The story that we are going to tell is a little different in style previous posts by this author: It will be greatly influenced by the memories of the person who writes this (personal tastes and admirations) and it will be a mix between aspects of a technical, human and affective natureto make up the story as a whole.
We will know the story of a Boeing 707-138B that would have been totally anonymous, with a routine flying history, had it not been that its operational activity was closely linked to the lives of two of its most famous “owners” whom I admire: John Travolta and Frank Sinatra… therefore, the history of the plane runs somewhat parallel to theirs!
As Francisco “Pancho” Ibáñez, a well-known Argentine journalist frequently said “everything has to do with everything”, I confess that the idea of writing this history stems from the admiration I feel for actor and singer, John Travolta, from the days when I first saw him acting in movies such as “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease”, and later in so many entertaining movies such as “Look who’s talking”, “The general’s daughter”, “Broken arrow”, “Pulp fiction”, “Face off”, “Hairspray”, etc.
In aeronautics, I love the Boeing 707, since it is one of the icons of a golden age which has long gone: I was fortunate enough to fly in one of them, Argentine Air Force’s TC-91 on a STAM (Military Air Transport Service) flight between Villa Reynolds and El Palomar.
Our story’s Modelo 707, c/n 18740 (l/n 07/20/2023) was manufactured by Boeing as a 707-138B model, with capacity for 122 passengers.
From Seattle to Oceania
It began its operational activity with Australian airline, QANTAS Airways Ltd., flying a unique variant made for this airline.
It was about 3.00 meters shorter than the standard Boeing 707-120 built for other airlines and only seven examples of it were built.
Powered by four 13,000 pounds (5897 kg) thrust Pratt & Whitney JT3C-6 jet engines, it rolled off the production line on 07/29/1964 at Boeing Field, making its first flight as VH-EBM on 09/01/1964.
Model 707-120 had flown for the first time in 1957 and was ordered in 1958 from Boeing by QANTAS, Boeing’s customer number “38”, hence the designation 707-138.
As already mentioned, “version 138” had some particular characteristics: It was 3.00 meters shorter than the standard “120”, this reduced its empty weight, allowed it to operate in airfields with shorter runways with Pratt & Whitney engines and also granted longer range greater.
The “Dash 138B” acquired by QANTAS were not so expensive since at that time Boeing was building the military version of the 707, the KC-135, which had a shorter and narrower fuselage than the “120”.
Therefore, they used manufacturing techniques from the KC-135 to build the Australians’ version.
Technological progress at the time was very fast: The initial engines evolved into the P&W JT3D-1, which repowered the Australian company’s fleet.
Additional thrust was 17,000 lbs (7,711 kg) more at takeoff, with a maximum takeoff weight of 247,000 lbs (112,037 kg), which was the same as the longer 707-120, and also had extended fuel capacity at 144,255 pounds (65,433 liters).
Serving QANTAS Airways
Registration VH-EBM was allocated by in the Australian Aircraft Register for QANTAS Empire Airways Ltd. in Sydney.
The aircraft was accepted in Seattle (Renton) by P. Jost for QANTAS on 09/10/1964 and took off the same day for the delivery flight to Australia.
It landed in Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport completing the flight at 19:30 local on 09/12/1964.
Christened “City of Launceston”, it became the thirteenth new Boeing purchased by the company.
VH-EBM completed its first commercial air service on 10/02/1964 between Sydney and Tokyo (Japan).
On 11/12/1964, it departed from Sydney on the test flight of the so-called “Fiesta Route”, with stops in Nadi, Papeete, Acapulco, Mexico City, Nassau, Bermuda, London and back, making the first official flight of this route on 11/26/1964.
The long journey took 27 hours 10 minutes of flight, 45 hours adding stopovers time, and flew a distance of approximately 12,562 NM (6,780 km).
On 10/29/1966, performed a special VIP flight between Sydney (Kingsford Smith) and Launceston (Tasmania) for the inauguration of a new airport terminal with QANTAS founder, Sir Hudson Fysh, onboard.
It also operated several test flights for the English Air Research Bureau (ARB) for type certification between 08-10/11/1967.
After its last flight between Sydney and London via the “Southern Cross Route” on 04/01/1968, VH-EBM was withdrawn from service and stored without engines at Kingsford Smith airport, having flown four years and 11,995 hours with the Aussie airline.
Braniff era & beyond
Cancelled from the Australian aircraft register on 06/23/1969, it was sold to Braniff International through Regency Income Corp. on 06/07/1969 and entered the US aircraft registry as N108BN on 06/07/1969.
Departed from Sydney to the US painted in standard Braniff “solid dark blue” livery on 06/24/1969, ferrying Sydney-Honolulu-Dallas.
Used for four years for scheduled and charter flights (in its last year with Braniff), our aircraft was put up for sale.
Frank Sinatra was always a fan of the Boeing 707, and he purchased N108BN on 02/24/1972 to make his tours safer.
