“… the new VC-25 aircraft now being laboriously built by Boeing.” Russ, don’t you mean being laboriously RE-built by Boeing? Then President Trump decided that, rather than build new airplanes from the start, he (the government) would supply two existing 747s already built and sitting in storage. They were originally slated for a defunct Russian airline that never took possession. His reasoning was that getting the existing planes would save a lot of money for the taxpayers. In reality, I suspect that many of the cost overruns on the planes stem from the extensive modifications needed to make the finished planes meet the strict requirements for the President’s use. However, I have no pity for Boeing if they lost money on the project. They are big boys, and if they can’t figure out how to price a bid to make money, shame on them.