12 famous actors who know how to fly an airplane and do it well

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

They say that when a person looks into the sky, he either prays or watches the plane. For some, the ability to fly is an old dream, an opportunity to experience freedom and ease of movement. Today we will not remember professional pilots or oligarchs who have their own planes. The heroes of our publication are actors who received flying certificates and were able to tame the "steel birds".

Leonid Yakubovich

We will begin our review with an actor and TV presenter respected by all Russians. Leonid Arkadyevich knows everything about this profession firsthand. He graduated from the Kaluga Aviation School, improved his qualifications in the training unit "Bykovo". Last year it was exactly a quarter of a century since the artist independently ascended into the sky. He was qualified as a 3rd class commercial aviation pilot. Pilot Yakubovich sat at the controls of several types of aircraft and helicopters, spending a total of about 1500 hours in the sky. He was awarded the rank of reserve officer of the military transport aviation. As the actor says, he cannot live without the sky: "I want to fly as well as breathe."

James Stewart

This classic Hollywood actor literally ran away from the set for his dream. Since childhood, he was passionately in love with airplanes, so he completed courses and received his pilot's license in 1935. But these were only amateur flights, which he combined with the acting profession. The star of the painting "It's a Wonderful Life" became a real pilot when he joined the ranks of volunteers during the Second World War. At first, he only instructed young pilots at the airfield in Northern England, and then he himself was allowed to participate in combat missions. It wasn't until 1968 that he resigned, becoming the first and only brigadier general in Hollywood history.

Chris Kristofferson

The Hollywood film star has also gone from being an ordinary soldier to a captain in the US Air Force. He had to serve in the army during the Cold War. His detachment was stationed in West Germany. Chris then mastered piloting a helicopter, and upon arrival in the United States he learned to fly other types of aircraft. Well, in peacetime he recorded country songs and starred in films.

Morgan Feeman

And again the actor, whose acquaintance with the iron birds happened during the army service. True, in those years he did not fly, but only served aircraft. But since then, dreams of the sky have never left him. Like his hero from the comedy "Until he played in the box", Morgan decided to realize his idea at a very mature age. At 65, he received a pilot's license, gradually acquired four cars and can now calmly look at the world from a height.

Clint Eastwood

But the actor, who became famous for filming in Westerns, has a very prosaic approach to aviation. He gives two reasons why he has preferred this particular mode of transport for forty years. On the one hand, during numerous flights around the country, the actor can travel incognito, because only the aircraft side numbers appear in the negotiations. On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to avoid annoying traffic jams for everyone. By the way, from all the variety of aircraft, the actor was especially fond of helicopters.

Harrison Ford

The name of this actor now and then appears in newspaper publications related to aeronautics. Once his aircraft crashed, no one was injured, but the actor lamented the destruction of a rare light aircraft. Another time, the actor was chronicled as a hero: a group of tourists got lost in Yellowstone National Park, and Harrison responded to the call of rescuers. It was his helicopter that was able to detect and deliver careless travelers to the civilized world in safety.

John Travolta

This actor's love for everything related to aviation seems to be a real obsession. Although most of the photo of the star was taken against the background of his aircraft fleet, he also equipped his house like an airport. From it you can go straight to the take-off site (there are two of them at once) and immediately go on a picnic somewhere far, far away. The actor also became famous for the fact that he prefers to go to shooting and presentations on his private plane. Oh, yes, they forgot to count - he has ten of them, and John continues to follow the latest aircraft industry and buy fresh copies.

Tom Cruise

A real superhero does not care at all - the directors respect him, the first beauties love him, there is no end to the fans, and he does not need money either. Until recently, this confident handsome man had a serious problem: he could not get a pilot's license in any way. It sounds paradoxical, but the hero of the action movie "Best Shooter", which became the symbol of American aviation, did not pass the exams due to his short stature. Its parameters were at the limit of the requirements for pilots. As a result, the commission had to intervene at the highest level, and Tom still received a flight certificate. Now at the helm of the luxurious Golfstrim IV plane, worth 36 million dollars, none other than the owner himself can sit.

Angelina Jolie

Agree that the mother of a huge family is subject to everything. So Angelina heeded the words of her little son Maddox. The child compared his mother to a Superhero, and, as you know, this comic book hero has the ability to move quickly in the clouds. Therefore, this Hollywood star had to master the steering wheel of the plane. Its lightweight single-engine mate nevertheless develops sufficient speed to catch the passengers' breath. And they usually become the children of a celebrity.

Hilary snoke

The actress's dream of becoming a pilot grew along with her work on her role in the film Amelia. The film about a woman aviator who broke many world records and dared to fly around the world made Hillary think about flight safety. She did not receive her flying license until the end of work on the painting, but after a few months she was able to become a real pilot capable of long voyages.

Kurt Russell

Love for the sky was most likely inherited by Kurt. His own grandfather was a regular pilot with a record forty-five thousand hours of flight time. So little Kurt had at his disposal not paper and toy airplanes, but real ones. The actor trained as a pilot in 1992 and has since been testing one car after another. For a long time he could not stop at any one model, but then he chose the Starduster biplane. It is curious that the actor's children are in no hurry to master airplanes, although they spent a lot of time with their father among the steel birds.

Chuck Norris

Fate abandoned the actor to serve in Korea, where the war was going on at that time. Chuck had to work at the air base and deal with the maintenance of aircraft. After returning to his homeland, the actor received a license some time later and now flies around his Texas possessions on his own aircraft.