Boeing 720 'Starship' N7201U used by rock bands before being scrapped at Luton

[jamesliamcook]

Hello folks, I’m working on a history of The Starship, a plane used by Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and others in the 1970s. It was a Boeing 720 plane, registration N7201U which ended its life left on the engine run bay at Luton airport from 1980-1982 before being broken up.

I wondered if anyone could point me in the direction of information on the plane or was familiar with its time at Luton. I’ve ordered the aircraft records from the FAA but was curious if there are other places I should look.

Lastly, there’s a rumour the plane was used by Iran in February 1979 and was spotted at Heathrow. Any way I can dig further into that?

Many thanks

[Liffy 1M]

Some of the images and user comments etc here may be of interest. https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=n7201u
Also: https://www.airhistory.net/pub/show....sort_date_desc
This source suggests it only arrived at Luton in 1982 but I haven't seen that stated elsewhere: https://www.planespotters.net/airfra...america/e5zo27

[Jhieminga]

I was going to suggest something similar... have a look at Jetphotos, AirBritain photo library, Airliners.net, places like that for images that provide a shapshot of where it's been. I'm sure you've seen the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starship which could provide some clues as it mentions a couple of sources.

[SWBKCB]

It was used for many rock tours, mainly in the States. It came to the UK/Europe in 1976 for a Peter Frampton/Gary Wright tour. I saw it many times at Luton between 78 and 82.

[jamesliamcook]

Thanks folks! Appreciate the pointers here. I'm new to the world of aviation so things like titles, cheat lines etc are all new.

Here's the current timeline I've assembled which may be of interest:

November 23, 1959: Made its first flight in Renton, Washington. Painted in black, grey and white colour scheme with red “Boeing 720” titles (Source: This Day In Aviation, eBay photo)

October 1, 1960: Delivered to United Airlines, named "720 Jet Mainliner Walter T. Varney". Repainted with blue, grey and white colour scheme with “United” titles

1961: Renamed "720 Jet Mainliner Capt. F. M. Crismore"

January 1967: Seen in San Francisco (Source: Bill Larkins on Flickr)

September 17, 1970: Seen in New York (Source: AirHistory)

August 14, 1972: Contemporary Entertainment applies to the Civil Aeronautics Board for permission to operate a Boeing 720 plane to transport music groups (Source: Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Volume 60)

August 24, 1972: Capitol International Airways files an objection to Contemporary Entertainment’s application (Source: Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Volume 60)

September 6, 1972: McCulloch International Airlines files an objection to Contemporary Entertainment’s application (Source: Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Volume 60)

November 28, 1972: Contemporary Entertainment given exemption by the Civil Aeronautics Board to operate the plane. Limited to 100 flight hours per year, charging no less than $2,000 per flight hour, interstate service only (Source: Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Volume 60)

January 15, 1973: Purchased by Contemporary Entertainment for $750,000, renamed “Starship 1” and repainted with gold and brown colour scheme. Interior refit designed by David E. Bell and carried out by World Air Center in Oakland. Stored at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.

July 6, 1973 - July 29, 1973: Led Zeppelin use the plane for the second leg of its 1973 US tour. Plane given “Led Zeppelin” titles.

July 16, 1973: Contemporary Entertainment given permission to operate flights to Canada for the next two years (Source: Civil Aeronautics Board Weekly Summary of Orders and Regulations, Issue 29; Issue 73)

August 15, 1973 - October 21, 1973: Used by Elton John. Plane given “Elton John - 1973 Tour” titles.

September 1973: Used by Sonny and Cher, seen in Los Angeles. Plane given Sonny and Cher logo (Source: Ron Monroe on Flickr)

October 24, 1973 - November 8, 1973: Used by The Moody Blues

December 8, 1973 - December 31, 1973: Used by Alice Cooper. Plane given “Alice Cooper” titles and logo on tail.

January 3, 1974 - February 14, 1974: Used by Bob Dylan. No titles on plane.

March 3, 1974 - April 9, 1974: Used by Deep Purple. Plane given “Deep Purple” titles

June 1, 1974 - August 24, 1974: Used by The Allman Brothers Band. Plane given “Allman Brothers Band” titles.
• July 30, 1975: Seen at Atlanta (Source: Airliners)

September 25, 1974 - December 3, 1974: Used by Elton John (unclear when he stopped using it). Plane repainted with red, white and blue colour scheme and given “Elton John Band Tour 1974” titles.
• October 1974: Seen at Boeing Field (Source: Bob Harrington on Flickr)

November 13, 1974 - December 18, 1974: Used by Deep Purple (unclear when they began using it). Plane given “Deep Purple” titles.

