A Guided Tour of ‘Air Force One’

Man, this baby is loaded. Not only does it come with an on-board office, conference room and kitchen, but it’s outfitted with 87 telephones (including 27 that are secure and encrypted), as well as antimissile devices and a nuclear-blast shield.

It’s the personal transporter of the president of the United States and the subject of “Air Force One,” a “National Geographic Special” airing tonight at 8 on KCET.

A vision in gleaming blue, white and silver, the majestic airplane “epitomizes the strength and the majesty of the United States of America,” former President George Bush says during the hourlong program, while his son, the current president, adds that stepping aboard “reminded me of the awesome responsibilities of the job.”

Former Presidents Carter and Clinton also are interviewed, with Carter laughing as he confesses that he was so excited about his first trip--from his home in Georgia to his inauguration in Washington--that on the way to the airport, he forgot to pick up his mother, who was also scheduled to make the flight, and had to go back for her.

Meanwhile, the program--which is produced, directed and filmed by Peter Schnall--traces Air Force One’s history from the first presidential trip aboard a plane (which took Franklin D. Roosevelt to a wartime meeting in Casablanca with Winston Churchill in 1943) to the current pair of 747s, each considered a “flying White House.”