I recently shared how the aerial footage of the FBI jet in flight from Twin Peaks Parts 7 and 9 was taken from promotional footage provided by Gulfstream Aerospace. The interiors for this location were shot using a set provided by Air Hollywood located in Pacoima, California. Here’s how I discovered this location.
WHERE WERE THE FBI JET INTERIOR SCENES SHOT IN TWIN PEAKS?
I figured there was no way that the scenes were shot while traveling in the air. The cost of renting an airplane for the crew seemed like it would be too high. Additionally, I knew there were companies based in Los Angeles, California that provided fake airplanes for film and television shoots.
At first, I searched AeroMockUps.com thinking that may be the company that provided the airplane. An exhaustive search on their website yielded no results. So I searched the web for another company and discovered AirHollywood.com. Their website had a listing for a Gulfstream III set that looked like it matched scenes from Twin Peaks Season 3 on Showtime.
Digging deeper into their site, I found a page that listed film and television shows that used their company. BINGO! There was a listing for Twin Peaks on Showtime that interestingly included a fan-created poster for the series.
Let’s look at where Air Hollywood is located in southern California.
Here’s an aerial shot from Google Maps of Air Hollywood located at 13240 Weidner Street in Los Angeles, California.
Zooming in, it appears the Gulfstream III is parked outside the facility.
A Google Maps street view image from June 2016 shows the Gulfstream III set parked in a similar spot as what is featured on their website.
Zooming in again, the set appears to be an exact match!
BEHIND THE CURTAIN – FBI JET INTERIOR
When I originally published this article on December 23, 2018, I didn’t have access to the incredible Behind the Curtain features on the Twin Peaks – From Z To A Collection Blu-ray set. These short videos contain so much behind the scenes footage at how the crew created Twin Peaks – The Return. For Part 7, we learn that the scenes were shot on December 1, 2015.
You’ll see the crew preparing lighting equipment that helped illuminate the inside of the jet.
These soft lights gave the illusion the FBI Agents were flying above the clouds.
Since this jet is not a working airplane, they had to pump in cool air so that the interior wouldn’t turn into an oven (those bright lights really get hot!).
The wildest part for me is this is the same plane that I found when searching Google Maps! How I’d love to visit it one day.
CLOSER LOOK AT FBI JET INTERIORS
Let’s compare screen caps from Twin Peaks Parts 7 and 9 with the set images from the Air Hollywood website.
The interior scenes from Part 7 starts with Gordon Cole sitting toward the back of the airplane. Albert Rosenfield stops to speak with Diane Evans before joining Cole.
AirHollywood.com offers these two images from inside the set that appear to match. I believe they reversed the couch and chairs and replaced the carpet for the series.
Agent Tammy Preston eventually discusses her findings about Dale Cooper with Cole and Rosenfield.
Here is another look at the back of the airplane set from AirHollywood.com.
In Part 9, Cole is seen looking out window.
The windows and seats appear to be the same as seen in this image from AirHollywood.com.
Cole visits the cockpit and asks the pilots to make a detour in their flight plan. He stops at the mini-bar and picks up Diane Evans more bottles of Vodka.
Here’s a look at the mini-bar/kitchen area from the set as found on AirHollywood.com.
The scene ends with Gordon Cole remarking that Cooper flew the Coop.
Notice in every scene how details are missing outside the exterior windows. You would think that the cockpit windows would at least show some kind of detail. It confirmed for me that they were really on a set.
I close with a favorite shot from the Behind the Curtain footage of David Lynch inside the FBI Jet set with Laura Dern, Chrysta Bell, Miguel Ferrer and Cinematographer Peter Deming. They were blocking and discussing the upcoming shoot on December 1.
