The Trump administration on Wednesday awarded a $45.3 million contract to construct a flight simulator to train pilots and aircrew to fly his new Air Force One, a luxury Boeing 747-8 that was gifted to the United States by Qatar.
The sole-source contract between the Presidential and Executive Airpower Directorate and Florida-based CAE USA Inc. directs the company to install a “commercial FAA Level D certified 747-8i Full Flight Simulator” — the model of aircraft President Donald Trump accepted as a gift from the Qatari royal family — at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Trump has long maintained that the gifted plane, estimated to be worth $400 million, came at no cost to taxpayers and that he would be “stupid” not to accept it. The flight simulator contract, however, demonstrates that there are taxpayer-funded costs associated with the new jumbo jet.
The contract also raises questions about the timeline for the Qatari-gifted plane. Trump has floated the idea of taking it with him after his presidency to showcase in his Florida presidential library. But the flight simulator specialized for the plane may take years to be ready, per the details of the contract.
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The installation is expected to take “24-36 months from contract award,” with future support and maintenance estimated to last “12-18 months,” per the project description. That period “will also include the courseware and flight instruction to train pilots, instructors, and aircrew personnel.”
The simulator could get use, too, for a pair of future Air Force One 747-8 replacement planes that have been delayed for years, as well as an already-delivered 747-8 training aircraft.
CAE USA is a major contractor with the Department of Defense, having delivered flight simulators for other military aircraft, including B2 bombers and F-16 fighters. The company has manufactured “all of the commercial Level D certified 747-8 simulators worldwide,” according to an Air Force “Justification and Approval” document.
“The 747-8i FFS is vital for conducting initial pilot qualification, recurrent proficiency, as well as other aircrew training exercises,” the contract document reads.
The simulator is expected to have “full motion system with aerodynamic modeling and performance data, visual system, sound system, cockpit environment, aircraft systems simulation,” as well as “realistic aircraft movement and G-forces.”
The White House deferred questions about the contract and the future of the new Air Force One plane to the Department of Defense, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In July, Trump opted not to use either the new or old Boeing 747 normally used as Air Force One to fly back from Turkey. Instead, he flew out on a different, smaller government plane after sneaking out of the old Air Force One in a catering truck.
That same month, the Department of Justice issued, then retracted, subpoenas to New York Times reporters who had reported on security concerns surrounding the new Air Force One.
Trump’s trip Wednesday to a Republican convention in Dallas was delayed after one of the emergency slides on the new Air Force One plane was accidentally deployed.
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