Elvis's planes to be removed from Graceland

Home Top

Terror in the air as passengers start to pass-out on airliner: Pilot plunges jet into 7,000ft-a-minute dive and lands - but cause remains a mystery because investigators say cabin pressure did NOT fail
'My baby with Ariel Castro was an angel from my dead mom and having a daughter made me care for my captor': Cleveland 'house of horrors' survivors speak for the first time
Scientists genetically modify a human embryo for the first time: Controversial technique could lead to designer babies
Google launches its mobile network: Project Fi to bring cheaper calls and texts to the US
Race was NOT the reason an entire in Missouri town's police force quit after after black woman mayor was elected, ex-police chief claims
Five nursing students killed in fiery crash on their last day of school when tractor trailer plowed into line of stopped traffic
Girl, 14, who was seized by police in Mexico and returned to her 'mother' in Houston is sent BACK again - because she was the wrong girl
Pictured: British rogue trader accused of causing $860bn Wall Street crash from the modest home he shares with his parents
Coffee isn't made from beans and Everest ISN'T the world's tallest mountain: Experts unveil life's top 50 misconceptions that have become modern day 'facts'
TWO women in the White House race? Carly Fiorina reportedly set for May 4 campaign announcement
The bookkeeper of death who wanted the world to know true horror of Auschwitz even if it means he's jailed for war crimes at 93...
NFL players win $1bn concussion lawsuit that could see former stars win $190,000 each in damages
Dallas NFL star Greg Hardy suspended by NFL for 10 games for allegedly strangling and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend
Odin Lloyd's mother to sue Aaron Hernandez over the murder of he son
Ben Affleck finally admits he is descended from slave-owner on his mother's side after having revelation censored from roots program
Sobbing Utah teacher, 35, admits having sex with three of her male students - in trysts that were so well known that classmates joked: 'Who is Ms Altice sleeping with now?'
Second Oregon jail worker accused of sex with an inmate may use insanity defense as new court filings reveal their blanket-covered trysts and the love letters she penned for him
Teacher, 42, charged with sexual assault 'after sleeping with three of her students'
Changing attitudes and more women cops are behind the soaring numbers of female teachers being prosecuted for sexual assault
Christian school teacher, 27, caught two years after having sexual relationship with student, 15, apologizes for 'taking his innocence'
Outrage as Texas chef is fined $2,000 for feeding the homeless 'because she was serving meals out of the wrong kind of truck'
American transgender woman set to move to UK and marry bride she has never met to fulfil 'lifelong dream' of becoming British
Transgender teen wins legal battle to wear make-up in her driving license photo
Touching vigils held for 900 victims of Mediterranean's 'deadliest ever migrant tragedy' as hundreds more fleeing war-torn Africa continue to flood Europe's shores

The two jets have been permanent fixtures at Memphis estate for 30 years
But city council has agreed Hound Dog II and Lisa Marie can be taken away
They will form part of a new museum about the King of Rock 'n' Roll
Decision follows a year of wrangling between planes' owner and Graceland

Published: 18:35 EST, 21 April 2015 | Updated: 08:45 EST, 22 April 2015

View
comments

Jet-setter: Elvis Presley bought both planes in 1975

They've been one of the biggest highlights of Graceland for 30 years. But Elvis Presley’s planes are to be taken from the grounds of his former mansion after local officials signed off the controversial deal.

Memphis City Council agreed yesterday that Hound Dog II and Lisa Marie – named after the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s daughter – can be moved from his estate to a site nearby.

It means tourists to Graceland will have to pay extra if they want to see the two jets, which are to form a new, separate museum about the dead singer.

Graceland visitors can currently buy a ticket that includes a tour of Presley's home-turned-museum and the interiors of the two planes.

They have been at the estate since the mid-1980s after Graceland’s managing company, Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), agreed that the planes’ owner, OKC Partnership, could have a cut of Graceland ticket sales.

