Warbirds

Travolta Boeing 707 For Hars

A big feather in the cap of HARS this month is the announcement by actor John Travolta that he is to donate his Boeing 707 to the HARS aircraft collection at Wollongong.

The aircraft, currently N707JT, started life as VH-EBM with Qantas and named the City of Launceston in 1964. After Qantas it went to Braniff Airlines and was then acquired by Travolta in 1998. The aircraft visited Australia several times and Travolta was appointed as an ambassador for the airline giving it much international publicity. It was painted in Qantas colours in 2002. The aircraft last flew in December 2016 and is reported to be in good condition. HARS is sending a recovery engineering team to Florida where John Travolta lives, with the aircraft at the front door, literally. The former VH-EBM will become the second ex-Qantas 707 to go on display. The first 707, previously VH-EBA, was placed on display with the Qantas Founders Museum at Longreach in June 2007.