Man who converted Elvis’ private jet into RV found an abandoned Boeing 737 private jet and tried to start it
- The man who converted Elvis Presley’s private jet into an RV is back
- This time he’s in a 1982 Boeing 737-200
- But will the abandoned vehicle start?
Published on Sep 18, 2024 at 7:33 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Oct 04, 2024 at 7:40 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
You might remember aviation enthusiast Jimmy Webb from the time he converted Elvis Presley’s private jet into an RV – well, now he’s back again – this time with an abandoned Boeing 737 private jet.
The 1982 Boeing 737-200 could be a new project for the famous US-based YouTuber, it would seem.
The aircraft, while technically capable of flying, requires paperwork and maintenance to be airworthy again.
Jimmy is just about the only person willing to give something like this a go.
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The abandoned 1982 Boeing 737-200
The short-range airliner model Jimmy is looking at first entered service in 1969 as the most used first generation of the B737 family.
A stretched version of its 737-100 predecessor, production ceased in 1988 after 1,144 units were built.
Parked at Orlando’s Signature Aviation, this 1982 Boeing 737-200 was converted into a private jet.
Even when idling, the aircraft burns a serious amount of fuel – around 1,100lbs per hour.
In fact, depending on the season and conditions, it costs $30,000 to $40,000 to fill the jet with fuel.
With that, it can fly across America from the east to the west coast.
The man who converted the Elvis jet tries to start it
The team takes a deep dive into various parts of the private including its auxiliary power unit (APU), laboratory drain tank, and emergency medical supplies.
They’re taken aback that some of the Boeing’s components are in decent condition, despite the jet’s age.
The asking price for the jet was $2 million, but they managed to negotiate that down to $50,000 due to sky-high maintenance costs, including transportation and repairs.
Jimmy previously revealed the eyewatering cost of converting Elvis’ private jet.
But with the project complete – after just 18 months, no less – Webb managed to stick below his budget.
He was able to give it a new lease of life all while documenting it and sharing it with tens of thousands of folks on YouTube.
Back to Boeing, and after a former Southwest Airlines pilot shares his experience of flying the same model Boeing 737-200 three decades before, the team gets down to business.
While not legal to fly, they are able to start up one of the engines.
We can’t wait to see what they get up to next.
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
