....yeah, that would look great. Lets throw in a power-point presentation, too.

The cost to make a cgi animation that doesn't look like it was done at your local community college A/V club wouldn't look so cheap to you. Just spend it on the fuel.

 

Sure there was, it was to get nice video and images of two very powerful and symbolic national assets.

The flight was a training mission and a portion of the flight was the fly-by. Although I agree that we shouldn't waste fuel, trust me when I say this, the fuel spent on this flight is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall defense consumption of jet fuel.

 

You get it sir and I wish more people would understand this aspect of what has happened to this country and yes in a way the terrorists have won by changing the way we go about our lives and what happened today proves it .

Ally

 

Do you think that if this particular sortie hadn't been flown, that the same gas wouldn't have been burned elsewhere?

Carbon footprint, shyeah.

 

IMHO they have won. People were evacuating large buildings without any warning/comment from anyone. Our security procedures have impacted passengers flying. And the "war on terror" (or whatever the politically correct name for it is) has our country asking "what is torture".

I do think it was a bad idea. because it would only serve to show how fearful the average Joe is (whether 9/11 or swine flu). Besides, what purpose did it serve? Maybe a new post card? I have no problem with military training but this seemed really dumb. Why show ones weaknesses (of the masses) for a publicity shot?

 

It's saddening to see such a lack of compassion and sensitivity to the people of NYC by our Federal Government and the FAA. The FAA NEVER should have authorized this exercise, period.

I equate it to giving a Cruise Ship Voucher as a Birthday Present to a survivor from the Titanic.

I could look the other way on this though, I may not always agree with certain decisions made by people in power, but the one thing the infuriates me as a TAXPAYER is wasting our hard earned money.

Save the fancy CGI Animation AND the Carbon Foot-Printing Flyby, with all the hardships, burdens, and difficulties people in America are dealing with today, why is our federal government wasting OUR time and OUR money with a photo op????

USMC, this has nothing to do with the terrorists winning. Just because a person CAN do something, that doesn't mean a person SHOULD do something. I believe that is the fundamental definition of arrogance.
Being an aviator yourself, you should know the harm that can come from an attitude like this.

 

1. Was the a/c in question visible to those who saw it?And by this I mean could they see the markings?
2. Why are there complaints about the wasting of money when this country has been doing it for a long time and will continue to do so as long as someone has their hand out?
BTW The DC photo -op was also cancelled so that schould make people happy !
Ally

 

I find this hilarious ... maybe a bit insensitive on my part. I don't know. I was in NJ at the time of 9-11 and not NYC but they don't look to be that low and these people are running in panic. Wow.

YouTube - Air Force One terorist attack - Manhattan - New York - New Jersey 28.04.2009

 

Once again you - like others - are confusing the two aspects of this event. I am commenting on the SECURITY questions once again. My comment about the terrorists winning is in a feeling that we shouldn't do something that has been done since photography was invented - a photo op. Someone once said that the best way of beating the enemy is to show them that we continue to live our lives in the same we we always have and that their actions have not changed our way of life.

People keep wanting to focus on the money spent. That fuel is budgeted folks. It isn't adding to the cost. The money is already there. If whichever office runs that program decides to spend its' fuel on that particular event then it isn't going to change anything. If you want to talk about money wasted - take a look at the footprint of a President when he travels period (this is non-polictical btw - I'm talking about the travel footprint of ANY President)

I don't know WHY they did this photo op. I don't know if it is for a FAA video or a postcard; but it is a sad day when two icons of our country's power end up scaring the dickens out of the population.

Now - back to my original assersion that telling the mass public of the event would not have been a good security decision - regardless whether the event itself was well conceived.

USMCFLYR

 

I'm not a security expert, nor do I pretend to be, so as far as the advanced notice to the general public prior to this photo op I really can't say if it was the right or wrong decision. I don't know how close the aircraft was to downtown Manhattan, but I would be nervous seeing a low flying B747 being trailed by a Fighter Jet had I been in Manhattan that day. It's a difference of a opinion though, and I'm willing to agree that some will see the photo op in poor taste and others' will not.

I agree with your point about the fuel money already being budgeted into this mission, therefore no additional cost would have came to the taxpayers. The issue is that our federal government could occasionally attempt to reward or promote agency officials who are thrifty, meeting their organizations' objectives while still coming in under budget.

Since we've touched on this subject, it's the same song and dance just to a different song this time. Our federal government lacks adequate fiscal oversight and responsibility. The solution to every problem is throwing money at it until it goes away. Most agencies aim to hit there budget or surpass it for fear of being handed out less funding in the year ahead.

Not trying to call you out USMC or take your comments out of context, but large, successful Fortune 500 companies pride themselves in their ability to maximize their profits while minimizing their productions costs/overhead. I think our Government could learn a thing or two from these types of companies.