OKC spokesman Tim McCaskill told Memphis City Council this week that the goal was for construction work at the planes’ new home to be finished in time for them to be moved there for Elvis Week in August.

The site is on the same street as Graceland.

Big hit: The Lisa Marie, pictured in the grounds of Graceland, was given a major overhaul by Elvis

Hound Dog II: The smaller jet was used by the star during Lisa Marie's refit and was also his back-up plane

OKC has been in a lengthy dispute with EPE, which was bought by New York-based Authentic Brands Group in 2013.

Last April, EPE sent a letter to OKC, saying it was exercising its option to end their agreement and asking OKC ‘to make arrangements for the removal of the airplanes and the restoration of the site on or shortly after April 26, 2015’.

At one stage, Elvis’s former wife Priscilla stepped into the heated row - telling fans who were outraged at the prospect of the planes being moved to ‘calm down’.

Elvis's bedroom: The Lisa Marie had a custom-made, queen-sized bed for the star, who liked to fly at night

Perfectly preserved: A table and chairs in the plane. The seats are now covered in plastic to protect them

Lounge in the sky: There are four TVs in total plus a videotape system in the Lisa Marie

Hot on design: Presley, who oversaw the plane's refurbishment, insisted on gold bathroom taps

Then last September, OKC put them up for sale, saying if they couldn’t stay at Elvis’s former home, they would have to be sold. OKC owner KG Coker, 77, said at the time: ‘I would love to see the airplanes stay where they are forever.

‘Millions of fans have toured those airplanes and there's a real connection between fans and those airplanes. They are part of the Elvis experience.’

The jets were expected to fetch $15million in an auction in January. But they were withdrawn from sale, and OKC made arrangements to have them displayed on land adjacent to Graceland.

Hound Dog II was bought by Elvis for $900,000 in September 1975 – less than two years before his death. In November 1975 he paid $250,000 for the larger but secondhand plane Lisa Marie, and spent at least $300,000 having it renovated.

He would use Hound Dog II - a Lockheed Jetstar - to fly to Lisa Marie’s hangar to see how the refit was going. When it was finished, Hound Dog II became his back-up jet.

Both planes were sold after the singer’s death in August 1977 and bought a few years later by OKC. The Lisa Marie was installed at Graceland in 1984 and the Hound Dog II soon afterwards.

Small but comfortable: The eye-catching lime-green and yellow seats in Elvis's Hound Dog II jet

Current home: The jets have been at Graceland since the 1980s, where they have their own entrance (right)

Heated debate: Elvis's ex-wife Priscilla Presley joined in the row over whether the planes should stay at Graceland with this tweet to his fans last year. She turned the home into a tourist destination after he died

PLANE THAT WAS FIT FOR A KING

The Lisa Marie was bought by Elvis from Delta Air Lines in November 1975 for $250,000.

It was originally built in 1960, and the singer spent at least $300,000 having the interior overhauled to suit his tastes.

He gave it a penthouse-style bedroom with a queen-size bed and in-flight library, an executive conference room finished in teak - and a bathroom with gold sink and taps.

The plane also had a bar, four TVs with a videotape system and a state-of-the-art stereo system with 52 speakers.

Elvis had the plane painted red, white and blue with his motto TCB - for 'Takin' Care of Business' - on the tail. It was decked out by a team that had previously designed the US president’s plane, Air Force One.

During the refurbishment, the Lisa Marie was in a hangar in Fort Worth. Elvis took great pleasure in flying friends there in his smaller Hound Dog II jet to check on the progress of the refit, which he personally oversaw.

The Lisa Marie - a four-engine 28-passenger Convair - could fly Presley up to 3,000 miles (4,800km). On each flight there would typically be three crew members. It could hold a maximum of 29 people but usually there would be around eight.

The custom-made bed was particularly important to Elvis as he preferred to travel by night.

The last journey the plane made for the family was in August 1977 when it transported Elvis's ex-wife Priscilla and his good friend George Hamilton from California to his funeral at Graceland.