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Speaker Pelosi and Her Big Plane

C-20 Navy aircraftI spent the last day and a half in a large aircraft hanger crawling around inside of a Navy aircraft.

I brought up the subject of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s request for an aircarft “larger than a C-20 aircraft” (as shown in this image) to shuttle her and her friends and family around the country.

There was a lot of eye rolling and some off-color jokes — all at the expense of Madam Pelosi — amongst the pilots, avionic techs, and other crew members. “Thank God we’re not the Air Force taxi service” was the gist of their opinions.

When I mentioned that the morning news had said that Speaker Pelosi’s request for a larger plane was because she wanted to be able to fly non-stop between San Francisco and D.C. without having to stop to refuel.

There were about 16 of us in somewhat cramped quarters. So it was easy to hear the sighs and chuckles.

A Chief Petty Officer onboard told me that the trip from DC to San Fran was about 2450 nautical miles. He said the last he checked the C-20 had a range of closer to 3500 nautical miles (according to this Air Force Fact Sheet, the C-20 has a range of 3698 nautical miles).

So, one’s left with the feeling that the Speaker simply wants a bigger plane (she allegedly requested a Boeing 757, which is the commercial airliner that SouthWest Airlines uses for its commercial flights).

__________

I’m not opposed to Speaker Pelosi having a C-20 at her disposal for official use as long as our nation is at war (remember, Speaker Hastert didn’t start using a military aircraft until after 9/11). As long as it’s used exclusively for official business for her and her staff.

I am opposed to her getting her own jumbo jet (at a cost of $22K/hour of operation). And I’m even more opposed to any suggestion or request for her family to fly the friendly skies on my dime, too.

The only thing I’m curious about though, is since San Francisco has declared itself a military-free zone, will Pelosi’s Air Force jet have to land in San Jose?

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Friday, February 9th, 2007 | Trackback |

3 Responses to “Speaker Pelosi and Her Big Plane”

You got it wrong buddy, read the papers. Pelosi didn’t even request the plane. The major right wing bloggers have dropeed this story like a hot potato.

Left by Bob on February 9th, 2007 at 11:34 pm

No one disputes that Pelosi got on the plane. She’s a big girl, let her take responsibility. Knowing the republican media machine for what it is, it doesn’t matter who requested the plane.

I consider myself a liberal. I’ve NEVER voted republican. But this is a perfect example of democrats doing what they do best… shoot themselves in the foot.

This blogger rightly notes that Hastert’s plane was more than sufficient to make the trip. But google “pelosi military plane refuel” and you’ll find countless articles repeatedly claiming that the C-20 must refuel every 2,000 miles. Unless there is a govt stipulation that they must refuel every 2,000 miles, (and maybe there is.. it is senseless enough), this is baseless.

Good job doing your homework, Robbie. If “Conservatives” and “Liberals” did more of this, we’d probably find our way out of this mess.

Left by Joe on February 10th, 2007 at 3:18 pm

Dude, you need to quit reading Malkin- this story was debunked by Tony Snow and the House Seargant at Arms.

Left by Preston on February 10th, 2007 at 6:43 pm

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