At the time (06/1973), Sinatra had returned to the recording studios with producer-arranger Don Costa and arranger Gordon Jenkins helping him record “Ol’Blue Eyes is back”, an album that was released together with a television special released on 11/18/1973.
“The Voice” owned the plane until 1975, when he sold it to Boeing.
In 01/1975, it was sold to Great American Insurance Company and in 09/1975, the plane was purchased by Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracey Investment Company (TIC), which transformed its interiors into an executive/corporate version.
After repainting in TIC’s color scheme and maintaining registration N108BN, Tracey operated it for two years.
It was then acquired by of Luxembourg TAG Aviation 09/26/1977 and, painted in its own livery retaining registration N108BN, was briefly leased to a Saudi Arabian sheikh.
Between 09/1977 and 08/1981, flew with TAG Aviation of Saudi and in 03/1985 its owner became TAG Aviation USA, whome in 07/1990 re-registered it as N707XX and continued to operate it in charter services.
After 18 years flying with TAG, it was acquired on 10/29/1995 by Aviation Methods and failing to relocate it with a new owner, transferred the 27,682 flight hours airframe to Istanbul, Turkey, for storage since new in 1997.
Enter John Travolta
We all know Travolta’s great passion for aviation and the different aircraft that he was acquiring over the years.
But not everything was roses in the life of this beloved actor: He suffered the death of his son Jett Travolta in 2009, at the age of 16, and the death of his wife Kelly Preston, in 2018.
Surely his aeronautical passion helped him cope with these great sorrows: On 05/20/1998, he purchased N707XX through his company Jett Clipper Johnny LLC.
The aircraft was re-registered N707JT and named “Jett Clipper Ella” on 12/13/1998: Jett and Ella are the names of John Travolta’s children and Clipper was added in honor of Pan American World Airways’ famous clipper aircraft series.
The aircraft was used for scenes in PAN AM, the TV show, and during filming it wore Pan American livery (decals only).
In 06/2002, in a deal with the airline QANTAS, this company took over the maintenance of the Boeing 707 and repainted it with its original livery from the 60s, with the original “V-Jet” logo.
John Travolta was named ambassador of the airline and made a world tour named “The Spirit of Friendship”, visiting thirteen cities, including Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Santiago (Chile) in our region.
On 06/2017, after a period of storage in Brunswick (Georgia, USA), John donated the 707 to the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS), based in Australia, but registered the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration with an address in Naples, Florida.
Although ownership of the aircraft was transferred to HARS in 06/2017, the aircraft needs to be prepared for the long flight to Illawarra Airport in Albion Park, New South Wales (Australia), where the museum is based.
Preparation costs are quite high and the museum is currently requesting donations and a sponsor to help cover them and the aircraft remains parked at Brunswick Golden Isles Airport in Glynn County, Georgia since 02/2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic sure has had a complicating effect: When contacted by this author in April this year, HARS’ Steve Heesh said the society was “working to return the former VH-EBM to Australia, however, it is not yet clear when this will occur.”
It is our wish that we soon see it like this, taking off towards its final home in distant Australia!
Variants:
- Boeing 707-138B (1964).
Identities:
- VH-EBM “City of Launceston” (09/10/1964).
- N108BN.
- N707XX “Jett Clipper Ella”.
- N707JT “Jett Clipper Ella” (05/22/1998).
Owners and Operators:
- QANTAS Overseas Airways (09/10/1964).
- Braniff International Airways (06/24/1969).
- Tracey Investment (09/1975).
- Frank Sinatra (1972 to 1975).
- TAG Aviation (10/1977).
- Aviation Methods (10/1995).
- Jett Clipper Johnny (12/13/1998).
- Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (06/29/2017).
Fate:
Currently preserved at Brunswick Golden Isles Airport (KBQK/BQK), Georgia, USA.
N707JT departing Los Angeles International Airport in 2012 (YouTube video by SpeedbirdHD).
Bibliography: Carlos Abella, Gonzalo Carballo & Juan Carlos Rodríguez: “Boeing 707 Series, Aerolíneas Series #11”. Internet sources: airliners.net, airport-data.com, jetphotos.com, aussieairliners.org, The Daily Beast, Flickr, puentedemando.com, rzjets.net and Perfiles en Detalle. Dave Faulkner, David Unsworth, Glenn Stewart, Kenneth Brown, Mark Piacentini, David Carter, Michael Green, Javier Ruberto, Ken Fielding, Konstantin von Wedelstaedt, Paul Seymour, Peter Vercruijsse and Dohwan Kim made significant contributions to this story.
The original 138’s had the JT3C-6 which were modified to JT3D-MC6 when converted to 138B. EBM was fitted with JT3D-1 from new as it was the last of the 138B aircraft supplied to QANTAS. The MC6 engine is identical to the JT3D-1.