Slashdot Mirror
Convert a Boeing 727 Into a Home
Numeric writes "Wired is reporting a story of a man who has converted a Boeing 727 into a home. The conversion project contains journal entries as well as some photos of his new home. Strangely, this will not be the first person who has moved into a converted airplane. Another company, Max Power Aerospace,
has three Boeing 727s ready to be converted into two- or
three-bedroom homes. The houses will sell for $290,000 and will include two bathrooms, a small kitchen and a large living area in the middle. So is that a starter home or what?"
Not a bit.
It is, you will like it.
I know.
I would wonder about the maintenance costs. Aerospace aluminum alloys corrode. That "house" may be falling apart on him in 15 years if he doesn't keep a sharp eye out for corrosion and replace the structure as needed. I don't know if it will be any worse than a house rotting, but at least it is easier to hire a carpenter and buy wood than a machinist and expensive aluminum.
(If you don't use the same materials for repair that was originally there (and you don't know what you are doing) you could set up galvanic corrosion that is much worse than the repair!
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Lighting hell, think of the heating you get from vacuum tubes!
Forget flamingoes.....can the radar in the nose be converted to pick up DSS signals? If not, I don't think we'll have to worry about the trailer-dwellers....although having 30 or so rows of 5 seats across is great for them to invite over some family (dates?) to watch World Wide Championship Federation World wrestling
Personally I'd _want_ the plane to act as a big weathervane, and you'd better believe I'd keep the cockpit totally untouched- not even display screens. Well, maybe sit a CRT in front of the window and it'd be my desk :) *typing to slashdot as the huge jet slowly swoops around to a northeasterly heading* hey, I'd put it on a mountaintop, especially to get good winds :) and leave all the wings and stuff intact. It'd be a giant live-in artwork :) actually, a Lear would do as well. At the other extreme, imagine years from now when the 747s are all being decommissioned? ;) however, there are some _damn_ good reasons for building an underground house, and it doesn't have to withstand a nuclear hit for it to still be a good idea. Heating costs are incredibly cheap even in the harshest winter as the ambient temperature is a bit below 60, _always_. Same with summer- heat? What heat? And there's another thing- nothing gets through the earth. Not RF, not sound, nothing. So you run a wire if you want to use your TV- but if you want the total opposite of ambient noise, this is it- an underground house is so silent it can be disturbing, takes some getting used to. Think hobbit-hole for some of the positive aspects- also, there are some unusual building techniques that could be used in this situation. For more information on underground houses check out TAB book #1172 :) :)
The other point, brought up by a slashdot poster, about the missile silos, is very interesting. One wonders if there are any undeveloped silos around since that company seems hellbent on turning them into tatty redwood luxury homes
Thanks, Slashdot, this article kicks arse!
My tripod has 5 legs, odd.
You're mistaken. Okay, bye.
"I could continue with my scheme to finance SETI work and send Jodi Foster to the center of the galaxy... " I could think of better things to do with Jodi Foster... ;)
Yeah, well, we all know how sturdy those Egyptian planes are...
If you really want to live in a Cessna then go for the gold: get a 208 (Caravan). They're like 172's on steroids. I used to fly freight in these puppies, and there's plenty of space for when the relatives come over at Christmas!
Bah... Largest plane on earth. Obviously you have not looked at military aircraft or for the commercial arena what about a 777. The engines are as big as a 727 fussilage.
Try again.
It's reminds me more of snoopy.
Pepsi - Same Great Taste!
I think the plane would be in a non-functional state. You are a BAD PARENT.
zip!
It's a new idea, and not exciting at all.
*
heheh
That is not true.
I don't get it.
... I'd like pics of what the finished products look like, both in 747s and Missle Bases. Anyone know any links?
Dijital
Diji
"I came, I saw, I WTF'd!"
I'm doin' a dumpster conversion. Throw in some cardboard for furniture. Chuck some pizza against the wall, poof - art. A little puke in da corner for that homey feel. Reality bites.
Its a bit pricey for my blood and looks like an awful lot of work.. But hey each to his/her own! :)
Folks,
People have been converting old airplanes to living quarters for quite some time.
I've read of DC-4/DC-6/DC-7 conversions to living space, along with some old 737's done the same way for a number of years.
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
Kind of reminds me of that guy in Contact before he moved into space station Mir...
Is there some sort of warrantee, or is it a fly-by-night operation?
I dunno if I'd want to live in a converted jet or not, they seem to have enough troubles just being jets, and not houses...
