A plane bought by the U.S. Air Force for the Air Force One program is landing in Bangor on Friday.
The Air Force bought two Boeing 747-8 planes for $400 million from German airline Lufthansa, the Air Force announced in December. The plane landing that is expected to land at around 12:30 p.m. Friday, according to online flight trackers, is the first of the two planes to be delivered.
Produced in 2011, the 747-8 is the longest airplane in service at 250 feet long. The plane’s tail is as tall as a six-story building, according to Boeing.
The plane is also the heaviest aircraft manufactured in the United States.
Boeing ended production of the 747-8 in 2020 after building 155 passenger and shipping configurations.
The plane took off from Frankfort, Germany, on Friday morning and is scheduled to land in Bangor the afternoon.
The second plane purchased is slated to be delivered to America later this year.
The planes will be used for training for the Air Force One program and kept as spares for the 747-8 fleet, the Air Force said in December. The planes were purchased after the Air Force announced that the delivery of new planes to be used as Air Force One has been delayed to 2028.
The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been in use since 1990 and 1991.