January 18, 1975 - March 27, 1975: Led Zeppelin use plane for 1975 US tour. Plane given “Led Zeppelin” titles.

April 1, 1975 - May 23, 1975: Used by John Denver. Plane given “John Denver” titles.

June 1, 1975 - August 8, 1975: Used by The Rolling Stones. Plane given “Tour Of The Americas 75” titles and logo.

July 25, 1975: Leased for at least 6 months by McCulloch International Airlines

September 29, 1975 - October 26, 1975: Used by Elton John. Plane given “Elton John Rock Of The Westies” titles.
• October 1975: Seen in Las Vegas (Source: Paul Thallon on Flickr)

November - December 1975: Used by The Allman Brothers Band

January 12, 1976: Seen in Manchester, UK

March 1, 1976 - April 6, 1976: Used by Olivia Newton-John. Plane given “Olivia Newton-John” titles. (Source: Aero Icarus on Flickr)

June 1976: Seen at Long Beach with no titles (Source: Ron Monroe on Flickr)

June 29, 1976 - August 17, 1976: Used by Elton John. Plane given “Elton John - Louder Than Concorde But Not Quite As Pretty” titles.

October 26, 1976: Possibly seen at Glasgow with red cheat line, white paint scheme, no titles (Source: Fergus Abraham on Flickr)

October 8, 1976 - November 8, 1976: Used by Peter Frampton and Gary Wright for US and UK tour. Plane given “Frampton Comes Alive” (starboard) and “Gary Wright” (port) titles.
• October 24, 1976: Flew from Heathrow to Manchester (Source: John Oram on Flickr)
• October 30, 1976: Seen at Heathrow (Source: Paul Thallon on Flickr)
• October 1976: Seen at Frankfurt (Source: Aero Icarus on Flickr)
• November 4, 1976: Seen at München-Riem (Source: Munich-Riem Aviation Photos on Flickr)
• November 1976: Seen at Düsseldorf (Source: Uli on Flickr)
• Seen at Hamburg (Source: A Flying History)

November 12, 1976: Flown from Heathrow to Gander, Canada

January 21, 1977 - June 26, 1978: Returned from lease, stored at Miami International

February, 1977: Seen at Long Beach (Source: Airliners)

July 1977: Seen at Long Beach (Source: Ron Monroe on Flickr)

September 23, 1977: Seen at Long Beach (Source: AirHistory)

November 10, 1977: Repossessed by Bank of America. Seen at Long Beach

April 1978: Seen at Long Beach (Source: Ron Monroe on Flickr)

June 21, 1978: Bought by Aero America. Delivered to Boeing Field

July 1978: Seen in US with “Frampton Comes Alive” and “Gary Wright” titles (Source: AirHistory)

July 31, 1978: Seen at Boeing Field with red cheat line, EO titles and logo

August 1, 1978: Seen at Boeing Field

August 26, 1978: Seen in the UK without EO titles

August 31, 1978: Seen at Glasgow

September 2, 1978: Seen at Glasgow with red cheat line (Source: Paul Thallon on Flickr)

September 4, 1978: Flew from Heathrow to Shannon to Bangor (Source: Malcolm Nason on Flickr)

September 25, 1978: Seen at Tegel with no titles

October 26, 1978: Seen at Inverness (Source: Air Pictorial Volume 41)

October 26, 1978: Flew Cairo to Aberdeen Inverness to Berlin. Possibly for delivery to Private Jet Services

October 31, 1978: Seen at Inverness (Source: Air Pictorial Volume 41)

Late 1978: Flew from Tegel to Rome carrying actor Omar Sharif

November 1978: Flew from Basel to Mulhouse (Source: Airliners)

January 7, 1979: Seen at Heathrow (Source: Kerry Taylor on Flickr)

February 14, 17, 21 1979: Visited Heathrow with executive configurement. Possibly wearing “Republique Populaire Revolutionnaire Linee’” titles and used by the Iranian government for flights to Germany

February 22, 1979: Seen at Heathrow with no titles

March-April 1979: Seen at Salisbury, Rhodesia with no titles

March 30, 1979: Seen at Luton (Source: Air Yorkshire April 1979)

March 1979: Returned to Aero America

April 1, 1979: Seen at Stansted

July 20, 1979: Signed over to Conex Aviation Ltd

August 1979: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles (Source: AirHistory)

September 1, 1979: Seen at Heathrow (Source: Air Yorkshire September 1979)

September 5, 1979: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles. (Source: ABPic)

September 8, 1979: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles (Source: prs1958 on Flickr)

September 9, 1979: Seen at Luton (Source: AirHistory)

September 12, 1979: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles (Source: Air Yorkshire October 1979)

September 14, 1979: Signed over to State of Washington, Attorney General (Source: Mike Zoeller FAA notes)

November 15, 1979: Aeroamerica’s operating certificate was revoked by the FAA

February 10, 1980: Stored at Luton. Sat tailless on the engine run bay.

