Presidential bedroom suite in the "Air Force One Experience," a full-sized 747 "replica" of Air Force One, open to the public in North Kingstown, R.I. Photo: Stephan Savoia / AP
"A strange new pop-up museum in Rhode Island [that features] a full-scale replica of Air Force One [was unveiled by] Howie Franklin, who served as chief steward to five presidents aboard the official flying White House," according to David Collins of The Day in New London, Conn.:
- The so-called "replica ... will be open for public tours — at $17.50 a head — for at least the next few weeks at Quonset Airport in North Kingstown, where [a] former cargo 747 was refitted to look like the plane that carries presidents."
- "The replica is the work of an organization called the Children's Democracy Project ... Ari Scharf, chairman of the board, made a tortured explanation ... of how children are supposed to learn about democracy by touring the plane."
- "[T]his is where it gets strange — the big plane will be loaded onto a barge at Quonset and set off on a tour of untold length and duration."