logistics than emergency preparedness. Depending on the mission, they may carry their food with them rather than sourcing it locally, due to logistical and security concerns. Think Clinton's tour of Africa, where they visited a number of countries, and the 'safe' food supply may have been difficult to secure at each stop.

I do wonder about the need for so much capacity though. AF1 always flies with a backup, so you would think they could split the load between the aircraft for starters, not to mention flying in a separate aircraft for the rare extended trip.
 
dcsports said:
I posted this once already... but I believe the concern has more to do with logistics than emergency preparedness. Depending on the mission, they may carry their food with them rather than sourcing it locally, due to logistical and security concerns. Think Clinton's tour of Africa, where they visited a number of countries, and the 'safe' food supply may have been difficult to secure at each stop.

I do wonder about the need for so much capacity though. AF1 always flies with a backup, so you would think they could split the load between the aircraft for starters, not to mention flying in a separate aircraft for the rare extended trip.
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That's a level of preparedness.
 
Ok, so maybe MREs aren't an option for that type of food storage, if they need to keep weeks of food on board that they actually use on every trip, due to that whole "can't trust the local food" issue. That makes sense to me.

But (I know, I found something else to bitch about), if this quote is correct ...

"Although the new units will use “available industry technology,” the Air Force said they would be uniquely capable of providing about 70 cubic feet of temperature-controlled storage — enough space to ensure crews will not have to restock them for “an extended period of time.”"

SEVENTY CUBIC FEET???!!!

If all they get for $24 million is 70 cubic feet of storage, we are idiots for allowing them to go forward with this retrofit.

A standard home fridge is about 12-18 cubic feet and can be had for $1,000 or less from Home Depot. A 30 cubic-foot (18 fridge, 12 freezer) Subzero can be had for about $10,000. I've seen one of these, and it is a pretty impressive size, but to think that we are going to pay $24 million for 2 and-a-half of them is ludicrous. If it were Seven Hundred cubic feet, i.e. a small room, that might at least be understandable. But SEVENTY cubic feet?? Now I'm pissed again. Imagine a refrigerator 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 6 feet tall. We're getting 2 of them for $12 million apiece.
 
Critter7r said:
Ok, so maybe MREs aren't an option for that type of food storage, if they need to keep weeks of food on board that they actually use on every trip, due to that whole "can't trust the local food" issue. That makes sense to me.

But (I know, I found something else to bitch about), if this quote is correct ...

"Although the new units will use “available industry technology,” the Air Force said they would be uniquely capable of providing about 70 cubic feet of temperature-controlled storage — enough space to ensure crews will not have to restock them for “an extended period of time.”"

SEVENTY CUBIC FEET???!!!

If all they get for $24 million is 70 cubic feet of storage, we are idiots for allowing them to go forward with this retrofit.

A standard home fridge is about 12-18 cubic feet and can be had for $1,000 or less from Home Depot. A 30 cubic-foot (18 fridge, 12 freezer) Subzero can be had for about $10,000. I've seen one of these, and it is a pretty impressive size, but to think that we are going to pay $24 million for 2 and-a-half of them is ludicrous. If it were Seven Hundred cubic feet, i.e. a small room, that might at least be understandable. But SEVENTY cubic feet?? Now I'm pissed again. Imagine a refrigerator 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 6 feet tall. We're getting 2 of them for $12 million apiece.
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I think it's 70 cubic feet each (2 per aircraft, for two aircraft). So, 8 of them for $3 million each -- still crazy though.
 
dcsports said:
I think it's 70 cubic feet each (2 per aircraft, for two aircraft). So, 8 of them for $3 million each -- still crazy though.
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Maybe there are two units on each craft, but 2 x 2 = 4
 
Critter7r said:
Maybe there are two units on each craft, but 2 x 2 = 4
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He was comparing these to a standard freezer-- each AF1 freezer is the size of two of these.

The math is tortured, but this seems excessive no matter how it's done.
 
THis has already been hashed out geez people.

The problem is the new freezers are a complete redesign and remodel. Not only that but they have to meet specific military protocols and tests which is where the expensive part comes in.
This is not simply going to home depot and getting a freezer and throwing it in the plane.

that is basically what the current freezers are and they are not capable of the load. this is a complete new custom design made to fit the plane and work with the power the plane generates etc ...
 
upsideguy said:
Yes, its difficult to live in a so-called democracy to have "elected" a POTUS that an overwhelming majority of the population thinks that not-only is he doing a bad job, but that he is unfit for the job (incompetent). Forgive me for standing with the majority here.

