''Caesar's Chariot'' was a former

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Boeing 720 The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate was ...

passenger jet A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have two or four jet engines; three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Airliners are commonly cla ...

which was chartered by English rock band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

for their 1977 concert tour of North America.

History

The airplane, N7224U (S/N: 18077), was rolled out from the assembly line on December 12, 1961, and its first flight was on January 16, 1962. at Led Zeppelin.org It was delivered to

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

on April 10. In 1975, the airplane was purchased by Desert Palace Inc. and then by Todd Leasing in March 1975, when it was named ''Caesars Chariot''. ''Caesar's Chariot'' was hired by Led Zeppelin in 1977 from Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in

Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the 2020 census, making it the f ...

. The band required the plane because the plane they had previously used for their 1973 and

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

North American concert tours, ''

The Starship ''The Starship'' was a former United Airlines Boeing 720 passenger jet, bought by Bobby Sherman and his manager, Ward Sylvester, and leased to touring musical artists in the mid-1970s. History ''The Starship'', N7201U (S/N: 17907), was the fi ...

'', was permanently grounded at Long Beach Airport with engine difficulties, and they required a comparable alternative.Lewis, Dave and Pallett, Simon (1997) ''Led Zeppelin: The Concert File'', London: Omnibus Press. , p.92 ''Caesar's Chariot'' had been converted from a regular Boeing 720 into a 45-seat plane. For the 1977 tour, the fuselage of the plane was painted with the 'Led Zeppelin' and '

Swan Song The swan song ( grc, κύκνειον ᾆσμα; la, carmen cygni) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful so ...

' logos. It was also fitted with huge, overstuffed-chair type seating, and there was a bar and private rooms for each member and a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

.Steven Rosen
On the Road with Led Zeppelin
, ''Modern Guitars'', May 25, 2007Steven Rosen

Classic Rock Legends. The fees charged for leasing the plane amounted to $2500 per day. As they had done on their previous 1973 and 1975 concert tours with ''The Starship'', Led Zeppelin based themselves at major cities such as

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and used ''Caesar's Chariot'' to shuttle them to and from concerts. Tour manager

Richard Cole Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

explained: After Led Zeppelin returned the plane in late 1977, it returned to Caesar's Palace service until the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

bought it in late 1986 and sent it to Davis-Monthan AFB in early 1987 for use in the KC-135 re-engine and spares support program. It was totally disassembled for parts by the end of 1987, but parts may have been obtained by an aircraft maintenance school. The aircraft was used by the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

in their

Spirits Having Flown Tour Spirits Having Flown Tour (also known as the Spirits Tour and the North American Tour) is the eighth concert tour by the Bee Gees in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Spirits Having Flown'' (1979). The tour began on 28 June 1979 in Fort W ...

of 1979. It was hired for a cost of over one million dollars, and was custom painted in a black and red scheme with gold and silver accents.

References

{{Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin Individual aircraft 1962 establishments in the United Kingdom Caesars Palace

History

See also

References