Celebrity Pilots Flying High

Everyone knows celebrities like to fly in style, chartering private jets to ferry them around the world, but there are also a few who can actually fly themselves to their favourite destinations! Let’s take a look at some of the most well-known celebrities who enjoy flying private aircraft.

John Travolta

One of the best-known celebrity pilots is John Travolta. The US actor’s fleet includes multiple Gulfstream aircraft and an Eclipse 500 very light jet, and he lives on a private estate called Jumbolair. The estate is located within Greystone Airport in the unincorporated community of Anthony, 11km northeast of Ocala, Florida, and all residents here can simply land and taxi to their driveway. Travolta had the largest plane on the block: an ex-Qantas Boeing 707, which he parked right outside his house. However, since 2019, the plane has been maintained and displayed at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Aviation Museum in New South Wales, Australia.

Travolta gained his private pilot’s licence at the tender age of 22 and started flying smaller turboprops and light jets before moving on to larger aircraft. Thanks to achieving his commercial licence and having bought the 707, he was also able to fly large amounts of aid, including doctors and supplies, into Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.

Bruce Dickinson

The frontman of legendary heavy metal band Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, has always been in love with aviation. He holds both a private licence and a commercial licence and was a pilot for the now-defunct Astraeus Airlines. During this time, the British musician was involved in a number of high-profile humanitarian flights as well as flying football teams to their destinations.

More recently, Dickinson started Cardiff Aviation (now Caerdav), a British aircraft maintenance business, for whom he flew the first commercial flight for the newly relaunched Air Djibouti. He has also flown Iron Maiden around during the band’s world tours. The first incarnation of the now-iconic ‘Ed Force One’ was a Boeing 757; and the latest, a Boeing 747.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford’s interest in aviation started a long time ago: the actor took flying lessons back in the 1960s until a dearth of funds called a premature end to his time in the sky. Fast-forward 55 years and Ford holds both a private pilot and a helicopter licence and was also Chairman of the US-based Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program for five years.

Ford owns a range of aircraft, including a Ryan PT-22A and a Cessna Citation Sovereign, but it has been his helicopter, a Bell 407, that has seen the most press. He famously used it to rescue two lost hikers who got into trouble near his ranch in the US state of Wyoming, which occurred during his time as a part of the Teton County Search and Rescue team. However, Ford’s favourite aircraft is his de Havilland Canada Beaver, which he flies the most often.

Morgan Freeman

Multi-award-winning US actor Morgan Freeman had wanted to get into aviation from a young age and turned down a partial drama scholarship to enlist in the US Air Force. There, he served as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman for four years, climbing up the ranks to Airman 1st Class. He then turned back to acting and moved to Los Angeles.

Once his better-known career kicked off, Freeman was finally able to afford flying lessons, and he earned his pilot’s licence at the age of 65. He has owned three aircraft, a Cessna 414, a Cessna Citation, and his most recent purchase, a SyberJet SJ30. In 2015, he was forced to make a solo emergency landing. He said, “I define ‘going in style’ (as travelling) by private planes – flying in style, and not commercial.”

Angelina Jolie

It’s said Angelina Jolie was first inspired to take to the skies by her adopted son, Maddox, who was obsessed with aircraft at a young age. After a slew of lessons, she gained her private pilot’s licence in 2004 and has been flying regularly ever since. She is most often seen flying small turboprop aircraft, including the Cirrus SR22 and Cessna 208 Grand Caravan, which she owns. In 2018, she was filmed flying over the Namibia desert for the documentary, The Queen’s Green Planet.

Her ex-husband, Brad Pitt, also has a private pilot’s licence, which he worked towards after becoming fascinated with vintage planes. Pitt now owns a Second World War-era Supermarine Spitfire, for which he had to get a special certificate to fly. And adopted son Maddox, who started it all, has reportedly also had flying lessons.

Tom Cruise

While many people will remember that Tom Cruise’s ‘Maverick’ from Top Gun was a highly skilled pilot, many don’t know that the actor himself is also fully qualified to handle an aircraft. He has held a pilot’s licence since 1994 after being inspired while filming the iconic 1986 blockbuster movie, many of whose scenes took place in the back seat of a Grumman F-14A Tomcat, while it was mid-air.

Cruise now owns more than five jets, including a Gulfstream IV G4, which is said to have a Jacuzzi on board and is his most luxurious private aircraft. Another of his past favourites is a P-51 Mustang – an American single-seat fighter from the Second World War. He has also taken helicopter lessons and was spotted in Battersea, London, hopping into the cockpit of a Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil (now known as an Airbus Helicopters H125).

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