F1 driver Ralph Schumacher used to fly his Piaggio Avanti.
Jacques Brel flew a Learjet.
Josef Ratzinger, I think both fixed-wing and helicopter, although now in too poor health to fly. Very senior position before his retirement.
I once read that Travolta had a SIC rating for the 707. It wasn’t received well that he dressed up as a Qantas pilot.
I can’t Imagine a Pope at the local flying club somehow.
Guevara had taken glider lessons as a teenager – in Cuba he used a 182A and a LET Morava but wth a safety pilot. A career in his native Argentina general aviation would have resulted in a less eventful life.
I can’t Imagine a Pope at the local flying club somehow.
That’s the club President, surely? 
Guevara had taken glider lessons as a teenager – in Cuba he used a 182A and a LET Morava
I had a flight in a Morava, c. 1963, out of LKPM. Che Guevara died in 1967 so maybe he flew the same one, during a fraternal visit?
I once read that Travolta had a SIC rating for the 707
That is probably a pattern… it takes a lot of investment in time to keep up much more, I think.
Don’t think it was an F14, but many years ago we were both holding short of the rwy at KVNY and he definitely was in some kind of fighter jet.
AFAIK to solo an F14 you would have to be serving in the USAF, although they do loads of dual F16 rides for celebrities. It is also possible over there to own and fly a Soviet Bloc jet… Larry Ellison (of Oracle) is said to have a MIG29 but according to the internet it is “decommissioned” and he flies something smaller. The Czech made training jets are much more commonly owned and flown privately.
Snoopy wrote:
I once read that Travolta had a SIC rating for the 707.
Correct, even though he has command privileges for the other jets and other airplanes he flies. I think I heard it had to do with the fact that the FAA would not endorse a 707 type rating onto a PPL as command but he also said several times that he felt it was a better solution seeing that he could not afford to fly that plane a lot. He is very current on his other planes though.
Snoopy wrote:
It wasn’t received well that he dressed up as a Qantas pilot.
By whom? There were a lot of jealous people who felt bad about Travoltas deal with Qantas, but Qantas were quite positive about it. Before they let Travolta represent Qantas, they made him pass the type rating course on the 747 and he was told in no unclear terms that if he failed that (which everyone expected) the deal was off. He obviously passed it and Qantas were happy enough to let him represent the company with his lovely 707.
Travolta gets bad-mouthed a lot in certain aviation circles partly because people are jealous and also because he is attacked due to his involvement with scientology. I´ve come across him once here at ZRH and he behaved very kind and openly to all those who did handling for him, always willing to talk airplanes and generally much nicer to talk to than a lot of much less famous gits who think their 10 seconds of fame gives them the right to behave awfully. I also read several testimonies by pilots who have flown with him which were generally very positive. There was the one infamous exception where a former pilot of his accused him of sexual assault but that looked like a typical extorsion scheme.
John has indeed operated a lot of classic airplanes during his time and probably saved some of them. I remember a DC3 which still flies someplace as well as a Connie and some others. Today he still flies some biz jet that he has owned for a long time. John´s example may well serve to have put some other celebrities off talking about their flying. Thankfully there are others like Harrison Ford who has never shied away from doing what he can for AOPA.
A bit closer to home: Simon Ammann, Swiss Skijumper, also has a PPL and is an active pilot.
He just sold his old Citation SP to a member on the BeechTalk forum. Not sure what he’s stepping up to, but he’s still very active pilot.
