 |
| Former Vice President Al Gore... in a photo NOT taken by Steven Frischling. |
Let's not forget this one about Frischling's claim to have flown on the President's 747 with Al Gore. Since he is a self-proclaimed aviation expert he would know that Al Gore had his own plane when he was in office and there aren't any trips that I could find where he would have flown on the president's 747 instead of his own Air Force Two plane, a modified 757. Also worth noting that he wasn't really affiliated with any agency at the time that would have put him in a seat on a flight on either one of those planes.For the 10 millionth time we ask... WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS of these excursions?
4/9/06 Flyertalk
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/545792-have-you-ever-seen-air-force-one-real-life-4.html#post5597624
"As a news photographer I have shot it's arrival, shot it's departure, stood under the wing.............and have flown on Air Force 2 (same plane, just had Al Gore on board instead of Clinton)
7/7/06 Flyertalk
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/545792-have-you-ever-seen-air-force-one-real-life-8.html#post6034911
"There are almost no photos available from the interior of AF One, except certain executive office areas. I have traveled on AF Two while working as a news photographer and remember explicit instructions that photography on board was banned, except during approved times in specific areas. When the Secret Services says this stuff you try to list (getting tossed from the press pool is bad, it tends to piss off your clients)."
This is pretty funny. Let me first give you a little background on who flies on Air Force one and two.
THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS POOL
The White House press pool for still photographers consists of AP, AFP, Reuters, a rotating "agency" pool (which Getty is part of) and a magazine/newspaper (currently held by the New York Times). AP, AFP and Reuters travel with the president everywhere and are considered the "tight pool". They travel on Air Force One, in motorcades and are always with the president when he has any movements. They are issued hard card White House press credentials. The agency pool only travels in presidential motorcades when the president has movements within close proximity to the White House. The agency pool rotates between (I believe) 8 agencies and commits a photographer from each agency to three days a month covering the White House. Photographers in the agency pool DO NOT (except on rare occasions) travel on Air Force One. The traveling press pool pays a hefty price to travel on AF1 and in motorcades with the president with an annual price tag in excess of a million dollars per agency. If other press does for some reason pay to go on of the president's overseas trips, they do not fly on AF1 but instead are put on a charter. These same rules pretty much apply to AF2.
It is very rare that photographers travel with the VP. But, in cases where they would, it would likely be members of the WH pool or a magazine/newspaper photographer (like NYT, Time or Newsweek) who had been granted special access. One exception was in the 2000 campaign. When Al Gore was campaigning for his bid to be president he used AF2 as his campaign plane and had members of the traveling press on board. I assume they also had a charter for overflow like Bush did during his campaign in 2004. During Bush's 2004 campaign only the WH wire pool flew on AF1, everyone else was on a charter. I have never seen any Al Gore photos by Frischling so that pretty rules out him being on Gore's campaign (if you have really covered a campaign for any length of time, you will be able to find pictures online). Also, photographers are dorks when it comes to having your photo taken in front of cool or unique planes that you have been on since riding on AF2 or any other plane like that is usually a once in a lifetime experience. Surely he would have had a photo of himself in front of AF2 before the flight. I know I have pictures of myself in front of planes like that.
Also he specifically states that he was actually on the president's 747 Air Force One plane, the VC25A "same plane, just had Al Gore on board instead of Clinton." The president's 747 is used almost exclusively by the president (with the rare exception like when Cheney took it on an extended trip to the Middle East in March of 2002. The VP's AF2 plane is a C-32, a modified 757. Al Gore used the AF2 757 plane during his 2000 campaign, not the AF1 747. My research didn't reveal any occasion where Gore flew on the 747 during his time in the White House. I assume that his claim of flying on AF2 was between 1998 and 2000 when he had no real affiliation with any wire service or agency which makes his claim even more absurd.
Link to info on Air Force One - http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/air-force-one
Link to info on Air Force Two - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Two
What kind of news photographer flies TWICE with the vice president of the United States of America and has NO photos to show for it?
