John Travolta’s former Boeing 707 is taking shape again at Australia’s HARS Aviation Museum, where a five-person crew from Worldwide Aircraft Recovery has begun reassembling the historic airliner following its journey from Georgia. At the end of March, we reported that John Travolta’s Boeing 707—once operated privately by the actor and former Qantas ambassador—was making its way to a new home in Australia. Donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) in 2017, the jet was dismantled by Worldwide Aircraft Recovery at the Port of Brunswick in Georgia in March 2026 and prepared for shipment to the museum at Albion Park.
The aircraft arrived at HARS on May 20. In the first week of October, the museum, located approximately 90 miles (140 km) south of Sydney, welcomed the U.S.-based recovery crew for a six-week reassembly effort. Led by Jay Penry, alongside Bill Lemieux, the crew also includes Michael Lovett, Jesse Boude, and Kale Letulr. All five are based at the company’s headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. They will work alongside HARS volunteers, including veteran pilot Don Hindle, to reassemble the aircraft on the museum’s flight line. The wings are scheduled to be reattached during the second week of October.
(Image credit: HARS/Howard Mitchell)
The complex disassembly, transport, and reassembly operation has been entrusted to Worldwide Aircraft Recovery, a company specializing in aircraft relocation. Its work encompasses the entire process of dismantling, transporting, and reassembling aircraft, often for museums and organizations preserving historic military and civilian aircraft for training or display. Over the years, Worldwide Aircraft Recovery has relocated numerous aircraft around the world.
Once reassembled, Travolta’s former jet will go on permanent display at HARS, where it will be preserved as one of the last surviving examples of the rare Boeing 707-138B. HARS plans to launch a fundraising campaign to support the aircraft’s transportation, restoration, and long-term preservation. Click HERE to support the museum’s effort. For more information about the HARS Aviation Museum, visit www.hars.org.au.
I believe that this 707 was never operated by Qantas but it is still going to be a great static display
What reason it didn’t fly there
Peter Sutton It was a qantas one all the 138b’s were for qantas (long range shot fuse) it was originally VH-EBM it’s next owner was Braniff International and then frank Sinartra and a couple of other vips then Travolta. All the info is easy to find online.
Just curious, why was the 707 disassembled and shipped and not just flown to Australia? One of the picture captions says it was flying in Australia a few years ago
Planes that have been in storage and not maintained hydraulic lines etc. are not fit to fly. If they would have done this before scuttling then a different story.
John had a home in CDA Idaho. I watched him do touch s go landings at the CDA airport with this plane.