(Trends Wide) — Whether Donald Trump is ready to take off on another presidential run is up in the air, but his legendary Boeing 757 is definitely taking off.
According to flight data studied and analyzed by Trends Wide and consulting aviation experts, Trump’s jet has spent several hours over the past week making pattern flights over a small airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, likely testing various upgraded components before heading to the Palm Beach International Airport, where he arrived this Wednesday night. Trump had previously indicated that the plane would be in Louisiana for repairs.
The plane’s arrival in West Palm Beach comes less than three weeks before the 2022 midterm elections and with the political world on constant watch for whether Trump announces another run for the White House.
As Trump’s world has felt besieged with multiple investigations and legal actions launched against him, the return of the so-called “Trump Force One” to his base of operations could be a shock to Trump supporters.
The plane’s arrival at the airport just 15 minutes from Mar-a-Lago is a significant indicator that it is not only airworthy — the 31-year-old jumbo had been sitting idle during the four years of Trump’s presidency and many months later — but may be preparing to assume his old life as Trump’s biggest campaign supporter. Trends Wide has reached out to a representative for Donald Trump for comment on the plane’s activity and has yet to hear back.
Trump’s plane has made a series of brief flight loops at various altitudes twice in recent days, taking off and landing at Chennault International Airport in Louisiana. Some of the flights lasted less than 10 minutes, according to the data, and did not exceed altitudes of 3,000 feet. Others were longer, 20 to 30 minutes, at altitudes ranging from 9,000 to 23,000 feet.
“It’s common that after an aircraft has received upgrades — or other new equipment or general avionics adjustments — pilots go through a series of test flights to ensure safety and function,” said Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. “The series of passes at different altitudes, such as those completed in Louisiana, are indicative of standard checks.”
That the plane, which Trump bought in 2010 from the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen, has been upgraded to the point of flight is a recent development. In March 2021, Trends Wide was the first to report that Trump’s once-ubiquitous 757 was sitting on a runway at a small New York state airport with a shrunken engine, mechanically stalled. It remained just north of New York City, at Stewart Airport in New Windsor, New York, for several more months before it was transferred to Louisiana on Nov. 1, 2021, according to flight tracker information obtained by Trends Wide. .
That flight was presumably flown with an engine worthy enough to earn the plane a Special Flight Permit — or “Ferry Permit” — from the FAA, multiple experts told Trends Wide. Permits allow registered aircraft to be approved to fly. According to FAA data, one of the reasons for granting a ferry permit is for an aircraft to fly to a location where “repairs, alterations, or maintenance are to be performed, or to a salvage point.”
Trends Wide has asked the FAA for confirmation of the transshipment permit issued for Trump’s plane, which is owned by DJT Operations LLC, and has not yet received the information.
A Boeing 757-200 series for passengers has about 228 seats. Trump’s custom 757 has 43 seats, plus a master bedroom, guest suite, dining room, VIP area and custom kitchen.
Trump has primarily flown to and from various destinations in his much smaller, eight-seater 1997 Cessna 750 Citation X. That plane has a small family crest painted on the fuselage, but lacks the giant Trump name on its exterior.
According to flight logs, when Trump is not on the Citation, he often flies on planes chartered by other people.
However, in July of this year, the 757, a regular backdrop to Trump campaign appearances and rallies in the run-up to the 2016 election, was featured in a witty video posted by Eric Trump on social media. . That video showed the 757 getting a new paint job in a hangar in Louisiana.
“He’s back,” he wrote.
The caption of the video posted by Eric Trump on Instagram quoted the former president as joking about the rebirth of his beloved private plane, saying that the shiny new exterior overhaul done so that “Trump Force One” — the nickname of the plane—could be “back in the skies in the fall of 2022, or maybe sooner.”
The reveal of the new paint job showed a fresh, gold “TRUMP” on the fuselage, and a new addition of an American flag on the tail. The paint job was completed in 26 days, according to Landlocked Aviation’s Tyson Grenzebach, who in a July interview with the Louisiana Radio Network said his company did a complete “scraping, sanding and painting” of Trump’s plane.
Although the interior, exterior and — as of Wednesday — the sky status of Trump’s 757 appears to be up to date, according to insiders who spoke with Trends Wide, the purpose of having the plane ready for some kind of big reveal near the midterm elections or a campaign announcement has yet to be confirmed by the former president.
For Trump, the plane is one of his most prized possessions. He oversaw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of renovations done to his prized possession shortly after he took office; all the metal inside the plane—lights, seat buckles, handles, latches, knobs—was 24-karat gold plated.
In March of last year, following Trends Wide’s reporting on the 757, Trump issued a statement confirming that his plane was “in storage” and under repair.
“When it’s done, it will be better than ever, and will be used again at future rallies!” Trump wrote then.
Trends Wide’s Greg Wallace contributed to this report.
