German Entrepreneur Turning The Plane Into A Tourist Attraction

A German entrepreneur working on a $100,000 restoration of a 1960 Sud Aviation Caravelle airliner for a tourist attraction found some hidden treasures during the project.

The plane was restored over four years by 37-year-old Nils Alegen, who plans to give people the opportunity to experience simulated rides in the vintage aircraft over various locations. But while he was working on the project, he found a boarding pass that had been used by John Lennon among papers that had been somehow stashed in the bulkhead between the galley and the cockpit, according to a report from the New York Post.

There was also a photograph of The Beatles posing on the steps of the plane, which Alagen says proves the iconic band once traveled on the aircraft on a trip from Manchester, England to Paris France in 1964. He surmises that the boarding pass was somehow acquired, and later lost, by a flight attendant.

Alegen says his love for aviation comes from his mom, who had been a flight attendant back in the day. He found the Caravelle abandoned in an airfield near Paris in 2012, and spent some 5,000 hours restoring it.

Now, he hopes to attract "day trippers" to see the airplane and pay for a simulated trip. He has outfitted the cockpit with video screens which will show the plane flying over various locations, including New York City.

(Image from documentary posted to YouTube by Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture)

FMI: Source report