Comments on: John Travolta’s Boeing 707

By: Ted

Ted — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 15:57:55 +0000

Great to see someone like me that loves aviation. Its people that do research like this on Johns plane that make aviation enthusiasts proud…

Ted

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:58:09 +0000

I was glad to have the oportunity to be a part of this planes history. I was one of the flight crew in the picture above during the 2002 world tour. It is an amasing plane with a colorful past. I hope it last another 40 years

Brad

By: Answers to Your Aviation Questions at Flightstory.net - Aviation Blog

Answers to Your Aviation Questions at Flightstory.net - Aviation Blog — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:11:16 +0000

[…] old is Travolta’s Boeing? 43 years (built in 1964). See http://blog.flightstory.net/45/john-travoltas-boeing-707/ for more […]

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:48:35 +0000

You list John Travolta as having an ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) license. Why then does the FAA list his pilot certificate as a Private Pilot License?

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:49:44 +0000

Indeed, the last paragraph might be a little bit incorrect.
He owns a type rating for the 707 and is certified for SIC privileges only.

I guess I need to correct the posting someday.

By: Big Daddy

Big Daddy — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 23:04:52 +0000

A few years back I got to tour the lockheed Constellation that John Travolta owned when it was at the San Jose Airport. $ 3.00 bucks for a tour but it was worth it.

By: George

George — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:40:54 +0000

A very interesting, well written article, which answered a lot of questions I had. I love flying, I got my PPL in June 1970 and still fly as often as I can, mainly with my business, and I love to trace the history of aircraft, so this was just up my street. Keep the good work up.

George

By: Sheila A. Quinn

Sheila A. Quinn — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:01:33 +0000

Hello,

I just finally came online in order to try to figure out if John Travolta’s 707 was originally a Pan Am aircraft. ETs coverage of the Jett Travolta tragedy included a shot of his aircraft “Jett Clipper Ella”. Being an ex Pan Am exployee, it really touched my heart to see his pride in both of his children and obvious knowledge of Pan Am history.

Pan American World Airways Chairman and Founder Juan Trippe was the first to commission and operate the first commercial U. S. jet. On October 26, 1958, Pan Ams Boeing 707-121 “Clipper America” departed Idlewild Airport bound for Paris.

I think that was when Pan Am started referring to their aircraft as “Jet Clippers”. I myself did many terminal and boarding announcements “Pan American Jet Clipper Flight Two, Round the World Service to London and points beyond…”.

Thanks again for doing the research. It is something that I have been curious about for a while. Sheila

By: Peter Jenner

Peter Jenner — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:22:53 +0000

Hi,

If indeed it was the Qantas V-Jet “City of Launceston”, it is the plane my family and I migrated to Australia from England on in April 1965. That trip took us via New York, San Francisco, Honolulu and Fiji and lasted some 36 hours. I was 7. I think I still have my Qantas Junior V-jet Club logbook somewhere - signed by the captain.

I wrote to Qantas in the mid seventies to ask what happened to the plane and they told me it had been sold to an Asian airline.

Do you have access to a closeup photo of it from it’s Qantas days?

By: stu miller

stu miller — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:10:00 +0000

this aircraft landed at auckland n z 16 april 2009

By: Paul Omeara

Paul Omeara — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:28:20 +0000

Hey I saw it at auckland Int. Airport on the 16th April too! Shame I didn’t realise it was his. I overheard some people saying it was John’s but unfortunately didn’t really beleive them at the time. It wasn’t until I got home and googled the image that i realised it was true.
Does anyone know of web sites were people can see when celebrities are flying in and out of?

By: Werner

Werner — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:54:03 +0000

707 Jett Clipper Ella has arrived in Cape Town South Africa

By: Pops

Pops — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:28:33 +0000

Left Cape Town last night for Botswana

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:42:23 +0000

It’s parked in Port Elizabeth since Friday evening.

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:08:58 +0000

Hi All,

Seen awax 707 going into Manchester airport last Wed or Thursday, looked good. I have seen this happen last your, anyone know why?

