George Lucas's Gulfstream G700 flies from Appleton to Chicago in 40 minutes

George Lucas's Gulfstream G700, tail number N138GL, landed at Chicago Midway International Airport (KMDW) on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The aircraft departed Appleton International Airport (KATW) at 04:38 UTC and touched down at 05:19 UTC. The flight took 40 minutes.

The great-circle distance between Appleton and Chicago is 152 nautical miles, or 175 miles. The aircraft flew at an average ground speed of 226 knots and reached a top speed of 401 knots. Its highest altitude was 12,625 feet. The flight burned about 324 gallons of fuel and produced an estimated 3,110 kilograms of CO2, about the same as driving a car 7,698 miles. The Gulfstream G700 is an ultra long range jet with a range of 7,750 nautical miles, a top speed of Mach 0.935, and a ceiling of 51,000 feet. It can seat up to 19 passengers.

This was the fifth tracked landing at Chicago in the window from August 11 to October 14, 2026. The previous Chicago landing was on October 13, 14 days before this flight. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft visited five airports and flew about 6,086 nautical miles. The most common destinations in that period were Oakland (16 landings) and Van Nuys (11 landings). Another tracked aircraft, a Gulfstream G450 registered to Dominion Energy, landed at Chicago about four hours earlier.

George Lucas created Star Wars and Indiana Jones and sold Lucasfilm to Disney for about $4 billion in 2012. He owns Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California. His aircraft, N138GL, is a 2025 Gulfstream G700 registered to SWR Services III LLC of Palo Alto and managed by Solairus Aviation. Chicago is not among his usual destinations on file, which include Miami-Opa Locka, Chino, Carlsbad, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Aspen.

The aircraft had been on the ground at Appleton for about 13 days before this flight. Its previous tracked flight was from Oakland to Appleton on October 14, a 3-hour 14-minute trip covering 1,565 nautical miles. In the 30 days before this flight, the aircraft made eight flights totaling 14.7 hours in the air and produced about 67,984 kilograms of CO2.

The aircraft's home base is San Francisco International Airport, 1,608 nautical miles from Chicago Midway. Appleton's longest runway is 8,003 feet at an elevation of 918 feet. Chicago Midway's longest runway is 6,522 feet at 620 feet. The Gulfstream G700 has the largest cabin in the Gulfstream line, with five living areas, and was certified in 2023. It burns about 480 US gallons of fuel per hour.

The longest leg in that period was Chicago to Oakland on October 13, covering 1,599 nautical miles. Recent flights by the same owner include Oakland to Van Nuys on October 9, Burbank to Oakland on October 6, and Oakland to Van Nuys on October 5.

This short hop used only 2 percent of the aircraft's range. The flight from Appleton to Chicago is a routine repositioning move, common for aircraft that spend time at smaller airports.