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(Trends Wide) — Whether Donald Trump is ready to take off on another presidential run is up in the air, but his legendary Boeing 757 is definitely taking off.
According to flight data studied and analyzed by Trends Wide and consulting aviation experts, Trump’s jet has spent several hours over the past week making pattern flights over a small airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, likely testing various upgraded components before heading to the Palm Beach International Airport, where he arrived this Wednesday night. Trump had previously indicated that the plane would be in Louisiana for repairs.
The plane’s arrival in West Palm Beach comes less than three weeks before the 2022 midterm elections and with the political world on constant watch for whether Trump announces another run for the White House.
As Trump’s world has felt besieged with multiple investigations and legal actions launched against him, the return of the so-called “Trump Force One” to his base of operations could be a shock to Trump supporters.
The plane’s arrival at the airport just 15 minutes from Mar-a-Lago is a significant indicator that it is not only airworthy — the 31-year-old jumbo had been sitting idle during the four years of Trump’s presidency and many months later — but may be preparing to assume his old life as Trump’s biggest campaign supporter. Trends Wide has reached out to a representative for Donald Trump for comment on the plane’s activity and has yet to hear back.
Trump’s plane has made a series of brief flight loops at various altitudes twice in recent days, taking off and landing at Chennault International Airport in Louisiana. Some of the flights lasted less than 10 minutes, according to the data, and did not exceed altitudes of 3,000 feet. Others were longer, 20 to 30 minutes, at altitudes ranging from 9,000 to 23,000 feet.
“It’s common that after an aircraft has received upgrades — or other new equipment or general avionics adjustments — pilots go through a series of test flights to ensure safety and function,” said Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. “The series of passes at different altitudes, such as those completed in Louisiana, are indicative of standard checks.”
That the plane, which Trump bought in 2010 from the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen, has been upgraded to the point of flight is a recent development. In March 2021, Trends Wide was the first to report that Trump’s once-ubiquitous 757 was sitting on a runway at a small New York state airport with a shrunken engine, mechanically stalled. It remained just north of New York City, at Stewart Airport in New Windsor, New York, for several more months before it was transferred to Louisiana on Nov. 1, 2021, according to flight tracker information obtained by Trends Wide. .
That flight was presumably flown with an engine worthy enough to earn the plane a Special Flight Permit — or “Ferry Permit” — from the FAA, multiple experts told Trends Wide. Permits allow registered aircraft to be approved to fly. According to FAA data, one of the reasons for granting a ferry permit is for an aircraft to fly to a location where “repairs, alterations, or maintenance are to be performed, or to a salvage point.”
Trends Wide has asked the FAA for confirmation of the transshipment permit issued for Trump’s plane, which is owned by DJT Operations LLC, and has not yet received the information.
A Boeing 757-200 series for passengers has about 228 seats. Trump’s custom 757 has 43 seats, plus a master bedroom, guest suite, dining room, VIP area and custom kitchen.
Trump has primarily flown to and from various destinations in his much smaller, eight-seater 1997 Cessna 750 Citation X. That plane has a small family crest painted on the fuselage, but lacks the giant Trump name on its exterior.
According to flight logs, when Trump is not on the Citation, he often flies on planes chartered by other people.
However, in July of this year, the 757, a regular backdrop to Trump campaign appearances and rallies in the run-up to the 2016 election, was featured in a witty video posted by Eric Trump on social media. . That video showed the 757 getting a new paint job in a hangar in Louisiana.
“He’s back,” he wrote.
The caption of the video posted by Eric Trump on Instagram quoted the former president as joking about the rebirth of his beloved private plane, saying that the shiny new exterior overhaul done so that “Trump Force One” — the nickname of the plane—could be “back in the skies in the fall of 2022, or maybe sooner.”
The reveal of the new paint job showed a fresh, gold “TRUMP” on the fuselage, and a new addition of an American flag on the tail. The paint job was completed in 26 days, according to Landlocked Aviation’s Tyson Grenzebach, who in a July interview with the Louisiana Radio Network said his company did a complete “scraping, sanding and painting” of Trump’s plane.
Although the interior, exterior and — as of Wednesday — the sky status of Trump’s 757 appears to be up to date, according to insiders who spoke with Trends Wide, the purpose of having the plane ready for some kind of big reveal near the midterm elections or a campaign announcement has yet to be confirmed by the former president.
For Trump, the plane is one of his most prized possessions. He oversaw hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of renovations done to his prized possession shortly after he took office; all the metal inside the plane—lights, seat buckles, handles, latches, knobs—was 24-karat gold plated.
In March of last year, following Trends Wide’s reporting on the 757, Trump issued a statement confirming that his plane was “in storage” and under repair.
“When it’s done, it will be better than ever, and will be used again at future rallies!” Trump wrote then.
Trends Wide’s Greg Wallace contributed to this report.