Regards,

Peter

By: Keith Stewart - Ex Qantas 707/747 Pilot

Keith Stewart - Ex Qantas 707/747 Pilot — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:51:25 +0000

I’, an ex Qantas 707, then 747 pilot’-

I flew this aeroplane on Qanta routes for many years.

- Would HATE to see it ’scapped ‘ when John Travolta has
stopped flying it away from Australia.
-
He’s an honourary ‘Qantas Captain ‘ with his personal old 707.
-
Qantas has a ‘Volunteer’ Qantas Museum in outback Australia at Longreach where Qantas started.
- Lots of aircraft and even an early Q-747.
-
Is there any way that John Travolta’s ex-Qantas 707 come back to Australia and Longreach ?

stewart96@bigpond.com.au
ENDS

By: Travolta flies jetload of relief supplies to Haiti - PPRuNe Forums

Travolta flies jetload of relief supplies to Haiti - PPRuNe Forums — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:29:50 +0000

[…] John Travolta’s Boeing 707 at Flightstory.net - Aviation Blog John Travolta is a ATPL (Airline Transport Pilot License) licensed pilot with a life long passion for aviation. Since earning his wings in 1974, he has logged close to an astounding 5,000 flying hours. Literally every cent of his first paychecks went to flying lessons. He achieved qualification as a captain in the Gulfstream II, Learjet 24, Hawker 1A, Citation 1 and 2, Tebuan and Vampire Jet. He has qualified as first officer in the Boeing 707. Travolta keeps his skill up-to-date through continual refresher courses, training at American Airlines, Pan Am, SimuFlite and others. […]

By: Chuck Pillette

Chuck Pillette — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:33:43 +0000

Dear Michael,

You still have people quoting those bogus qualifications you gave Travolta (ATPL), right off this website, when you said over a year ago (20 August 2008) that you needed to get around to correcting what you call “a little bit incorrect” but what a reasonable person might call “totally false and misleading.”

Have you been too busy to get around to that yet? How about taking a minute to set the record straight with his actual status as a PPL SIC of this beautiful, rich man’s toy? He’s in the news again with his trip to Haiti so that people are reading your article and making an obvious mistake, given that numerous press releases speak of him “piloting” his 707.

I realize that getting serial numbers and registrations, aircraft history, is more your thing here, when you do a great job with that but pilot qualifications are also important and should be given correctly.

Yours,

Chuck Pillette

By: John Brown

John Brown — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:18:03 +0000

He was waving out the left winshield after the Haiti flight. My understanding is that he has a private license for 707 co-pilot duties who would sit on the right side. As a private pilot he can not have paying passengers. Am I correct? thanks, John

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:46:18 +0000

I just drove by the Ocala, FL airport and this plane has been parked there for a few days.

By: Dr Len van der Walt

Dr Len van der Walt — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:47:00 +0000

John Travlota’s 707 is now parked at Lanseria Airport, just outside Johannesburg, South Africa. John and his family arrived in SA last Thursday. John is in South Africa for the FIFA soccer world cup. I live only 15 minutes away from the airport and went out there last Saturday and saw the 707 from about 100 meters - what a beaut! Very sleek and neat!

By: Dr Len van der Walt

Dr Len van der Walt — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:57:58 +0000

John, you are correct. Mr Travolta has a PPL with SIC privileges and as such should sit right hand seat. As a private pilot he may not have fare paying passengers. Indeed quotes such as “he piloted his B707…” is incorrect. Typically he will have a crew flying for him, including PIC, and John himself will at most only assume SIC duties. I would assume that his 4 Captains’ stripes on his uniform indicate his status as honourary Captain for Quantas and actually has nothing to do with whether or not he is a qualified and rated 4-liner.

