Normally, when a president visits a carrier, he flies out in a helicopter. Today, Bush will be sitting in the copilot's seat of an S-3B Viking (aka "Hoover" due to the low-mounted engines' tendancy to suck up stuff) for a real carrier landing. As a former F-102 pilot, he'll have to resist the urge to take the controls. Who knows, maybe he can get some stick time on the flight out.

The president -- a former F-102 Texas Air National Guard fighter pilot -- will be sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the Navy plane, but he is not expected to fly the aircraft.



Bush's aircraft will make a routine "tailhook" landing on the Lincoln. Traveling at about 150 mph, it should attach to a steel wire stretched across the flight deck and come to a complete stop in less than 400 feet. (Full story)

Bush will be equipped with an air sickness bag, but Capt. Kevin Albright said he doubts the president will need it. "I suspect [with] his previous flight experience, he'll do just fine," said Albright, a commander aboard the Lincoln.

The Navy and White House have not disclosed what type plane Bush will use, but a senior White House aide told CNN it would be a Navy S-3B Viking, a four-seat, turbofan jet that performs targeting and surveillance functions for naval carrier groups.