For those not yet familiar with “Jimmy’s World” on YouTube, Jimmy’s humorous and often bewilderingly hilarious videos hold treasures for almost anyone with a genuine passion for aviation, whether Civil, Military, or General. Many of Jimmy’s non-aviation enthusiasts are simply viewers who are attracted to his wild imagination and amazing adventures – – – And misadventures. Jimmy knows how to entertain – and even educate – his followers.
James (“Jimmy”) Webb has built himself a good living entertaining his followers, mostly aviation enthusiasts, across the globe.
Jimmy lives in Plant City, Florida, located between Lakeland and Tampa, on the Gulf Coast. However, he regularly pops up all across the United States, in search of new, usually, but not always, abandoned airplanes for sale. He repeatedly buys these often long-stored airplanes with the sincere intent to restore them to airworthy flying condition.
As Jimmy quickly discovered (the hard way), restoring old model airplanes to airworthy condition can be an extremely costly endeavor.
The 2nd photo, below, shows Jimmy, standing alongside Elvis Presley’s disintegrating old (1962) Lockheed Jetstar personal plane, where it has been severely weathered since being abandoned 40 years ago, shortly before the King of Rock and Roll passed away.
The next picture, immediately below, is of the plane when first retired after being sold, and while still intact and airworthy (the four engines are still on it!). When Jimmy acquired the famous jet for almost a quarter of a million dollars, the engines had already been removed and even the interior was in bad condition. Many of the cockpits’ instruments had also been removed.
Photograph of Elvis’ Private Lockheed Jetstar L-1329 when first sold by the King.
The King’s widow, Priscilla Presley, left a poignant message with the pricey executive jet:
“This is a very significant piece of history as it was the only jet Elvis bought with his father. Elvis always wished to support his father’s entrepreneurial endeavors, especially after losing his mother so early. Elvis loved and respected his father very much and this jet is a piece of him and his father’s heart.“
Exemplifying his incessant good humor, he is wearing (below) one of his favorite T-shirts proudly emblazoned with his oft-repeated phrase, “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?“
When Jimmy edits his videos, he is inclined to let his frequent bloopers remain in the video, which is likely one of the basic reasons for his widespread popularity in the Aviation Field.
When flying one of his or any other airplanes, Jimmy carefully locates several action cameras in the cabin and also on the exterior of the ship. This assures that his viewers will see everything that takes place – even real live emergencies while airborne. His video editing skills are outstanding.
Jimmy became the owner of the once beautiful four-engined Jetstar when he put in the best bid when it was auctioned off several years ago. He regularly cautions his viewers not to follow his example, or they, like he, could easily be faced with impending bankruptcy. This purchase caused media news reports to pop up all across the U.S. and even in Europe. This was most likely more because of the “King’s” fame than that of the plane’s new owner – but time will tell.
Jimmy is busily working to convert the Lockheed Jetstar into a road-worthy RV, in which he intends to travel about the country to raise money for his ventures by having Elvis’ fans purchase many of the planes’ parts that have been converted into souvenirs, and to of course see the newly restored interior of the King’s once personal jet. This decision was made by Jimmy because the estimates to restore the airplane to flyable condition were beyond prohibitive.
Elvis’ ‘lost’ jet was bought by YouTube star, Jimmy Webb, after sitting for 40 years at the Roswell NM Air Center
Alas, we have digressed: The above tale is about just one of Jimmy’s more publicized ventures into buying used airplanes. On the other hand, this post is because of Jimmy’s recent stop near Ft. Worth, Texas, at Charles Cook’s Flying Oaks Airport in particular, to tour the exceptional Biplane Museum that compelled our Editor to place the quite lengthy video (1:25:37 – Below) of that particular episode on our FASF Website.
Among Mr. Cook’s inclusive collection of vintage cars is his astounding collection of Aviation’s earliest Biplanes. Airplanes that were already or soon to be flying during the heydays of the First Aero Squadron’s early existence.
Here is the video: (If you watch it right here, be sure to click the full-screen button in the lower right-hand corner of the video to appreciate the episode’s full hi-resolution imagery).