Flying With the Stars

She’s about to master another runway: Supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who’s six months’ pregnant, is working on her helicopter pilot's license. She has been training outside Boston, near her home with husband Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots. Per doctor’s orders, Bündchen will be able to continue flying until November. According to the head of the company that provides her aviation lessons, the Brazilian-born beauty is "gung ho about learning to fly. She's one of the best students we've ever had." She is hoping her new skills will help her promote environmentally friendly jet fuel.

Mark Edwards / Splash News

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After Angelina Jolie earned her pilot's license five years ago, she bought a single-engine plane, a Cirrus SR22, which can deploy a parachute to carry the entire plane to safety. Jolie was photographed for Vogue in 2007 landing a plane on an airstrip in the California desert. She wore designer clothes, but no shoes—Mrs. Smith prefers to fly barefoot. She’s even gotten Brad Pitt in on the fun—earlier this year, he was spotted taking flying lessons in a single-engine, and has taken a few whirls up in a helicopter as well.

Bauer Griffin

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Perhaps he’s just trying to catch up with Angelina, but Brad Pitt recently took flying lessons in New York. Pitt has trained on a single engine plane and has been accompanied by a flying instructor. But he’s no stranger to the sport: Pitt also reportedly took helicopter lessons in the Czech Republic.

Pacific Coast News

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He’s still Maverick at heart: Tom Cruise has remained a pilot since the days of Top Gun, and recently purchased a World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, which he keeps in Burbank airport. The plane is emblazoned with the words “Kiss Me, Kate,” named, of course, after the one and only Mrs. Cruise.

Fame Pictures

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Harrison Ford's role as Han Solo, the handsome pilot of the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, was a prelude to the star's love of flying later in life. Since earning his pilot's license in 1996, Ford has qualified to fly many types of aircraft, and now owns several planes and a helicopter. He served for five years as the chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program and has taken hundreds of aspiring kid pilots up in his plane. When accepting an award for inspiring young people to fly, Ford said, "Those who are bound to the earth by gravity—and are without an airplane—don’t really see the world the way a pilot does. There’s so much beauty in flight." The Force is strong with this one…

Getty Images

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Prince William began flying lessons in 2008, in order to serve his four-month assignment with the Royal Air Force. After his training was complete, the Prince was finally allowed to fly solo: “God knows how somebody trusted me with an aircraft and my own life,” he said of his maiden voyage. “I was watching the runway getting closer and closer and thinking, 'Please, please don't mess this up'.” He is referred to as Flight Lieutenant William of Wales in the RAF, and here, he flies the Griffin helicopter with 60 Squadron over Staffordshire, England.

Splash News

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Prince Harry is following in his brother’s footsteps: in August, the youngest royal qualified for “advanced flying training” in the RAF. And though he came close to quitting the helicopter training program – which was deemed too hard for him – the Prince logged the 40 hours needed to advance to the next level. The 24-year-old has opted to fly Lynx support helicopters instead of Apaches or Gazelles. "I think the Lynx is more challenging, it's more my cup of tea than the Apache,” Harry said in July, but added: "I'll fly wherever I'm told to fly." The Prince will need to log 40 more hours in the advanced program before he can earn his wings.

Bauer-Griffin

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Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart in the sequel to Night at the Museum flies her plane down Central Park West to land outside the Museum of Natural History in New York. Hillary Swank, on the other hand, channels Earhart for her upcoming biopic Amelia.

Jennifer Mitchell/Splash News

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The Duchess of York, wearing a brown leather jacket and boots, could have doubled for Amelia Earhart when she won her pilot's license in 1987. To do so, she completed a solo flight in a single-engine plane with her husband, Prince Andrew, sitting in the back seat. Fergie was fulfilling a promise she made to her husband before they wed. The prince, a helicopter pilot, wanted her to learn to fly. Love really is in the air.

Mark Mainz / Getty Images

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Johnny Carson intensely protected his private life, so it comes as no surprise that photos and video of him flying are quite rare. Still, it is easy to imagine the late-night legend enjoying the solitude of the skies. Carson began learning to fly in 1963 and, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association (a group for aviation enthusiasts), he was receiving a flying lesson on the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Carson learned of the news when he landed.

NBCU Photo Bank / AP Photo

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Sir Winston Churchill at the controls of an airplane, circa 1950.

Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Actor Robert Montgomery in the cockpit of an aircraft in July 1930, just after receiving his pilot's license.

John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Flying With the Stars

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is getting her helicopter pilot’s license. From James Franco to Angelina Jolie, VIEW OUR GALLERY of other surprising A-listers who take to the sky.