March 5, 1980: Seen at Luton (Source: Teesside Aviation News April 1980)

April 29, 1980: Open storage at Luton (Source: Air Yorkshire May 1980)

September 1980: Moved to Luton maintenance area

December 29, 1981: Flown to Oakland and worked on for an Arab customer till it was found to be riddled with corrosion.

March 1982: Impounded at Oakland by World Airways due to unpaid parking charges (Source: Mike Zoeller FAA notes)

May 1982: Released and flown to Luton. Conversion cancelled.

May 3, 1982: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles. Plane had no tail (Source: Kerry Taylor on Flickr)

June 4, 1982: Seen at Luton with red cheat line, no titles. Had a tail (Source: Kerry Taylor on Flickr)

June 14, 1982: Sold to Turks Holdings Ltd registered in Nassau, Bahamas. Bill of sale signed by Joel Eisenberg, President of Aeroamerica (Source: Mike Zoeller FAA notes)

July 13-17, 1982: Broken up at Luton. Some parts used for OY-DSK Boeing 720-025 (Source: Mike Zoeller FAA notes)

[Fris B. Fairing]

Great work there James.

[bafanguy]

Quite a history there. The other interesting part of this history would be who the crews were and where they came from.

[DaveReidUK]

The tail being removed after its last flight into Luton, and then refitted a month prior to the 720 being scrapped (according to the above chronology) sounds a bit odd.

[treadigraph]

Can confirm it was at Luton on 08/09/79 as I recall seeing it when the LAAS coach called in at Luton on our way up to the Flight Business and Light Aviation show at Cranfield..

(Fantastic eight days as I also made my first visits to Denham and Booker the previous Saturday, so many interesting aeroplanes... wish I still had my little blue notepads into which everything was written neatly (relatively) later on.)

[jamesliamcook]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

The tail being removed after its last flight into Luton, and then refitted a month prior to the 720 being scrapped (according to the above chronology) sounds a bit odd.

Yes I'm assuming there's a misdated photo on Flickr which falsely suggests the tail was removed and then refitted in 1982.

[dixi188]

Originally Posted by jamesliamcook

Yes I'm assuming there's a misdated photo on Flickr which falsely suggests the tail was removed and then refitted in 1982.

If the aircraft went into Airline Engineering's (Monarch) hangar 1 and 2, then tha vertical stab may have been removed or folded sideways to get into the back corner. I've seen this done.

[jamesliamcook]

Originally Posted by bafanguy

Quite a history there. The other interesting part of this history would be who the crews were and where they came from.

The only crew member I've been able to identify is the pilot Hal "Mac" McNicol.

[treadigraph]

Meant to say that it's interesting to see it had no fin "stinger". Thought all 707s/720s/C-135s had it...

Re the fin fold, pics of it seem as rare as... airworthy 707s but here's a KC-135...

[DaveReidUK]

In the early days of the C-135, aircraft even had a outline painted on the fin to show where you could/couldn't walk when it was folded. Only on the port side, obviously!

I can't say I've ever come across the 707/720 fin fold, thought I guess it must have worked in a similar way. Needless to say, as in the photo, the fin isn't self-supporting when folded - wouldn't be any use on an aircraft carrier.

[treadigraph]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

In the early days of the C-135, aircraft even had a outline painted on the fin to show where you could/couldn't walk when it was folded. Only on the port side, obviously!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! so that's why...

There is a pic of a Pan Am 707 with the fin in mid-fold as the 135 above but it's apparently being dismantled at Davis Monthan AFB so not quite the same story! The C-97 and B-52 also had foldable fins...

Do you know anything about the absence of the stinger on N7201U Dave? I can't ever recall noticing a 707/720 without it before.

[DaveReidUK]

The "stinger" is an HF aerial, but United never had HF on their 720s - presumably no need on domestic routes.

[oldandbald]

Luton B720B 1980s?

[Liffy 1M]

Originally Posted by DaveReidUK

The "stinger" is an HF aerial, but United never had HF on their 720s - presumably no need on domestic routes.

Yes, and no 720-022s appear to have had the HF probe fitted later in their lives either. https://www.airhistory.net/pub/show....sid=1719436404

[Fris B. Fairing]

The fin fold was performed on a 707 at Southend as recently as 2006. In this instance the fin was removed for treatment of corrosion and then refitted. The aircraft is the first Qantas 707 which is preserved at the Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach.