10 Interesting Things You need to know about John Travolta

Travolta’s love for flying has been there for years. In fact, he started taking flying lessons at the age of 15 and acquired his private pilot’s license at the age of 22. He regards flying as oxygen to him and once said that his acting funded his passion for aviation. Today, he  owns several impressive aircrafts and lives in an airport house. Another yardstick he has achieved in his passion for flying is that he can fly 11 types of aircrafts. From small military aircraft to the Boeing 707, Travolta can fly all. In his own words, “Aviation has always bailed me out of anything in my mind that is blue…can look through an airline schedule and brochure and cheer up….That’s how crazy I am about it. If I can look out the bedroom and see the planes, I am happy…I rest easy.”

John Travolta was born to Irish-American parents and was raised as a Roman Catholic. But he converted to Scientology in 1975 and has been the member ever since. He first joined the ‘Church’ after reading L Ron Hubbard’s best-selling book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health while on the set of The Devil’s Rain. It is said that Scientology helped him in overcoming his past troubles and his struggles in the acting industry. Another famous actor, who is a follower of Scientology is Tom Cruise.

In the year 1985, Princess Diana wore an iconic black gown to the White House in 1985. The dress was said to be designed by Victor Edelstein. That night, John Travolta was also invited to the event. And guess what, John Travolta had the chance to dance with the Princess. As a result, the dress Diana wore that night came to be known as the Travolta Dress. Moreover, it is also said that the dress was one of her favorite dresses.

Travolta and Kelly had a difficult time when they lost their first born son Jett Travolta, who was only 16 years old. According to multiple reports, Jett Travolta died in 2009 after hitting his head in a bathtub while having a seizure. It is said that Jett was autistic. He had seizures and when he was very young, he had Kawasaki Syndrome. The family was on a vacation when this unfortunate incident took place. Preston said in an interview that she and Travolta believed chemicals in food and the environment may have contributed to Jett Travolta’s disorder. She also added she had food poisoning while pregnant, which may have been a factor — as well as his birth which came “fast and hard.”

Undoubtedly, Kelly Preston and John Travolta are regarded as one of the Hollywood’s most powerful couples. They have also been in the business for decades while building a family of their own. But recently, after a two-year-long battle with breast cancer, Preston died on July 12, 2020. The two met on the set of The Experts in 1989 — a year after Preston’s first marriage. They married in Paris in 1991 while Preston was pregnant with their firstborn child, Jett Travolta, and were together ever since. But before Preston, Travolta was in a relationship with actress Diana Hyland, whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976). Hyland also died from breast cancer on March 27, 1977.

Following his passion for aviation, John Travolta and his wife became one of the first couples to ever purchase land on the air estate. His house is located in the Jumbolair Aviation Estate, Ocala, Florida, which is a residential airpark. This residential park has a whole area of 550-acre primarily built for residents who wanted to be able to fly in and out as they pleased and John Travolta is one of them. Built in a midcentury-style, his house has a great living room with tall curved walls and ceiling to floor windows that provide panoramic views of the front yard. It also has a large guest house, a pool, and a vast array of adjoining bedrooms and bathrooms, along with bed and breakfast quarters for  guests. Also, the very highlight of the house being the airplane runways that meet right at his front door.

John Travolta is a proud owner of a fleet of aircrafts. His private airplane collection consisted of 3 Gulfstream jets, a USAir Boeing 727, a Boeing 707-138, and a Bombardier Challenger 601. Out of his impressive aircraft collection, the Challenger and a Boeing 707 are two of the most notable planes he has owned. Travolta was majorly attracted to the he Bombardier Challenger 601 inner workings which made him buy that beauty. As the Challenger jet uses Canadair technology, a 30-year-old Learjet design is what mesmerized Travolta the most. Now coming to Boeing 707, being a former Qantas’ airplane, is worth around $77 million – $57 million as a base price with an additional $20 million in interior design and installation costs.

Travolta uses his pilot skill as a pilot for both personal enjoyment and humanitarian causes . In the year 2010, he flew the Boeing 707 to the earthquake-hit Haiti. He carried medical supplies and brought doctors to the disaster area. Another time, during the last season of Oprah Winfrey’s TV show, when Travolta got to know that she is taking her entire audience on an all-expenses paid trip to Australia, Travolta pounced upon this opportunity. He flew with her entire studio audience to Australia.

As we are aware that Travolta earned his earned his private flying license at the age of 22. He began ferrying his family and friends around the world and still does. But back in the year 1992, Travolta once experienced a terrifying near-death flying experience. He was flying Gulfstream N728T plane when it suffered a total electrical failure. His family were on board at the time and Travolta was forced to make an emergency landing in Washington DC. During the descent, the actor nearly collided with a commercial plane. But thankfully, he along with his dear ones landed safely.

The jewel of Travolta’s aircraft was Boeing 707, which he owned for almost two decades. Back in the 1998, Travolta’s heart was stolen by this aircraft but it was too expensive to fit into his budget. So, Travolta struck a deal with Qantas and got this aircraft by becoming their lifetime ambassador. The jet has a reported fuel range of 6,000 miles and is pretty huge. It has been designed to carry up to 150 passengers but Travolta customized it to allow it to hold 15 people, which is more than enough for Travolta and his family. The actor made it so the plane has two bedrooms and 1 big full-size bathroom within it. However, in 2017, Travolta donated it to a museum. The jet’s home is now the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, which can be found at a regional airport in Sydney called Albion Park Airport.