I need a flying 707. Seriously.

[shrike]

Does NASA still have one?

Ryan

The last Vomit Comet is down at Pima.

[The Inspector]

Have you tried giving EVERGREEN @ Miranna a buzz? They seem to have just about one of everything and have some sort of 'special' connections with the Gummint, see if they can knock the sand out the inlets on one, or try finding a straight pipe DC-8 shorty (11/22 or 54/55) box hauler.

[JDK]

I don't know how helpful-but isn't Quantas flying one in Australia? Is it the wrong model?
JMC

You're thinking of John Travolta's airplane. It's painted in QANTAS's famous V-Jet colors (which it was, when new). And yes, it is unfortunately the wrong model.

(BTW, for anyone who cares... QANTAS is an acronym and all letters should be caps... stands for Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service).

No, no and no.

Indeed Travolta operates a Qantas 707. However Qantas recently reactivated another ex-Qantas 707 in the UK and had it flown to Longreach, Queensland to their museum there, in 2007, where it now sits - VH-XBA. I don't believe it is airworthy, as it hasn't flown since. Incidentally, it was parked in the US en-route alongside Travolta's example - there are pics of the two on the web.

http://www.qfom.com.au/707.html

According to their website: "Retired Qantas engineers continue to maintain VH-XBA in flying condition and it is possible the aircraft will be seen again at air shows."

And I care and now Qantas is regarded as a word (noun, proper name, cap 'Q') no longer an acronym, and is sometimes cited (dubiously as it's being a noun derived from an acronym) as a rare example of a word in English with a 'q' without a 'u'. You're quite correct as to the origins of the acronym.

That English thing; like nailing fog to a wall.

Regards,

[jdvoss]

IIRC there are only 14 airworthy non-military 707's remaining in the world (includes 720's?). I would follow up on a DC-8 as PanAm purchased 20 of them. I understand that over 100 DC-8s remain airworthy but they may be mostly all stretched models. I did spot a non-stretched ATI DC-8 today at San Jose,CA as it comes in daily. Perhaps ATI could agree to paint just the LH side of their DC-8 in Pan Am Colors leaving the RH side untouched? I've seen been done before! But from a nostalgia point of view a DC-6 might be a easier find.

[JohnB]

I think the only commercial 707s left in the USA belong to Omega Air Refueling. http://www.omegaairrefueling.com

They might be down to just 1 707 after the other caught fire on take-off. Not sure if it would be useful for filming a TV show. http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-j ... 6868.story

Warning: Thread creap....
They just bough the ex-RAAF examples.

[Craig59]

I agree with Zane - I too saw N707SE at Albuquerque last summer and it appeared to be airworthy.

[krlang]

I had heard that N404PA was going to be for sale soon.

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Thank you all, particularly bmoran and ztex, for your priceless help!

And trianglep, having worked as a film writer myself (which at least got three of my films Academy Award nominations--short documentary category, which is the one nobody watches...), I can explain that what happens in the film and TV world is that the suits meet, lunch, discuss, ponder, argue, think (no, belay that last one) for months and months. Then they make a decision, and the writers and line producers have a week to make it happen. Never fails.

[Stephan Wilkinson]

Qantas is regarded as a word (noun, proper name, cap 'Q') no longer an acronym, and is sometimes cited (dubiously as it's being a noun derived from an acronym) as a rare example of a word in English with a 'q' without a 'u'.

Serious Scrabble players know there are maybe 50--as i recall--words that contain q without the u. Certainly rare, but more of them exist than you might think.

How's that for thread creep?

[JDK]

Very good! I'll take 50 words as 'rare'; now onto finding a rhyme for orange.

k5dh probably regrets trying to help now. Anyway, I'm here all week. Unfortunately.

[tex-fan]

found this one ,on the internet, for sale up in Canada:
http://www.aviatorsale.com/aix8533/

[big fatty]

found one!!! alittle CGI it will be perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxTAQurdJMc

[Ztex]

LOL...They already use plenty of bad model airplane shots for the show... now the female models are much better.....

[mustangdriver]

I agree with Zane, the femal models being used are without a doubt airworthy

[JohnB]

I agree with Zane, the femal models being used are without a doubt airworthy

With more "Dagmars" than a hangar full of JetStars.