Here we go again ....
Last time it was John Joseph Travolta supposedly holding variously a command rating for a Boeing 707, a CFI ticket, an FE ticket, and so on and so forth. He was being put forth as Superpilot then.
All faa.gov showed was this:
JOHN JOSEPH TRAVOLTA
8720 NE 16TH TER
OCALA FL 34479-3404
County: MARION
Country: USA
Medical Information:
Medical Class: First Medical Date: 2/2018
MUST WEAR CORRECTIVE LENSES FOR NEAR AND DISTANT VISION.
BasicMed Course Date: None BasicMed CMEC Date: None
Certificates
PRIVATE PILOT
Certificates Description
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT
Date of Issue: 6/5/2011
Ratings:
PRIVATE PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND
INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
Type Ratings:
P/B-707 P/B-720 P/CE-500 P/CL-600 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).
That's not much when compared to what has been claimed as Travolta's qualifications.
When you go to faa.gov and insert Mapother, Thomas (Tom Cruise's birth name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV) in the search box you get back this:
THOMAS C MAPOTHER
Address is not available
Medical Information:
No Medical Information Available
Certificates
PRIVATE PILOT
Certificates Description
Certificate: PRIVATE PILOT
Date of Issue: 8/27/1947
Ratings:
PRIVATE PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
Talented guy, but I doubt he got a PPL in 1947. That must be his father or his grandfather, since "Tom Cruise" was born as Thomas C Mapother IV
Searching a bit further gives us this for Cruise, Thomas:
THOMAS CRUISE
Address is not available
Medical Information:
Medical Class: First Medical Date: 12/2016
BasicMed Course Date: None BasicMed CMEC Date: None
Certificates
COMMERCIAL PILOT
Certificates Description
Certificate: COMMERCIAL PILOT
Date of Issue: 4/1/2016
Ratings:
COMMERCIAL PILOT
AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND
INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
ROTORCRAFT-HELICOPTER
PRIVATE PRIVILEGES
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
Limits:
ENGLISH PROFICIENT.
If that's Tom Cruise the movie star then, yes, he does hold a CPL Helicopter.
That said, it would be pretty surprising to see a major movie star doing his own flying, but for insurance reasons, not necessarily for lack of skill or qualifications. If the star were to wipe him- or herself out part way through a multi-million dollar movie then the whole thing usually either would go down the toilet or else need some very high-level fakery.
The financial risk to a studio would normally mean that when you see a star such as Cruise doing something really, really dangerous then that was either done using a "green screen" or else it was done by someone else entirely.
If you go onto Youtube you can find an interesting short documentary about the making of the latest "John Wick" movie starring Keanu Reeves. There's an action scene involving a lot of really hairy stunt driving in a new Ford Mustang, when you can see Reeves behind the wheel. What you don't see, though, is a stunt driver doing the actual driving from a station up on the roof of the car!
The thing about this combination of Scientology and Hollywood is that it seems to square the amount of BS that supports the image of a big star such as Cruise is, and such as Travolta was. David Letterman did an interview with Cruise where he baited Cruise into claiming that he took his young children on technical rock climbs. Cruise was way out there on very thin ice then, but he just kept on with the nonsense, not backing down an inch despite laughing rather nervously.
Aviation is catnip for those who want to fantasize, and for those who want to believe in fantasy. Put some guy in the left seat of a real Boeing 707, wearing four bright gold stripes, and Sha-zam! he's a Captain. The FAA may not agree, but who bothers to check with them?
Last edited by chuks; 14th Feb 2018 at 10:11.