By: Jim Hughs

Jim Hughs — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:44:23 +0000

Shelia, I bet that was a great time, I was a professional traveller who spent in excess of 200 days a year on the road from the US to most Pacific Rim countries and a lot of time in Europe. At one poing just after they introduced the Frequent Flyer Point concept I had so many miles American Airlines investigated me to see if I was in some way cheating the system. I was dating an AA employee and they thought she was in some way getting me points I had not earned.

On the subject of the 707 being the first “Clipper”, if I am not mistaken the first Clipper was Pan Am’s “Connie’s”, the Lockeed Consellations that Juan Tripp bought to move into the South American market. I could be wrong but I recall flying on one in the 50’s and I think I remember it being called Clipper.

Chuck Pillette, I doubt if any one person on this planet is losing sleep over what Type rating John Travolta has or that Michael has made an error in this fine, informative and comprehensive article. The plane is the focal point here IMO, not John’s license.

Michael thanks for your effort, great read!

By: Robert Booth

Robert Booth — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:23:43 +0000

I have found these comments to be very interesting. As a former Pan Am pilot I flew the 707 both as a flight engineer and later as a captain. I also flew the 727 as a copilot and the 747 as both a copilot and a captain.

I think the first Pan Am planes to carry the name “Clipper” were the Sikorsky S-42 flying boats.

I flew 17 years out of New York. Shiela probably announced the departure of my flights many times! Those were the days, weren’t they?

There is a fairly well-known painting of the first 707 departure from New York to Paris. In the background are the International Arrivals Building and the Pan Am Worldport, then under construction. I was working for another airline at the time but went out to Idlewild to watch that historical departure and stood in a cold drizzle for 45 minutes before the plane took off. The ceiling was about 700 feet and I only saw the plane airborne for about 15 seconds!

If you look closely at the painting you can see me on the roof of the International Arrivals Building, at the end of it.

Well, maybe not. An obvious oversight by the artist.

By: Mike Philpott

Mike Philpott — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:35:53 +0000

I love this aircraft,
Why? well in 1967 I was a young engineer with a new British Aircraft Maintenance Licence and worked for British Eagle, Eagle decided to buy some 707-138’s from Qantas and I was chosen with others to go to Australia to study the Aircraft and gain the practical experience prior to gaining a licence extension upon return to England.
When I was there we attended aircrew training, while they flew we studied and fixed things when they landed, whilst talking to the Qantas trainer’s between flight’s I mentioned the story I had heard of ‘Tex’ Johnston who rolled a 707 on a demo flight to prospective customers, after a pause the pilot made the comment “What makes you think he’s the only one who’s done that” or word’s to that effect, no more was said.
I went on to gain every 707 varient on the British Register and a Flight Engineers licence as well prior to their final replacement, this aircraft paid my mortgage for the best part of my working life (now retired) and it all started with the B707-138, thanks Mr. Boeing,
John must love it.

By: John Travolta and Qantas | Oprah in Australia!

John Travolta and Qantas | Oprah in Australia! — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:55:21 +0000

[…] Find out more about John Travolta’s Qantas 707: blog.flightstory.net […]

By: Johno of Melbourne

Johno of Melbourne — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 11:30:45 +0000

Irrespective of his qualifications “anyone” can get an ATPL (Air Transport Pilot License) if they cough up the cash. It costs $85K Australian to do an ATPL at any one of the colleges, RMIT or Swinburne in Melbourne for example, along with Point Cook Airforce base or Moorabbin airport flight training to CPL standard (Commercial Pilot License) and ATPL subjects. It takes just 12 months from being an absolute nobody who has never seen an aircraft to get through 160 hours CPL training and the CASA ATPL subjects. You are then issued with a “frozen” ATPL which becomes active after completing a further 1500 flying hours. I am sure John Travolta has completed at least a CPL if not an ATPL. He has gained Captain status with Qantas training in Australia, one of the most prized airline pilot qualifications in the world, it is not just honourary as I understand it and not every pilot has the chance to get it. And Pla-eeeese, the people claiming to be jet pilots here, like Keith Stewart, you need to be a little more convincing than that. I am not a pilot but know enough about PPLs, CPL’s ATPLS’ both rotary wing (Helicopter) and Fixed wing, the training programmes and the terminology to easily convince people I am a qualified Qantas 747 pilot. I’m not. By the way, if you really do want to be a jet pilot, Qantas’ low cost airline Jetstar (Australia’s One Star Airline ha ha), is offering an 18 month cadet course straight into the right hand seat of an A320 Airbus. That’s a First officer, skipping all the regional airlines. They prefer that you have never seen an aircraft before. The catch is it is self funding to the tune of $160K, 18 months training and bonding to the airline for 6 years. The first $80K is a government loan at 20% interest paid back over the first six years. The second $80K is paid by Jetstar provided you stay 6 years. You also get paid up to $100K less than an equivalent A320 pilot working for its big brother Qantas. ($100K as opposed to $200K) Maybe John can apply for that?

