High-flying

A lot of neighborhoods don't allow the owners to park Boeing 707s outside their homes, which is why actor John Travolta moved to Jumbolair, near Ocala .

OCALA -- It's not just another housing development, as you can tell by the
1.4-mile airstrip and the Boeing 707 parked next to one of the houses.

Located in the Central Florida town of Anthony , just north of Ocala , it's
called Jumbolair, and it's the new home of John Travolta -- '70s TV phenom, film superstar, Oscar-nominated actor, sex symbol, accomplished pilot, doting husband and father.

After several years of whispers about his building a house here, the
49-year-old actor has taken up residence in his nearly completed mansion. Travolta is flying daily from Ocala to Tampa to shoot "The Punisher," an action movie based on the comic book, set to be released next summer.

A lifelong love of aviation holds the key to Travolta's decision to build at Jumbolair.

Travolta owns at least two jets, a Gulfstream and a huge Boeing 707B.
Simply put, there aren't very many non-commercial airstrips where planes of that size can take off and land. Jumbolair, with its long landing strip and massive jet wash berms at either end, is one of them.

About a decade ago, Travolta had a home in a fly-in community near Daytona, but was sued by neighbors who claimed his jet airplanes were too big and noisy for their facility.

The very layout of his new house is testament to Travolta's love of flying.
It's located immediately off the main airstrip, and is designed so his jets can taxi right up to two outbuildings connected to the main structure, which is shaped like a squat air-control tower. Travolta literally can walk out his door, under a canopied walkway and into the cockpit, open the long mechanized gate and be airborne in a matter of minutes. (Looks like a heliopad in the backyard).

According to the Federal Aviation Administration pilot database, Travolta is qualified in several types of single- and multi-engine aircraft, and has the highest pilot medical certification possible.

“We know that Travolta's an accomplished pilot. ... A lot of people fly for the pleasure of it, and he's one of them," said John Clabes, an FAA spokesman. "If you have this many ratings on these types of high-performance aircraft, you're obviously a good pilot."

In layman's terms, Travolta has enough experience flying large multi-engine jets that he could easily switch to piloting commercial airliners for a living.