The flight by the VC-25, a modified Boeing Co. 747, and two F-16 fighter jets cost $328,835, Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein said.

Three-Hour Mission

That includes $300,658 for the larger plane, which flew a three-hour mission, and about $28,178 for the F-16 jets, which flew 1.8 hours each, Stein said in an e-mailed statement.

The total includes fuel used in flight, fuel used to power ground equipment used to prepare the aircraft, and ground maintenance..

 

So in other words, a drop in the bucket.

 

I am guessing that there is an exception for military and possibly government aircraft. If you ever lived in San Francisco during the month of October you would know that Fleet Week is the second week of the month with the Blue Angels. They do their show on Saturday and Sunday over the Bay. However, they practice Thursday and Friday OVER the city with many passes easily below 1000 feet and maybe closer to 500 feet. A lot of people hate it while I loved it. You could be out on the street, in the Richmond District with buildings no higher than 2 stories, and hear the jet coming but you couldn't see it at all. Then all of a sudden it was right overhead so using math and the height of a 2 story building you can guess how low it was. There have also been instances where I am sitting at 19th and Geary having some coffee and hear a jet. Then out of nowhere coming right down the street is a MIG-15 in the Red Bull markings. No more than 500 feet up. Have also seen the Blue Angels fly right over the USS Hornet at twice the height of it's mast and the exhaust drifted right down on top of you. That was the City of Alameda and that was 300 feet maximum. Last, this past week had a B-17 in town doing flights over the Bay. When it passed over the Hornet, on each flight, it was low enough to see the passengers wave at you. As for New Yorkers, and I am one, they need to show more moxie and get past 9/11 and get on with their lives or they are not New Yorkers.

Photo below is from the flight deck using an ordinary 50mm lens and the search lights are mounted on top of Pri-Fly. The roar was absolutely ear splitting even for me.

 

The angels used to do that when we had air shows at my local airport. My parents house was in the direct flight path for these planes. Try getting woken up to the rumble of a C5 galaxie coming into this little airport for a landing. It was probably only a couple hundred feet above the house. Shook the whole damn house. From what I understand, military planes and government planes are not supposed to be exempt from those rules.....but when you want to get people excited for an airshow and to get them to come, of course you will allow the angels or others to "practice" over populated areas. Over those areas, I can guarentee they do not get as close to each other as they do at the shows. One false move, and you can kill many people on the ground.

 

Thing is the Blue Angels are only involved in airshows so flying low has to be approved by lots of different people.

Thing is though the US airforce is not allowed to fly below the heigth of the tallest building is what I have read but things change and I dont know.

I know ive been to the airshows before but they were not over the city they were at a military airbase here and yes they fly low but theres no buildings around and they can not fly over the crowd either. I havent been in a few years but last time I went I got to see Fifi flying (B-29 Superfortress) as well as twenty B-17 flying fortresses along with a ****e Wulf FW190A-8 and FW190D9 along with a messerschmitt Me109K. But besides that the jets always broke the sound barrier but they were allowed to the closest residents were like 20 miles away atleast.

Okay where you see the "****" that is not a cuss word like this stupid cuss filter thinks its F o c k e Wulf.

 

I'm sure any government plane or military plane can get permission by the FAA to go below the accepted ceiling. As I said the Blue Angels fly directly over the City of San Francisco and her neighborhoods on their practice days. If one goes down then either a downtown building is hit or houses in the outlaying areas.

 

That is why they try to limit over populated areas cause especially at air shows tere are chances of failiures

 

What is so stupid of theis administration is that if they had wanted a new photo it could have been done by photo shopping it for about $200.00 for a graphic artist time vice $327,000 in cost for air force one. Fighters where not counted in cost because Obama said there due for a training mission that day anyway. Not much training flying photgraphers around. And what was wrong with the pictures used by the last four presidents which would have been even less expensive.
Another example of wasted taxpayer money. How about his campaign refund the taxpayers for this and include the cost of the fighters.