Travolta arrives at Lanseria
 

John Travolta arrived at Lanseria today in his 707, actually a B707-138B, which is a rarity, as only 13 units were built and most of them were axed upon retirement from airline service, according to the British Daily Mail. Personally I have never seen such bright (dazzling) braid on a jacket (and cap) in my life. Still, a helluva nice guy (I shared a DC-4 with him on on trip to Oshkosh) and a thorough gentleman.
Read more: World Cup 2010: John Travolta and pregnant wife Kelly Preston fly to South Africa | Mail Online

Doesn't he just have a PPL and fly as the First Officer?

Type Ratings
P/B-707 P/B-720 P/CE-500 P/EA-500S P/G-1159 P/HS-125 P/LR-JET

Limits
ENGLISH PROFICIENT.
AUTHORIZED EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT: SO-G2.
B-707 SIC PRIVILEGES ONLY.
CE-500 (VFR ONLY).

Roughly translated from Latin: A serious WEEKEND WARRIOR!!!:rolleyes:

:cool:Ah Ah Ah Ah Staying Alive Staying Alive!!

Yeah Notoot!! I was I had such a lovely wife when I was a Weekend warrior!

SoCal, if he only has second in command privileges what are those limits on the flight deck? Can he fly sectors and do an ILS appraoch if necessary. What I am trying to find out is he a fully functioning second officer and what about the four bars on the sleeve?

Well of course he can "fly sectors" and and ILS. What on earth do you imagine a 2ic does, make the tea?

All it means is that he isn't allowed to Captain his own 707, and as it is private and not an airline operation he can wear an Admiral's jacket over pyjama trousers or any other damn thing he wants if he so pleases.

Just makes him looks dreadfully poseurish and a bit insecure, that's all.

I should imagine that he can do what ever he damn well pleases on his plane and wear a bikini while he is doing it if that is what he wants!

111:E

Well, not exactly...
 

This is where his main career as top Scientology bod hit a speedbump, kissing his PA on the lips at the foot of the airstairs. It made all the redtops and caused Scientology World HQ to throw a wobbly, since when Tom Cruise has had to take his place as prime figurehead. Never mind, he still gets to do a lot more of what he wants than I get to do of what I want to do, including dressing up posh to pose with his 707.

I had one of those once but I put it on a radiator and it melted.

Its on my licence, i have few hours on it and I love it. Its still made of steel ........... well almost!!:ok:

I just hope he and his family have a great time.

Who cares how many stripes he has on his sleeves, I've met so called professional pilots (airline types) who really don't deserve the ones they have.

I care!
 

I worked hard for my professional qualifications and I really, really do not like seeing someone pretending to be an airline captain when he's just playing dress-up! If that makes me look like someone who is envious, jealous or whatever in your eyes then I can definitely live with that.

Even the losers you cite, above, at least they are properly licensed, yes? They passed the tests when JT didn't.

Envious, jealous.
That’s exactly what you are.
Why does it bother you so much?
Has he taken someone’s job? NO.
Here is man that loves aviation and the Mighty B707.
Wish I could do the same. And I sure you would too!!!!!

Whoa chaps! All I was trying to do was establish Travolta's qualifications. It wasn't all that long ago that I saw a pic of him standing on the stairs of a Qantas B747, the caption of which said he had qualified on type which I took to mean that he had achieved a senior comm or an ATPL. Now JT told me quite openly he was never academically inclined (like me) which made me wonder how he did it. That's all. I doff my cap to him for achieving whatever qualifications he has and more especially for the positive publicity he has generated for aviation and the ageing aerries he has given new life to. Remember the yellow and black MATS Lockheed Connie? He part-owned it at one time.

Agaricus biswhateverporus,

I think your reply shows a the true sense of humour all pilots should have !! Keep on sending replies like this!
Me, and a few other aviators,:D laughed our heads off !!
All the best saturdaynightfevour.....staying alive...!!

GARY

4 stripes? He acting. He's in character.....

For me he's poster boy of aviation, a brand ambassador...some one who is respected in & respects aviation...from my side he can wear 4 or 14 strips by all means:ok:.

What I want to know is...
 

JT is in the papers as giving a big boost to the Wankeroos, some Australian soccers. Something like that anyway, if I could only find my glasses...

So what happens when the Aussies come up against the Septics? Who is he going to root for then, huh?

Me, I am rooting for North Korea. Hey, someone has to!

Envious, me? Oh yeah, and likely to be arrested for stalking Kirstie Allie too! Get a life; my stripes were earned, not bought or given to me.

I think Jim-J probably put it best:

Quote:

---

"4 stripes? He's acting. He's in character...."

---

Travolta has an arrangement with Qantas and the 70's era uniform and aircraft paint job are part of the image they have agreed to promote.

I suspect that he consider's the Captain's rank as being an appropriate symbol of an airline pilot and that he wears it not as a snub to the professionals but possibly as a tribute to them.

Yes he's taking a mild liberty, a few too many centimeters braid, but as mentioned by others, its his show and its not a bad one and that gives him the right to play by his own rules.

I wonder how much smoke that thing puts out on take-off?

Well, with all the hot air, guff, puff and bluster that spews from those scientologists I doubt it would be noticeable...

If I owned five jets including a 707 and had them parked on my front lawn, I'd wear 6 stripes, just to wind up the precious ones. Hell I'd probably have them tattooed on my shoulders!