Dan
you still have to consider the price of the lot, which isn't included in the $290k.
I'd worry about the day my 9-year-old kid hotwires it in the middle of the night, and the family and I wake up in Tokyo!
My Freakin Blog
The military does not use aircraft, if you are talking about the US military. 777 is smaller than it's previous family. Thank you, please come again.
I can not let crass stupidity like this go without comment! Even though I am probably just being sucked into playing this AC's little game.
I appologise if this offends anyone, other than the AC it is directed to. I know my aircraft and have been an aviation enthusiast for most of my 31 years and just can't stand reading this sort of rubbish. There is too much ignorance about aviation in the community and misinformation in the trash mainstream media already without this sort of thing being spread about. It is especially galling to read it on a forum like /. where the users are supposed to be inteligent thinking people.
-------------------------------When and where did you fly these aircraft and with what airline? (Microsoft flight sim does not count!) How many hours do you have? What endorsments do you have? While you are at it give us the details of your source of stats. If you have one!
No pilot I know, and I fly myself, is stupid enough to even try to argue that the 727 is larger than the 747, even as a joke. All you have to do to know that the 747 is much larger is open your eyes and look. Take a trip to a major airport and have a look at the apron from the public viewing area.
My guess is you are just a snotty nosed little pre pubescent jerk who made his own aircraft model for flight sim (727 with 8 engines) and you are arguing a stupid point for the sake of it. Sometimes this sort of thing is funny but in this case it is just plain nauseating.
I guess that next you'll tell us the Cessna 152 is bigger than a DC3. As for the largest aircraft in existence, that honour goes to the Russian Antonov AN225 Mriya (Dream). A six engined monster brother to the AN124 freighter which, when introduced to service, took the crown from the USAF C-5 Galaxy.
If you really did fly these aircraft and it was MANY years ago then perhaps we should forgive your crass stupidity. You can't do anything about senile dementure after all.
Maybe you should reveal yourself COWARD. But after the crap you've posted I wouldn't want to either.
Uh, Dad. Isn't that the wrong way?
Yes...but faster.
Look I'm an aircraft mechanic and i have worked on 747 and 727 and the 747 is the largest one any thing bigger is a military cargo jet or a airbus.
I know this house in an airplane idea isn't anything new, but it is still is exciting. With a little bit of innovation here there could be some truly magnificent uses of this kind of living space. Take the cockpit for example. Imagine having projection screens where the windows used to be, and high quality flight simulator controls where the real ones used to be. There you go, an awesome flight simulator environment, right in your own house. Also, don't discount the number of hamsters that could fit in those small storage closets where they keep the airplane food. I can see it now, a HamsterHavoc style hamster-in-a-ball rolling around an airplane. The hamster, being unsophisticated, thinks it is on a real airplane, so starts bouncing around, hoping to use its extreme weight to make the plane experience turbulence. Man i wish i lived in a giant mouse inflated into a house. The house-is-mouse. Err.. i'll stop now before i get severely off topic.
Hamsters are at least as feathery as penguins. HamLix
Here are two photo's on the Boeing web site.
727-100 's in factory.
747-400' s in factory.
Most people should be able to look at the size of the equipment in the factory and compare it with the size of each aircraft. It is obvious the 747 is larger. To argue otherwise makes no sense.
Biggles
Is this what happens when trailer trash win the lottery?
If I recall right (and I'm certainly no expert), a 727's wings sitting on landing gear are somewhere around 18 feet off the ground. Not a real easily jumpable distance, but not one to cause fatal injury, either. And for their water-mounts, a great diving platform.
"The only difference between a writer and a con-man is the writer has better hours, works at home, and can use his real
This seems like a neat idea to me. If I had that kind of money laying around to buy one I'd do it. I think instead of putting a hottub in the cockpit I'd arrange a computer system to be in there sitting in the captains chair would take on a different meaning. Flight sim games would be even cooler. Come on Texas Lotto pick my numbers already.
Good is never enough, when you dream of being great!
I know you better than you know yourself.
> hit is just overwhelming.
well maybe either is cool but the combination is kind of pointless ..... after the bomb (and the EMP) - who are you going to talk to ....
And requires about 29 8' racks to run it. It has the power equiv to a CD Jewel case.
Those bunker houses look pretty cool, but you'd want to get an elevator for decent access without going up and down 400 stairs every day.
