That is a Gulfstream II which he upgraded to a II-SP back in the 90's. He also has a few others in addition to the GII and the 707. He got into some trouble a few years back when he buzzed one of his other homes in the 707. Apparently the neighbors weren't too excited about that.
Dan, The road (grey) is two lane and goes from the lower right to the upper left. The "taxiway" (black) goes from the planes to the lower left. The taxiway crosses the road, and the runway is somewhere to the lower left. Note the loooooong gate across the planes' taxiway dividing his property from the road. Many fly-in communities have the pilot taxi across public roads if there home is on the other side from the runway. The road prorably leads to more houses that parellel the road and all cross to the runway. But most fly-in communities dont have a runway to handle a 707.
There was a show on the Discovery Channel a few months back about "fly-in communities"... wondering if this is the same one?
You can find a flying 707 for less than the price of a F 40. Of course it may cost a little more to maintain and fly it. More power to him. That is awesome.
Here is a link to the airpark layout map on Jumbolair's website: http://www.jumbolair.com/images/RenderingLR2.jpg In this case, the roads are interlaced with the taxiways (each one being exclusive) and that gray part is actually dedicated taxiway. The black part is Travolta's ramp and private taxiway to the airpark-deeded taxiway (gray with yellow centerline). P.S. - Note the size of the runway on the left of the diagram compared to the size of the lots. Each of those lots are 2 to 3 acres. Jumbolair's runway is the largest "public access" (i.e. non-govt) runway in the country. Its 7550 feet long.
Is that a gate at the end of the "driveway?" I remember some Discovery or TLC story about private jets they mention Travolta and that he uses the 707 as a moving hotel/party room. I thought the problem with 707's was that they were extremely noisy?
Good point! Although, when I saw him on "Inside the Actors Studio", he gave Scientology an immense amount of credit for his success. In reality, I think he should have Quentin Tarantino's picture painted on the tail of his plane as a sign of gratitude to QT for rescuing his career.
He bought and restored a vintage 707 and got Qantas to underwrite part of the cost by agreeing to paint it in Qantas colors and taking it in on a worldwide tour on their behalf. Pictures of the interior (which is modern and stunning) are on the web somewhere.
The 707s that are flying for personal use are running a couple million dollars right now, but that's nothing compared to the $30 million plus some are paying for new private jets fractions of the size. You could theoretically pick up a WELL used older plane for a couple hundred grand, but you will spend millions getting it back up to spec, installing an interior and repainting before most people would feel comfortable taking to the skies in a 40 year old beater. Here are a few pics of the interior of John's plane. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/269511/L/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/253707/L/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/253297/L/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/251684/L/ This is what the plane looked like before he repainted it. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/172804/L/
I don't know about a hangar for his 707 but I've been to numerous residentail airparks that have hangars large enough for his Gulfstream. Some airpark hangars are actually the car garage and hangar in one building: hangar door on the taxiway side and 3, 4, 5, 6+ auto garage doors on the other side... with an extra large RV door for good measure. Most airpark hangars I've been in also have an office/lounge, bathroom, shop, etc. I'm planning to buy a house in an airpark down the road someday. Here is a neat website about airparks: http://www.airparks.com/
Art, you're probably right... but isn't incredible that these codes allow one to park a 707 in their back yard?
I can't imagine that a 707 is a "pilots place" (as in "drivers car"). How much fun can such a beast be to fly? Plus, if you're flying you can't enjoy the facilities (i.e., Kelly Preston meow..) so I guess he employs some pilots too. Luke.
Regardless of how much coin you have, I can't imagine wanting to live in a fly-in community. The last thing I would want to hear is the roar of jet engines throughout the day and night. Seems pretty silly to me.
Some people just love flying. I dont know for sure, but i dont think you find to many people in their 152's getting excited over it's performance either. Same sort of thing, except a 707 probably goes 500mph (even though you dont feel any of it). My question is what happens when someone loses it on landing and their plane goes careening into your house? Imagine the damage a 707 would do.
My friend flies Lears and has crossed paths with JT several times. Sounds like he's the kind of guy who likes to hop out of the plane and hang with the mechanics. You know. Sorta the Anti-Schummi. Anyway, I heard that JT was asked to leave his first fly-in community because it was a no-jet area, and he kept flying in with his private jet. I wonder if he spends all his time on Private707chat.com?
