Local news source. The jet is allegedly in San Antonio
https://eextra.news/greenville/https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/trump-qatar-jet-air-force-one-san-antonio-20317550.php
I’m Breaking Speculation!
The Boeing 747-8 that is proposed to be gifted from the Qatari Ministry of Defense to the US Department of Defense, for President Trump to use as Air Foece One, has been in a hanger under heavy security at the San Antonio International Airport since at least May 8th, according to the San Antonio Express News. The hanger is leased to ST Engineering, an international large aircraft repair and refurbishment company.
If the supee luxury Boeing airliner is accepted by the Department of Defense it would need hundreds of millions of dollars worth of extensive modifications including mid-air refueling capability, defensive counter measures, ENP proofing, communications and other changes to be utilized as Air Force One. According to the San Antonio Express, L3Harris will handle all communications, radar and other internal modifications at an unnamed L3Harris facility in Texas.
L3Harris, including the Greenville location, has previously done work on the existing pair of Air Force Ones, and has a contract to do communications installations for the upcoming pair of Air Force One jets in production.
Will Greenville see the $400 million Jet at Majors Field? Time will tell.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Salem bin Laden
From Wikipedia
Salem bin Laden (Arabic: سالم بن لادن
(4 January 1946 – 29 May 1988) was a Saudi Arabian investor and businessman.
Life
Salem was the eldest son of Muhammad bin Laden, the founder of the Saudi Binladin Group, and a half-brother of the militant jihadist Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden was educated at Millfield and acted as the patriarch of the bin Laden family after the 1967 death of his father. Salem managed the family's extensive investment portfolio and was in charge of the family income distribution. He also oversaw the individual education plans for each of his (half-) brothers and (half-) sisters. Just like his father, he highly valued the close relationship of the bin Ladens with the Saudi royal family. He provided means and support to the family during the Mecca uprising of 1979.[1]
George W. Bush knew James Bath, a Texan businessman who served as the North American representative for rich Saudis among Bin Laden relatives, and using Bath connections he met billionaire Salem bin Laden, banker and BCCI Khalid bin Mahfouz. The two Saudis were willing to invest in the oil business. Salem bin Laden was one of the investors in the Arbusto oil company, created by George W. Bush in 1979.[2][3][4][5]
He owned a house in Orlando, Florida, and often used it for vacation stays.[6][7]
Salem bin Laden died on 29 May 1988, in a plane crash in an ultralight aircraft that he was personally piloting. During the flight, he accidentally collided with high-voltage electrical power lines adjacent to the Kitty Hawk airfield on the outskirts of Schertz, a suburb of San Antonio, Texas. The Sprint ultralight aircraft he was flying fell 115 feet to the ground after the wire strike. Salem, who was not wearing a safety helmet, died of head injuries from the resulting fall. The National Transportation Safety Board did not investigate the incident because ultralight aircraft, like the one Salem was flying, fell outside their jurisdiction per FAR Part 103 Provisions, exempting such aircraft from their mandate. The Schertz Police, who attended to the incident, stated in their report that Salem died in a "freak accident".
Following his death, Salem's body was transported back to Saudi Arabia and accorded the honor of a burial in Medina, one of the most sacred cities in the Islamic world. A significant memorial event was held at the bin Laden family compound in Jeddah, spanning two days. All of the twenty-two bin Laden sons formed a line to receive the thousands of guests attending the funeral. Salem, who had secured a billion-dollar contract in the early 1980s for the innovation of the Prophet's Mosque, had effectively managed his father's business and had been instrumental to the family's ongoing success and prosperity. The memorial served as a testament to Salem's contributions and the deep respect held for him within the family and the community.[8]
A little more:
https://www.khou.com/article/news/the-bin-laden-family-has-ties-to-texas/285-341179639
HOUSTON- For years, the bin Laden family was very familiar with Houston hospitality.
The once-wealthiest non-royal family from Saudi Arabia reportedly owned a house in Houston s River Oaks area, but that s not all, said Joan Neuhaus Schaan, a terrorism expert with the Baker Institute.
She says many Saudi families found Houston appealing in the 1970s and 80s.
Texas was the center of the oil industry, Schaan said.
The bin Ladens would discover that the energy capital could make them even richer.
It was only natural that with the bin Laden family, being in construction and being tied to civil engineering projects that they would also find Houston a comfortable place to operate, Schaan said.
The family was headed by Muhammed bin Laden, who died in 1967. The oldest son was Salem, and then Osama.
The family had 18 other sons.
The bin Laden family is a very large family, with many different interests, in many different places, Schaan said.
She said it was big brother Salem who picked Houston, arriving here in 1973 to start several companies.
There was Binladen Aviation, Binladen Houston and Binladen Brothers for Construction.
Even after he died in 1988, Salem bin Laden had holdings in the Houston Gulf Airport in League City. It was sold and was turned into a subdivision.
The bin Laden family reportedly cut ties with Osama when he became a terrorist, but there is one unanswered question.
We re all interested in knowing that extent his family may have supported him in that, whether it was official support, or unofficial support, Schaan said.
The bin Ladens left Texas after 9/11 and haven t been seen in the area since.
Here's another: https://listverse.com/2018/01/06/10-bush-bin-laden-connections-that-raised-a-few-eyebrows/
approaching TPA recently with a similar livery (Airbus A319)