BTW, a fully decked out 747SP (the short version like AF1) is about $240M. Corporate jets are never over $10M and even at $500/night, it takes a lot of nights to get to $290M, plus you don't have to worry about the mess you leave the room in.
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
I have seen both in pictures, and the 747 is like 3 inches bigger. So it's not a big difference...
"This house boat is great, Marge. If we don't like our neighbors, we can just sail away!"
Vroom . . .
Dan
They took the flyable part out. Damnit, it would be cool if it could fly too.
:0
Stuff Like, mmm, I wanna go to Linux Expo but the airlines are already booked and so is hotel. NP, friends come to my home and we'll fly there
-- Note: These Comments are Generated by ME! Not You! ME!
Bruce Campbell, huh? Am I the only one concerned that the 727 might not hold up against the armies of darkness who have such a strong hunger for the book of the dead? This could get very messy. I hope those propellors still have some use left in them...
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Give me a type 44 TARDIS, with a working chameleon circuit. It woudl work with any decor. :)
Injured software engineer wins against Mattel
Neeed more laughs?
No, it's a twin turbo Testarossa which tops out well north of 150, and a twin turbo F50 (which costs more than this plane/house/hamster run) that is a work in progress. Or at least, those are the really really non standard ones.
just trim for level flight above 5280 MSL
I hope you mean AGL (Above Ground Level), not MSL (Mean Sea Level). If membership in the mile-high club were based on sea level, the folks in Denver would be able to mess around on the ramp and gain membership.
- Drew
- Drew
- In Capitalist America, law violates YOU!
If the gas tank "goes off," this will ruin your day, whether you're at an altitude of 5 feet or 50,000 feet
WTF???
What are you talking about? Gas tank going off? He doesn't have a gas tank. It's not an airplane, it's a home.
How did this post get moderated up? It's not even funny, it's just dumb.
Jordan
I'd love to see a 727 running on propellers :)
Open Source. Closed Minds. We are Slashdot.
That's strange, I'm converting my townhouse into a passenger jetliner.
um..... a 747 is MUCH larger than a 727. It's wider, taller, longer wings, 1 more engine. The 747-100(and SP) didn't have as much room on the flight-deck/gally/first-class area.... And they got respectively larger all the way up to the 747-400, which added winglets, more powerful engines, etc. Pictures vs. Specs. Pick the winner
I'm sure some will disagree (read flame) with this, but the AOL email address at the bottom of the pages negates the middle-aged nerd claim for me. A hobbyist, most definitely, but not quite what I would call a nerd. The idea seems pretty cool on the surface, but I'm sure there are all sorts of nasty details that rear its ugly head.
-- Solaris Central - http://w
Maybe some Star Trek chix would dig it..
A home just by my Aunt's house in South Africa is made up of a renovated Boeing 747 jumbo. They attempted to convert this one into a restaurant first.
They can be decorated very nicely. I didn't have the chance to take a peek (but could have, and should have).
Essentially its a very large object that can likely make your neighbors very angry at you.
- Hugh Buchanan
- Userfriendly.com
As for the wing airspeed thing, from what I understand, they make some very specific modifications to the wings in order to get rid of any lift capability...making it just like any other balcony. As for kids jumping...well its like kids and any other balcony...some supervision is required. Personally, I'd be a little bit more concerned about drunk party goers ;)
Tom
I guess those men with enough money can finally live their dream of having sex in the cockpit. ;P
...(of which only a very few were made in the 1970s) but rather a drastically modified 747-200. In other words, it doesn't have a shortened fuselage. Also, there are TWO of them, identically outfitted.
FYI.
I bet he'll get all the babez with that fly crib..or not.
A 727 has a taller body (about 12" taller), and has wings that are 72' longer. It has 4 more engines, all with more power (around 120,000 lbs of thrust). The 727 also has much more room for seating and cargo than the 747 (or any other model for the matter). Get your facts straight.
In the the US, that's more like two or three, it seems.
that it's like real money? oh. crap. burst my bubble won't you!
please?!?! heheh
727
;)
Wingspan: 108 ft.
Length: 153 ft.
Range: 2,000-2,200 miles
Engine Thrust: 14,000 lbs (3)
94 to 130 passengers
747
Wing Span 211 feet 5 inches
Length 231 feet 10 inches
Range 8,290 miles
Engine Thrust 58,000 lbs (4)
Passengers 420 (21 first, 77 business, 322 economy class)
>Get your facts straight.
Someone should
Just the thought of having to clean all those windows !
Now, if the thing could actually fly, it would be cool.
