Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson said this week that he would do all he could to resurrect Sussex-based Astraeus Airlines, which announced on Monday that it had ceased operations. Dickinson captained his very last flight, a Boeing passenger jet from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Manchester this week.
The sky’s the limit for celeb pilots as heavy metal star plans maiden flight
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson said this week that he would do all he could to resurrect Sussex-based Astraeus Airlines, which announced on Monday that it had ceased operations. Dickinson captained his very last flight, a Boeing passenger jet from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Manchester this week. But the Maiden singer is not the only star with a love for the sky. A long list of celebrities are the proud owners of a pilot’s licence - here are some of the best…
1. John Travolta
The Saturday Night Fever star is perhaps the most well-known celebrity pilot. He really should be dancing (yeah!), but now his dancefloor days are over, he busts some moves in the skies. While the best we can hope for in aircraft is a bit of extra legroom, Travolta collects them. He is the proud owner of no fewer than five planes, including a commercial Boeing 707 complete with Quantas logo. The Travolta residence boasts its own 1.4 mile-long runway, while the Pulp Fiction star’s obsession with flying extends to his choice of interior, which includes a 15-foot high mural of an airport.
2. Kris Kristofferson
The country music superstar, songwriter and silver screen star of such greats as A Star is Born was in fact a helicopter pilot with the US Army before his career change. In the hard times while he was trying to make it as a singer in the country music capital of Nashville, he made ends meet as a helicopter pilot for a petroleum firm. The wannabe singer famously brought himself to the attention of Johnny Cash by landing a helicopter in Cash’s garden.
3. Tom Cruise
While it would be easy to make cheap jibes about the Eyes Wide Shut star not being able to reach the pedals, we would never stoop so low. Life imitated art as Cruise learnt to fly planes while training for the role of Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the classic 80s flick Top Gun. Alas, Cruise wouldn’t have been able to achieve his dream of being a fighter pilot in real life, being a pesky inch too short to qualify. But he did get to snog Kelly McGillis.
4. Angelina Jolie
The Hollywood actress is known for her sense of adventure in many fields, so it may not be a surprise that flying planes for fun is in her repertoire of hobbies. Jolie is known to fly her nippy SR22 barefoot, which doesn’t sound particularly safe, but then embracing danger shouldn’t be an issue for the star of Tomb Raider. She was recently spotted taking her son, Maddox, for flying lessons in Hampshire – hopefully she was clad in sensible shoes.
5. Jimmy Buffett
The American singer of such lyrical monuments as ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ has a particular penchant for flying seaplanes. His number one bestselling travelogue ‘A Pirate Looks at 50’ documents his love of hopping from island to island in the Caribbean. However, the love affair nearly came to an abrupt end when the Jamaican police mistook him for a drugs smuggler and shot at his airplane nicknamed “Hemisphere Dancer”.
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James writes for cheap flight specialists, Skyscanner.net. For more information about Skyscanner, check out the Skyscanner Linkedin page or follow us on Twitter.
