Brazil News
| BRASILIA – The two Boeing 737 VC-96 presidential aircraft were officially retired last year. The American-made jetliners served the nation for 34 years, through Military dictatorship and democracy, ferrying seven Brazilian presidents on official business around the country and the world. Last Friday, one of the jets made its last flight from Brasilia to the Aerospace Museum (MUSAL) of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in Rio de Janeiro where it will be put on display.
BAF Boeing 737 jets (photo: terra.com.br/FAB release)
First Acquired by the FAB and put into service in 1976, the jetliners were at the service of seven presidents: Ernesto Geisel, João Figueiredo, José Sarney, Fernando Collor, Itamar Franco, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Both jets were officially retired on 16 April 2010, after 50,000 hours of flight time and before the current president, Dilma Rousseff took office.
The VC-96 were purchased to replace the VC-92, the first jet of the Special Transportation Group (GATE), known as “Sucatao.” According to a spokesman for the Air Force, the jets were replaced because of age only and they remain in excellent condition.
Over the years, the planes have been modernized such as the installation of navigation and collision avoidance systems. In 1989, the entirety of the jets were rebuilt from the ground up.
One of the most memorable missions for GATE was the transportation of Pope John Paul II in July 1980. One of the VC-96 carried the pontiff to 11 Brazilian states. Sixteen years later, during a trip to London, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso spilled coffee on his pants. To fulfill his commitments he traded pants with a flight attendant. Those trousers are now in a museum.
In 2003, a VC-96 carried President Lula on a tour of the Middle East and North Africa, through the Canary Islands, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, UAE, Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia. In may 2005, the VC-96 embarked on its longest mission, carrying Lula on a visit to Japan, a trip that logged a toal of 54 hours flight time.
The VC-96 aircraft are 30.48 meters long, have a wingspan of 38.35 meters, are 11.28 meters high and have a top speed of 747 km/hr. The jet that flew to Rio de Janeiro on Friday will be on display tomorrow at the MUSAL, located in Campos dos Afansos (RJ).
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Brazilian online news source for this article: terra.com.br
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