The pendulum will swing hard the other way quite soon.
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Can you EVER stay on ****ing topic? I doubt it, you are incapable. This is about the ****ing refrigerators on Air Force One! So what about those fridges? They are controversial aren't they? I mean they cool food in a Republican way, and the Dems hate that.
 
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chuckiechan said:
It depends. They even take the turds home so no one does an analysis of what medication the Prez is taking. (spare me the kitten bones joke)
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His physician gave a speech about his medications. I think the whole world knows. :lol: What they aren't sure of is the dosage of Pelosi dementia medication.
 
ludin said:
THis has already been hashed out geez people.

The problem is the new freezers are a complete redesign and remodel. Not only that but they have to meet specific military protocols and tests which is where the expensive part comes in.
This is not simply going to home depot and getting a freezer and throwing it in the plane.

that is basically what the current freezers are and they are not capable of the load. this is a complete new custom design made to fit the plane and work with the power the plane generates etc ...
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Spending $24 million on re-engineering and re-testing a newly redesigned refrigeration system for a plane whose replacements have already been procured is a little dumb. Just replace the units as-is. They've lasted 30 years, replacement units would surely last the few more years till the new Air Force 1 planes have been fitted for presidential use.
 
ludin said:
THis has already been hashed out geez people.

The problem is the new freezers are a complete redesign and remodel. Not only that but they have to meet specific military protocols and tests which is where the expensive part comes in.
This is not simply going to home depot and getting a freezer and throwing it in the plane.

that is basically what the current freezers are and they are not capable of the load. this is a complete new custom design made to fit the plane and work with the power the plane generates etc ...
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I think everyone understands why they are expensive, and it's more complicated than going to home depot. However, it still seems like that's a crazy price, and there has to be alternatives.
 
Critter7r said:
Spending $24 million on re-engineering and re-testing a newly redesigned refrigeration system for a plane whose replacements have already been procured is a little dumb. Just replace the units as-is. They've lasted 30 years, replacement units would surely last the few more years till the new Air Force 1 planes have been fitted for presidential use.
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Not when those systems are failing and having issues.
You cannot risk the plane or the people that are on it.

this sounds like something that was already approved and in the works before hand.
 
dcsports said:
I think everyone understands why they are expensive, and it's more complicated than going to home depot. However, it still seems like that's a crazy price, and there has to be alternatives.
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anything that goes into the plane has to meet military and other requirements. that is how it goes.
that level of testing costs a lot of money.
 
American said:
Can you EVER stay on ****ing topic? I doubt it, you are incapable. This is about the ****ing refrigerators on Air Force One! So what about those fridges? They are controversial aren't they? I mean they cool food in a Republican way, and the Dems hate that.
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They ought just store C-rat's like the troops on deployment. The **** can last forever in the cargo hold.
 
ludin said:
anything that goes into the plane has to meet military and other requirements. that is how it goes.
that level of testing costs a lot of money.
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I guess 'bone spurs' aren't a problem now!

:lamo :lamo
 
ludin said:
anything that goes into the plane has to meet military and other requirements. that is how it goes.
that level of testing costs a lot of money.
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Got it. Understood. OK.

Still seems excessive. This isn't new technology, or even new to aircraft.
 
ludin said:
THis has already been hashed out geez people.

The problem is the new freezers are a complete redesign and remodel. Not only that but they have to meet specific military protocols and tests which is where the expensive part comes in.
This is not simply going to home depot and getting a freezer and throwing it in the plane.

that is basically what the current freezers are and they are not capable of the load. this is a complete new custom design made to fit the plane and work with the power the plane generates etc ...
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Refrigerants alone have changed since Reagan commissioned them to be built.
 
ludin said:
Not when those systems are failing and having issues.
You cannot risk the plane or the people that are on it.

this sounds like something that was already approved and in the works before hand.
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What's wrong with just replacing the system that's already in place with new parts?

This is like building an addition onto your house for a new bathroom because the toilet in the old one is leaking. And then ... bulldozing the house to build a new one within a couple of years.
 
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