By: QANTAS N707JT Missed Approach - PPRuNe Forums

QANTAS N707JT Missed Approach - PPRuNe Forums — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:07:01 +0000

[…] John Travolta’s Boeing 707 at Flightstory.net - Aviation Blog John Travolta is a pilot with a life long passion for aviation. Since earning his wings in 1974, he has logged close to an astounding 5,000 flying hours. Literally every cent of his first paychecks went to flying lessons. He achieved qualification as a captain in the Gulfstream II, Learjet 24, Hawker 1A, Citation 1 and 2, Tebuan and Vampire Jet. He owns the type rating for the Boeing 707 and is certified for SIC privileges (Second In Command). Travolta keeps his skill up-to-date through continual refresher courses, training at American Airlines, SimuFlite and others. […]

By: Richard Cole

Richard Cole — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:01:50 +0000

Excellent comments by all subscribers, I don’t know how qualified John Travolta is as far as air transport pilot is but it would seem he know’s what he’s doing in the cockpit, personally I like the 707 as opposed to the 747 (a much more streamlined aircraft) & talking about “clippers” what about the boing 737 strato-clipper that figure 8 fuseage section aircraft that had a habit of throwing blades off props (mid-pacific). we had a look over one at sydney (mascot) in those days, a guy came up through the floor & said to my mom in his american accent “uh, don’t step back maam” see you up there…..

By: John B. Koch

John B. Koch — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:35:11 +0000

Nice article,explained in details. I love flying to and I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks for sharing.

By: Tim Ekdom

Tim Ekdom — Tue, 10 May 2011 21:24:51 +0000

If you’ve read the story of Travolta having a total electrical system failure *at night* while flying *IFR* (on top of a solid undercast) into *DCA* in his *G-II* then you know that this guy is a *real pilot*, not a wannabe.

Story here: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-03-27/news/9503270179_1_joseph-travolta-actor-john-travolta-mid-air-collision

By: Larry Weiss

Larry Weiss — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:11:48 +0000

I just caught a glimpse of this plane today. It is sitting right now at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York. Except for the tail (still V-Jet) it is dressed in vintage Pan Am colors and is being used to shoot footage for the Pan Am television series.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:07:12 +0000

Just wanted to mention that John Travolta’s plane was used during an episode of the Pan Am television series. It was the plane that made an emergency landing at Haiti.

By: Stan Brazaitis

Stan Brazaitis — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:55:22 +0000

How does a liberal like John Travolta justify flying a large plane, for family and friends, that consumes so much fuel. Why not fly “First Class” now and then? How much food and medical care would one trip buy for the poor and underclass, he and other “Rich Liberals” claim that the conservatives overlook. He’s in the 1%, making $20,000,000.00 per movie. Don’t. just “Talk the Talk.”

By: Howard D.

Howard D. — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:28:53 +0000

Stan -

Please don’t make this political. You’re in the wrong place for that.

By: King

King — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:05:31 +0000

Pretty cool history, thanks for writing it out. I always wondered how John Travolta got to fly under the Quantas brand. If I had that much money, I would have my own airstrip too. He deserves it.