Take a look inside Air Force Two, the 155-foot custom jet plane that vice presidents use to travel the world

• Vice presidents started traveling by plane via Air Force Two in 1959.
• Vice President JD Vance flies in a C-32, a custom military version of a commercial jetliner.
• It features a communications center, stateroom, and 32 seats for journalists.

For vice presidents of the United States, frequent travel is in the job description. Luckily, they get to travel in style.

While traversing the country and the world, Vice President JD Vance flies in a custom C-32 plane featuring an advanced communications center, conference room, and private stateroom.

The plane measures 155 feet long and can fly 5,500 nautical miles without refueling. When Vance is on board, it’s known as “Air Force Two.”

Take a look inside the vice president’s plane.

Any Air Force plane carrying the US vice president is called “Air Force Two.”

Similar to the president aboard “Air Force One,” the designation of “Air Force Two” refers to any Air Force plane carrying the vice president, not a specific jet or model.

Over the years, several different planes have carried the Air Force Two title, transporting vice presidents and their staff around the world. The most commonly used jet is a C-32, a customized military version of a commercial Boeing 757-200 plane, according to the Air Force.

The vice president is generally prohibited from flying on “Air Force One,” a plane carrying the president.

The president and vice president don’t travel together for security reasons.

It’s customary for presidents and vice presidents to salute service members as they board and disembark presidential planes.

Service members are required to salute the president as commander in chief, but not the vice president. Still, it’s customary for troops to salute vice presidents, as well.

Richard Nixon was the first vice president to travel internationally via jet on official business, visiting what was then the USSR in 1959.

Nixon, who served as President Dwight D. Eisenhower‘s vice president, flew on a Boeing VC-137A Stratoliner to visit the USSR in 1959.

Beginning with the Ford administration in 1975, this DC-9 jet flew as Air Force Two until 2005.

The jet was first used by President Gerald Ford’s vice president, Nelson Rockefeller.

It featured a VIP cabin with 10 seats and a main cabin with 32 first-class seats.

The plane was retired from service during the Bush administration in 2005 and put up for auction by the General Services Administration in 2013.

Vice President Al Gore decorated the VIP cabin with family photos.

Gore worked on his acceptance speech for the 2000 Democratic National Convention aboard Air Force Two.

The cabin also featured a clock with different time zone displays.

The clock featured the time in Washington, DC, and whatever destination Air Force Two was bound for.

The updated C-32 plane most commonly used by vice presidents first deployed in 1998.

With a wingspan of nearly 125 feet, each engine features 41,700 pounds of static thrust, according to the Air Force.

As vice president, Joe Biden hung a map of the world in his Air Force Two work area.

Biden traveled over one million miles on Air Force Two during his time as vice president.

Mike Pence’s staff decorated Air Force Two for his birthday in 2017.

Staffers celebrated the vice president’s birthday with streamers and balloons aboard the jet.

Kamala Harris also celebrated birthdays on the plane.

Harris brought cupcakes and sang “Happy Birthday” to her domestic policy advisor, Kate Childs Graham, in 2021.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled aboard Air Force Two, as well.

Air Force Two is occasionally used by presidential spouses and Cabinet members.

Emhoff filled out his March Madness basketball bracket en route to Las Vegas in March 2021.

The back of Air Force Two contains 32 business-class seats for members of the press.

Vice presidents and staff occasionally hold informal briefings with reporters known as “press gaggles” aboard Air Force Two.

The press area features TV screens that can play cable news.

The rear cabin also contains a galley, two bathrooms, and closets.

Vice President JD Vance has taken several international trips on Air Force Two, including to France, Germany, and Greenland.

In February, JD Vance visited France and Germany with his wife, Usha Vance, and their three children. He attended the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris and the Munich Security Conference.

In March, the vice president and second lady flew to Pituffik Space Base, the only US military base in Greenland.

In September, Air Force Two transported Charlie Kirk’s casket after the Turning Points USA cofounder was shot and killed.

Kirk was fatally shot on the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour” on September 10 at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Air Force Two flew Kirk’s body from Salt Lake City to Phoenix for burial. The vice president helped carry Kirk’s casket onto the plane along with other uniformed service members. Kirk’s wife, Erika Frantzve, joined JD Vance and Usha Vance on board.

Kirk was an early supporter of JD Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign and pushed for his nomination as Trump’s vice president. In a post on X, JD Vance called Kirk “a true friend.”

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” he wrote.

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