Longtime aviation enthusiast President Donald Trump toured the new Presidential VH 92 helicopter on the White House South Lawn Friday.
The VH 92 helicopter, which will be placed in service in 2020, made a practice landing on the South Lawn Friday morning.
The tour was closed to press, the helicopter departing White House grounds toward the Washington Monument and past the Jefferson Memorial later Friday.
Earlier this week, the Navy awarded a $542 million contract for six new helicopters to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company. The contract also includes interim contractor support, initial spares, support equipment and system parts replenishment, according to the Defense Department.
During his time as a businessman, Trump owned multiple aircraft, and has long paid attention to the finer details of his air travel. He revealed proposed designs to replace the light blue Air Force One in an ABC News interview that aired Thursday, showing mock-ups of a red, white, and blue plane.
Pressed by Fox News during a phone interview as to whether he was “sure” he wanted to change the plane’s iconic design, Trump said the red, white and blue scheme “fits the plane better.”
“I like the concept of red, white and blue and the classic, and I think it’s going to look much better actually,” he said.
The robin’s egg blue color scheme currently on the plane was spearheaded by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
“You know, the baby blue doesn’t fit with us. And people get used to something but that it was Jackie O, and that’s good, but we have our own Jackie O today, it’s called Melania,” Trump said.
