“I did fly that A380, you know. I was the first non-test pilot to fly that, and I’m telling you it’s a very easy plane to fly but technically complicated,” he told the Reuters news agency Thursday. Travolta flew as a co-pilot on the plane (which goes into service later this year) in Australia in November, Reuters said.
Now the movie star may be on call to fly something a little zippier–Boeing’s F/A-18 fighter jet. “I’ve been invited to fly an F-18 on Saturday,” Travolta told Reuters. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to do that, but I don’t know if time permits.”
| What pilot would pass that opportunity up? Surely not one who has a Boeing 707 parked in his driveway. (I know… don’t call you Shirly.) |
Do you want a Sweat Hog flying your plane?
Lower the flaps. “Waaaa?”
Come right to one – eight – zero. “Who?”
Lower the landing gear. “Where?”
All thanks, of course, go to Xenon, or Xerxes, or…whatever it is.
#2 Sheesh, most people don’t know John Travolta is part of the same seacreet organization as Tom Cruise.
I still surprise people over that one, that say no way, impossible, etc.
Gee, I guess my instructor was right: “We could teach monkeys to fly but it would take too many banannas.”
Travolta Pilots Airbus A380 Superjumbo Jet
Ummm… Okay…
He doesn’t believe in psychiatry. He never said he didn’t believe in aerodynamics.
What else ya got?
What would LRH do??
Does anyone really think he was the one flying?
One more weapon for the Scientology Navy.
#6 – Yes. Because he really is a pilot and he really is qualified to fly large planes. He’s not John Denver. He’s an experienced pilot. (Even if he is a member of a stupid cult)
#7 – Given the absurd origin of Scientology, wouldn’t an Air Force make more sense 🙂
Although Hubbard himself was a boating enthusiast (and noted jack-ass).
Gotta love the ignorance, that has people thinking he didn’t actually fly the plane, or that he’s not an actual pilot…then the people bringing scientology into a thread that has nothing to do with it.
Travolta must be strange. Anyone who doesn’t have time for a demo flight in an F/A-18 is, well, ?? I’ll take it over that flying bus any time!! Must be the training he’s got to go through to get into the cockpit. Just a simulated egress from a busted cockpit under water is enough to scare most people away.
#8 – I’ve always thought the same thing. Get them a little closer to getting the fuck off of this planet.
#9 – Well Brian, it’s hard to forgive people for assuming he can’t fly, but it’s to forgive them for thinking that being a Scientologist makes him an idiot. It kinda does.
What’s the deal driving a huge coach like this?
I mean, he’s type-rated on his own private 707 which is probably more of a challenge to fly than the 380.
In those large things, think system management, rather than piloting. Especially with the Airbus. What’s the old joke? in an Airbus cockpit, all you need is a pilot and a dog. The Pilot is there to feed the dog and the dog is there to bite the pilote if he ever touches the controls.
An F18 sounds like quite a bit of extra fun there 😉
pj
8. “He’s not John Denver. He’s an experienced pilot.”
John Denver’s flight time:
On his most recent medical application of record, dated June 13, 1996, he reported a total flight time of 2,750 hours. He held a private pilot certificate, with airplane ratings for single and multiengine land, single-engine sea and gliders. He also held an instrument airplane rating and a Lear Jet type rating.
http://www.avweb.com/other/ntsb9905.html
I think he should start his own airline. Call it Xenu Air or something. Can’t be any worse than the airlines we have now!
Oh by the way, hey John, have you heard about the new iPhone coming out soon?
😉
>>Does anyone really think he was the one flying?
I sure don’t. Seems pretty unlikely that they’d give a whack-a-doodle movie star responsiblity for a $250,000,000.00 airplane. I imagine the pilot flew the plane, and co-pilot Barbarino sat there thinking about how he was going to explain his absence to Mr. Kotter.
makes me wonder about all those rumors that he often flies to give other closeted gay actors a chance to have some “alone time” with “friends” (wink wink, nudge nudge) Do your own google search.
Maybe his service has become so popular that he needs to be certified for a larger aircraft?
1. LOL seriously sweathog funny. Its a 70’s thing.
#15 – Okay… So he was more experienced than I thought. But I was in Monterey (at the Aquarium, no less) the day he met with his watery doom. I can honestly say, I didn’t expect to see that.
Travolta has yet to meet a watery (or in his case, perhaps volcanic) doom. Unless you count the new version of Hairspray…
20. Denver was flying his newly purchased and more rare “canard” type of aircraft. It had been modified by the previous owner such that the fuel tank switch had been situated on a bulkhead behind him. Just after take-off, a dry tank required that he change over to the other one. The effort required to turn and switch produced a natural hard push on the rudder peddle which did him in at that low altitude. New rules say you can’t locate a fuel valve like that.
And now… you know… the rest of the story…
RBG
BTW O, did you actually see the accident? That aquarium is practically under the departure path.
RBG
21 Maybe he just needed to peddle the aircraft faster. pedal.
You’re talking to yourself again, RBG.
#24 – hhopper,
At least he seems to be finding himself a good conversationalist. So, what’s the problem? Talking to oneself is a far cry from a true psychosis. Scientology? Who knows?!
#22 – No, I did not witness it first hand. I was there though.
I’m actually glad to have not seen it. I don’t have any particular fondness for John Denver, but I cry during Kodak commercials. Just imagine what a wreck I’d be watching this guy plummet to his untimely death.
I saw the movie 2010 in the theater when it came out. I actually cried when the US and the Soviets broke off diplomatic relations and the astronauts all had to return to their prospective spaceships.
You might see this as a sign of weakness, but I get laid quite a lot for a guy who looks like me, and I think that is just part of the reason 🙂
24. Only crazy people talk to themselves.
Don’t you think so?
Yes, I agree.
There, it’s unanimous.
RBG
Travolta flew as a co-pilot on the plane…
And Lord Xenu was the pilot. Usually that type of pilot combo ends up in skyscrapers…