The Big Bunny

MANUFACTURER: MCDONNELL DOUGLAS

RANGE: 2-.7S0 STATUTE MILES

INAUGURAL FLIGHT: FEBRUARY 17, 117D

CAPACITY: 38 PASSENGERS

UINGSPAN: 13-M FEET

OVERALL LENGTH: in.3 FEET ENGINE THRUST: m-,SDD POUNDS EACH CREU: THREE-, PLUS THREE JET BUNNIES LEVEL FLIGHT SPEED: SbS MILES PER HOUR

CARGO HOLD: Sbl CUBIC FEET

FORTY YEARS AGO HUGH HEFNER CREATED THE BIG BUNNY AS A SHAPELY PLEASURE DOME. THE SKIES HAVE NEVER BEEN SO FRIENDLY

W

hen the earth could no longer contain him, 43-year-old Hugh Marston Hefner took to the sky. This, of course, made no sense at first. Pre­viously, he'd never left his Chicago manse—quite proudly, actually. But he needed to be in Hollywood to make television—Playboy After Dark, to be exact. And thus the Big Bunny was born, which he painted black, which made it the most talked about aircraft

in the world, which fit just about every other aspect of his existence. (He has a knack for starting such obsessions with his life.) He eschewed steward­esses for Jet Bunnies. They eschewed rabbit ears and tails for black boots and white aviator scarves and kept him fueled with Pepsi and fried chicken. Also aboard Hefner Air: his usual retinue of Mansion pals (e.g., LeRoy Neiman and Shel Silverstein).

Wherever they went they were greeted by crowds of curious onlookers—the highest-ranking dignitary of the sex­ual revolution now in their midst. For instance: To show his appreciation when Hef landed in northern Africa, a Moroccan sultan feted the traveling,' party at a lavish carpeted beach party... It was truly a time like no other. Says Hef, "When anyone asks me if I ever miss the plane, I reply, 'Only when I fly.'"

CAPTAIN'S PARADISE

The Big Bunny shuttled Hef bet^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HV before an

tapings of Playboy After Dark, l^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^gt equally Int

relationships with two very special ladles—Karen Christy and Barb! Benton. i

The Great Indoors could wait. Aft other living beings envious—Hef J

UP, UP AND AWAY

ophy—and makin iix years and stop

boarding pass

the big bunny

the playboy dc-9

Because his home away from home

always had to be sybaritic, Hefner had his private quarters on the 6/g Bunny outfitted with an elliptical bed that could be accessed through his own gangway. This version, however, required a seat belt—just for turbulence, of course.

Besides the bed, which came complete with silk and Tas-manian opossum-fur covers, how else did the Big Bunny

compare with Mansion life?. They were basically one m and the same. "It has JM

everything," Hef explained at,

the time, "except a swimming' pool and a bowling alley."

Setting the Bunny beacon (a.k.a. taillight) aglow: "75,OOO-can-dlepower lights are -installed in the wing-tips to illuminate the plane's Rabbit Head."

it Bunny en route from O'Hafe Reid to Hollywood-Burbank Airport. Below: The manual carried by all Jet Bunnies.

HAUTE COUTURE

^Walter Holmes designed the Jet Bunny

piniform—a wet-look dress and knee-high

boots. Per Hef: "They looked as though they

had just stepped out of a James Bond movie."

What of the mile high club, you ask—

an inevitability, really, with

all those long-range flights? "The

i reality is that having sex

J

above the clouds is exactly the same as having sex anywhere else," Hef has offered. "It's just a memory. A fond memory, however.1

A model of what would become the Big Bunny, which Hef made certain arrived in black.

rnagine Studio 54 with wings,, partment included both a stoefi

roots oreumn

BUNNY AIRLIFT

The Big Bunny fostered goodwill as well as good times. In 1975 it transported Vietnamese orphans from San Francisco to new homes in Denver and New York City.

FLYING ELVIS

Hef also assisted celebrities in need. Both Elvis and Sonny and Cher leased the Big Bitmy for concert tours. Ditto for Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, who filmed onboard

the plane (below left). The jet even helped perpetuate the animal species, once ferrying a male gorilla to the Phoenix Zoo, where his appointed female companion awaited.

i ¦ '¦¦.

The fully accredited Jet Bunnies trained at Continental Airlines' stewardess school in LA., thus perfecting their airborne food service and safety procedures.

THE BIG BUNNY WAS GROUNDED IN JULY 1975 WHEN IT

WAS SOLD TO VENEZUELA AIRLINES. IT LATER SERVED

AS A COMMERCIAL AIRLINER FOR AEROMEXICO. THE

PLANE WAS RETIRED FROM SERVICE IN 2004.