Check Out the President’s New Airplane

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Workers move the new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental jetliner into a static display on the eve of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport
Workers move the new Boeing 747-8 jetliner into a static display on the eve of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport near Paris on June 19, 2011Pascal Rossignol—Reuters
By Eliana Dockterman

A Boeing 747-8 will be the next Air Force One, the U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday.

The latest version of the jumbo jet, which can be refueled in midair and even serve as a command center, will replace the Boeing VC-25 as the President’s official plane.

The incumbent President Barack Obama won’t be able to command the newer, more fuel efficient and technologically advanced ride, however, since the first one will not be delivered until 2018 and will then have to undergo five years of testing before it carries the leader of the free world.

Boeing has been the only provider of aircraft for American Presidents since 1962.

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Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com