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John Travolta has donated his personal vintage Boeing 707 aeroplane to a restoration group in Australia. Picture: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
HOLLYWOOD star John Travolta will donate his vintage Boeing 707 plane, which Frank Sinatra owned before him, to an aviation restoration museum in regional New South Wales.
The plane, which was part of the Qantas fleet from 1965, will undergo some maintenance at the actor’s Florida home before he personally flies it to Albion Park, about 145 kilometres south of Sydney.
The actor announced the significant donation to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society in a statement on Sunday.
John Travolta in cockpit of his Qantas Boeing 707 aircraft at Sydney Airport. Picture: SuppliedSource:News Corp Australia
John Travolta on his personal Boeing 707 plane in Melbourne in 2004. Picture: Gregg PorteousSource:News Limited
The Society plans to keep the craft in the air, as well as display it in their permanent museum collection of some 40 planes at Illawarra Regional Airport.
HARS said the plane needs some work to ensure it’s air ready and engineers will be sent from Australia to oversee maintenance.
John Travolta on board his Boeing 707, which he has just donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.Source:News Corp Australia
It’s unclear when the 707, which Travolta repainted in original Qantas branding, will arrive.
“I am hoping to be part of the crew to fly the aircraft to Australia,” Mr Travolta said.
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When it was retired from commercial service, the plane was refurbished for personal use and belonged to Sinatra before Travolta purchased it.
“Flying is a passion of mine and I am just so grateful to be fortunate enough to count many hours flying such a beautiful aircraft,” Travolta said.
“I was honoured to have the 707 repainted in the original Qantas colours when I became the ambassador for the airline, and it’s so fitting that many of the volunteers at HARS are retired Qantas employees.”
Staff at HARS heard rumours of the possible donation a few months ago but the news wasn’t confirmed until the weekend.
But for the group’s president Bob De La Hunty, it wasn’t entirely a surprise — in 2009 he asked the Grease star point blank if he could have the plane.
The two took to the skies in another vintage craft, “Connie”, the Lockheed Super Constellaton and De La Hunty offered to give the 707 a home if Travolta ever wanted to offload it.
The rear of John Travolta's Qantas Boeing 707 at Sydney Airport in 2011. Picture: Charles BrewerSource:News Limited
“We sowed the seed then that if he finally decides it’s no longer going to be something that he could maintain or wanted to continue with that we’d like to talk to him about it,” De La Hunty told the Illawarra Mercury.
“So when we heard that he was going to possibly retire it, we got in touch and the rest now is the developing history.”
He even built a hangar for HARS two years later with the Boeing’s enormous size in mind, just in case the megastar took him up on the offer.
Historical Aircraft Restoration Society president and chief pilot Bob De La Hunty with a veteran Super Constellation passenger aircraft in 2000.Source:News Limited
Travolta is a flying enthusiast and his LA mansion is a functional airport, with two runways and a hangar offering him access to the open skies at a moment’s notice.