John Travolta owns an ex-Qantas Boeing 707-138B, which is painted in the 1960s scheme of the airline. The actor donated the aircraft to HARS, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, and it is due in Australia in November.
When the donation of the retired airliner was announced, there was speculation it could cost millions to make it airworthy for the flight to Australia. Happily, things seem to have gone better than expected.
What Is Special About This Aircraft?
The Boeing 707-138 and -138B were only produced for Qantas. This version was ordered in 1956 and later Boeing decided to lengthen the aircraft for other airlines. Doing so destroyed the economics for Qantas, so they successfully negotiated for the original specification to be given to them. The fascinating inside story about this is here.
There were just 13 of this version produced, seven in 1959, four in 1961 and two in 1964. The very first one is now in the Qantas Founders Outback Museum in Australia, which is well worth visiting.
After flying its last Qantas service in 1968, it went to Braniff International from 1969 to 1974. Next, it became a private jet and eventually was purchased by John Travolta in 1998. You can find the full history of the aircraft here.
Overall Thoughts
Scheduled to arrive in Australia sometime in late November 2019, it is sure to be a big event. HARS is located at Illawarra Regional Airport, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney, and they own many aircraft including a flyable Lockheed Super Constellation and a Qantas Boeing 747-400.
HARS need another A$300,000 to complete the project, something they seem pretty confident about. The delivery flight will commence in Brunswick in Georgia, head across the Atlantic, then south via Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Darwin.
What do you think of this aircraft being preserved and will you try to see it when it’s due in Australia? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Phinalanji, underside image by Dylan Ashe, both via Wikimedia Commons.
With thanks to Illawarra Mercury, Australian Aviation, and ABC News.
