Morgan Freeman: Air Force Radar Repairman Who Earned His Pilot Licence at 65 and Owned an SJ30-2 Jet
Why It MattersThe case illustrates how light business jets like the SJ30-2, of which fewer than ten were built, can attract high-profile private owner-pilots despite limited production runs.
Morgan Freeman, now 89, served in the US Air Force from 1955 to 1959 as an Automatic Tracking Radar Repairman, leaving as an airman first class after deciding against pilot training when he realized he loved the idea of flying more than flying itself.
More than four decades later, he took his first flying lesson in July 2002 and earned his private pilot licence in October 2002, at the age of 65. He added an instrument rating in May 2003 and a multi-engine rating in June 2003, progressing through a Cessna 414 in 2004 and a Cessna Citation 501 in 2005 before acquiring an SJ30-2, registered N30GZ, in 2009.
The SJ30-2 has a top speed of 486 knots, a ceiling of 49,000 feet, and a claimed Mach 0.83, with fewer than ten built in total. By the time of a 2014 order, Freeman had logged more than 1,000 hours in the aircraft, flown to 14 countries, and made 12 Atlantic crossings, including flying it to Dubai himself in 2009. On 1 May 2014, at age 76, he was announced as launch customer for SyberJet's planned SJ30i and SJ30x variants, ordering one of each, though whether either was delivered has not been confirmed. He also flew with professional pilots at times, including on 5 December 2015, when his jet diverted to Tunica, Mississippi, with pilot Jimmy Hobson flying and Freeman as a passenger. The registration N30GZ has been held by a registration dealer since October 2023.
