Aurora Starchild
John Travolta is an aviation enthusiast like you’ve never heard of before. The actor loves flying so much, in fact, that he and his late wife Kelly Preston moved into an airport… sort of.
Videos by Rare
They were the first residents on a 550-acre property called “Jumbolair Aviation and Equistrian Estates” near Orlando, Florida. There, residents can fly in and out of their front yards and then taxi their private planes right up to their front doors.
Travolta became a certified pilot long ago and can fly 11 different kinds of planes. At home, he owns a Qantas Boeing 707, a Gulfstream II, and a Challenger Jet, the latter which he flew himself to the Toronto Film Festival in.
In a recent interview with Australia’s Today, Travolta said that the homebase allows him to globetrot for business and personal reasons.
“Now I’ve made a profession out of flying in addition to acting, and at my age I’m glad I did, because it’s something to do when you’re not working,” he said.
Travolta and his late wife Kelly Preston’s home was designed by architect Dana Smith. He once told Architectural Digest that while the initial construction lasted two years, the entire project lasted six years.
According to Forbes, the actor lived in another fly-in community in the Dayton area, but his neighbors sued him because his planes were too noisy and big.
But that doesn’t seem to be a problem at Jumbolair, which even has the word “jumbo” in its name. Its website boasts of all of its 38 fly-in lots as being multi-acre with 7,550 foot by 200 ft runways.
Travolta is a Qantas ambassador and has posted photos of some of his expeditions on his Instagram account.
You have to admit that it’s pretty cool that he’s his own chauffer. Any rich celebrity can own a plane. But not many people actually fly them.
