The HARS team on board B707-138B with John Travolta (back centre) in February. Photo: HARS Facebook.
Hollywood star John Travolta will premiere his upcoming Disney film in Australia at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in a project that combines his passion for aviation and filmmaking.
Speaking during the June Tarmac Day where the first major pieces of the long-awaited vintage Qantas Boeing 707 Travolta gifted to HARS were on display, HARS president and chief pilot Bob De La Hunty said the film would launch alongside the unveiling of the fully restored 707 next year.
Bob said the launch was likely to include a dinner coupled with Travolta being taxied around the tarmac in the 707, with the launch’s proceeds supporting the museum’s aircraft restoration efforts.
While unsure of the film’s title, he said it centred on Travolta’s early aviation experiences and featured footage of HARS’ Super Constellation “Connie” aircraft, which it had sent to the Hollywood star’s film company.
“We’ve been supplying him with footage of our Super Connie flying, that he’s building into this movie,” he said.
“He made the decision that to support what we’re doing with the 707, he’d have the Australian premiere at HARS some time when it’s ready and the proceeds to go through our project.
“So that’s pretty exciting, and he’ll obviously be here as part of that.”
He said the film, narrated by Travolta, involved a young boy in the Super Constellation with his mother and another scene in the Boeing 707 where he meets the pilot, who happens to be Travolta.
“He showed us some planned footage of the new movie and it’s pretty interesting,” he said.
“We’re very much looking forward to supporting it.
“He’s pretty keen with what we’re doing and understands why and wants to be part of it.”
The Lockheed Super Constellation is HARS’ signature exhibit. Photo: ADF.
Bob said Travolta was last at HARS in February when a decision was made to ship the Qantas 707 from Brunswick, Georgia, to Albion Park in pieces, rather than the original plan of flying it.
“We made a big decision about that, given all the airworthiness directives that have been piling up that need to be done, and also the international situation,” he said.
“We had a meeting with all our teams on-site back in February, along with John Travolta who spent a day with us.
“We went through the whole reasoning and decided that the safest and least costly and time conscious – because we’ve been going through this since before COVID – was to bring it out in components and reassemble it.
“We’re doing it very professionally, so there’s no reason why we won’t be able to taxi it not long after we get it here.”
Steps would then be made to make the aircraft, known as the last of the Qantas hot rods, airworthy.
Bob said the main job was bringing out the fuselage and the wings, which was scheduled for some time in the next three months, but a full timeline for completion was hard to predict.
He said this new film wouldn’t be the first to feature aircraft close to Travolta’s heart, having filmed the British drama short film The Shepherd for Disney in 2023.
“It is based on a World War II story about a Vampire jet that loses instrumentation and it’s mysteriously shadowed by a World War II airplane through an airfield that’s been long shut down,” he said.
“He owns a Vampire jet and he also had a similar problem with the Vampire jet he was flying that he has in this movie.”
An engine and an engine pylon from the pioneering Qantas jet from the 1960s are now on display at the Albion Park aviation museum.
