Attention, Roswellites, the Elvis plane is about to leave the airfield.
A Florida businessman, social media personality and nonprofit leader said that he has purchased the 1962 Lockheed JetStar that once belonged to the "King of Rock 'n Roll," Elvis Presley, and that he plans to move it in about 10 days to Tampa, Florida. A city of Roswell email also announced Webb as the new owner.
“I know that we are going to be doing something with it so that Elvis' legacy lives on and so that a whole bunch of other people can enjoy it and have a little taste of Memphis, so to speak, but the final plans have yet to be determined on it,” said James Webb.
Webb has a YouTube show, Jimmys World, and a business, Jimmy's World LLC, that focuses on rehabilitating older, often abandoned, planes, with some made airworthy again. He also has other social media sites and a website, savethe310.com. Some restored planes are sold, but others are kept for new purposes. For example, a few are used to transport veterans or for veterans to use for pilot's training through the nonprofit, Wings of Compassion.
The Elvis plane that has been parked at the Roswell Air Center for more than 20 years lacks engines, instrumentation and electronics, so saying that it would be difficult to see it take to the skies again would be “the understatement of the year,” Webb said.
For now, Webb plans to come here from Feb. 10-12 to dismantle the red and silver jet and load it on a truck for its trip east.
“As soon as we get it here, we'll figure out the final, ultimate plans for it,” Webb said, “and just eat this elephant one bite at a time, one fried peanut butter and banana sandwich bite at a time.” He also encouraged people to “Follow along with the process. All of it is going to part of the show.”
Webb attended an auction near Orlando held on Jan. 8, Elvis' birthday. As he showed on his YouTube channel, Priscilla Presley held the gavel and called the sale — which originally went to another bidder on a deal that fell through. The auction house persuaded Webb to rebid, and Webb said he ended up buying it for $234,000, which he described in his video as both idiotic and awesome. A representative with Mecum Auctions said that the company cannot identify buyers.
Webb said that among the aircraft restored or in the restoration process by him and his team are a MiG 15, a Russian fighter jet that had been sitting for 12 years; a T-6 World War II trainer; and a World War I Jenny. He also said that his group is planning an expedition to find Flight 19, the five Navy planes that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle in the 1940s.
He said his visit to Roswell in a few days won't allow time for locals to view the plane before it leaves the area, but added that he is looking forward to seeing the Alien City. “This is definitive proof that Elvis was an alien that his plane ended up here,” Webb said.
Presley owned the plane from December 1976 to spring 1977, paying $840,000 for it, according to the Mecum Auctions website. It came to Roswell in the early 1980s when a local oilman purchased it out of a business bankruptcy, but the JetStar has changed owners many times over the years. Local news reports have said that the jet has been parked since about 1999 after its engines were removed.
Lisa Dunlap can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 351, or reporter02@rdrnews.com.
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