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The YouTuber who bought Elvis Presley's 1962 Lockheed 1319 JetStar at auction last year has dismantled the plane to convert it into an RV experience, powering it on for the first time as it gets closer to heading out on the road. James Webb has documented the experience on his YouTube channel Jimmy's World, shocking audiences when he cut the plane into pieces and showing the journey to take the King's private jet fuselage and transform it into an on-the-road experience. In the latest update to the long-running Elvis Jet saga, Webb has powered on his converted contraption and is making progress to take the jet RV out on the road.RELATED STORIES:YouTuber cuts Elvis Presley's JetStar into pieces to raise funds for charity, RV conversionElvis Presley JetStar new owner dismantles plane to turn it into RV experienceElvis Presley's jet powers on for the first time in 40 yearsElvis Presley's Lockheed 1329 JetStar sells at auction for $260,000The JetStar went up for auction in January 2023, selling for about $260,000 on what would have been Presley's 88th birthday. The original bidder backed out and Webb was able to step in and buy the jet for $234,000. Presley bought the plane on Dec. 22, 1976 for $840,000 ($4.4 million today). The plane sat in the desert at the Roswell International Air Center (ROW) for nearly 40 years until it was put up for auction and purchased by the YouTuber. Webb had the plane evaluated to determine the cost to get Presley's jet back in the air, only to discover that even if he put in the $5.7 million to repair the plane, the associated airworthiness directive due to the plane's noise level and lack of any components to muffle the loud jet sounds would make it too loud to legally startup. Despite the disappointment, Webb began looking for a new direction.
The Jimmy's World account began with an abandoned Piper Cherokee 6 and has become a channel dedicated to the question, "Will it run?" Even with $5.7 million in repairs, the Elvis jet would not take to the sky, so Webb found a new solution - turning the jet into an RV. Webb and a team took the plane apart, taking out the main plane components to composite them onto an RV, uncovering decades of dust, debris, bird nests and broken plane parts. Many of the unusable components were cut up into pieces to make thousands of JetStar tags for Elvis fans and to raise money for St. Jude and the RV conversion. Webb has continued to document the process, including taking apart a free abandoned RV. The RV had rotted wood throughout but was the perfect size for the project. The RV was dismantled down to the chassis, meaning the frame and components to make it run like the engine and transmission. Webb broke down the cost of the conversion, including the cost of the plane at auction, transport, RV repairs and dismantling expenses, and completing the conversion.
The estimated cost to convert the plane into an RV experience is about $331,500, not including the comeback tour once the Elvis jet RV is complete, but millions less than the potential cost to repair the plane. It cost $29,000 to make the thousands of JetStar tags, launched in July of 2023. About 300 tags have been sold for over $100,000. He said selling 700 more would pay for the cost of the project.
Webb has been documenting the ongoing process to combine the dismantled RV with the dismantled jet. The complex process has combined the fuselage with the RV chassis, including combining the wire systems from the chassis through to the plane. With the steering column, transmission, generator and other running electrical components fused, converted and set up, Webb was ready to power it on for the first time. He plugged the power in and turned the key. Cheers ensued as the Jet RV conversion powered on for the first time. Webb checked components like the RPMs and oil and said everything seemed to be in working order. There is still work to be done to complete the project, but Webb said that once it is complete, the Elvis RV experience will be making an appearance at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in July.