Personally, I feel bad for this guy. Maybe we can get him a date.
obviously redundant...
stop. STOP. STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! GO AWAY!!!!!! aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! You make monkey go crazy! AHHHHHHH!
Or an Antunov?
There must be a few of those getting very close to the end of their service life.
For that matter, I'd love to buy an old soviet missle sub, cut out the launch tubes, and turn it into a disco. Those boats are *huge*.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I wonder how much the parking would be.
Deleted
Back in the fifties, there was a fad of converting old railroad cabooses into homes.
Anybody know if it's possible to get old airplane seats (first class preferably)? Would be a cheaper and a bit more practical way of giving your home the mile high look.
1. Condemned to eat nothing but airline meals.
2. The only decent snacks you have around the "house" are undersized packets of peanuts.
3. Having to install a special security system to alert you when those pesky gremlins come 'round to tear the place up.
4. Neighbors constantly bitch about having to live so close to the airport.
5. Must get clearance from ATC before you can mow the lawn.
6. Guests and visitors are put-off metal detector and x-ray machine installed at the head of the driveway.
7. All residents must be instrument rated.
8. Needing recurrent training just to fix the plumbing.
9. Leslie Nielsen keeps stopping by to tell you how much he is counting on you.
10. One morning you wake up and find your "house" has been hijacked to Cuba.
Bush should have died, not Reagan -- Morrissey
Morrissey rides a cockhorse -- The Warlock Pinchers
Does it qualify for a trailer park? :-)
You could get this :a ker.pl?/e/services/executive/xxl/dia2.html
http://www.lufthansa-technik.com/cgi-bin/framem
..about nukewar.. I may have to actually leave the house.
I agree. I've been on enough flights to say the 747 was the largest plane I've ever been on. They even have two seating levels... So the upper class doesn't even have to acknowlege us cheapo upper-middle-lower class even exist.
:-(
The 747 had 9 or 10 almost comfortable seats across each row in the middle (If I remember correctly... It was a while ago.), the 727 only 7 Lada sized seats (don't get the headphones or you'll have a black and blue spot on your leg for a week... sheesh, don't these designers ever think? HEADPHONE JACK ON *TOP* OF THE ARMREST, DAMMIT!).
Tiniest airplane, worst ride I've been on? A 707... So tiny, it doesn't even have pop down gas masks. It isn't meant to fly that high....
I believe there is a misunderstanding. Yes it is a home, but it is also an airplane. Kind of like the austin powers private jet. A comfortable place to live on the one hand, a transportation device on the other. If the airplane was taken apart to just be a house, it would no longer be an airplane, just an empty airplane shell with a house inside. Even if it is on the ground for the night, there are surely still fumes in the tank, even if you empty them. So while you are playing around with your new X.10 system, you hit the wrong key and the fireplace goes on, but faulty wiring makes the gas tank explode, sending shards of senility through your brain. Please refrain from insulting ingenious posts.
Hamsters are at least as feathery as penguins. HamLix
Tell your visitors that they can't use their cell phones because it may interfere with your microwave oven controls. However, offer use of the GTE Airphone (located on the seat-back in front of you) at $3/min.
If your friends ask why the GTE phone doesn't interfere with on-board systems...feign ignorance.
Or perhaps you'd like to fed the fishes.
A 727 has a taller body (about 12" taller), and has wings that are 72' longer. It has 4 more engines, all with more power (around 120,000 lbs of thrust). The 727 also has much more room for seating and cargo than the 747 (or any other model for the matter). Get your facts straight.
A 727 has 4 more engines? For a total of 8? You are seriously deluded, a 727 has 3 engines at the tail.
From the Boeing 727 web page.
The versatility and reliability of the Boeing 727 - first trijet introduced into commercial service - made it the best-selling airliner in the world during the first 30 years of jet transport service.
Tri-jet means three engines.
From the stats section.
Advanced 727-200 Specifications
Wingspan 108 feet (32.91 m)
Length 153 feet 2 inches (46.69 m)
Tail Height 34 feet (10.36 m)
Gross Maximum Taxi Weight Standard: 191,000 pounds (86,600 kg)
Optional: 210,000 pounds (95,300 kg)
Power Three Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofans:
-15 rated at 15,500 pounds thrust
-17 rated at 16,000 pounds thrust
-17R rated at 17,400 pounds thrust
Cruising Speed 570 to 605 mph (890 to 965 km/h)
Cruising Altitude 30,000 to 40,000 feet (9,144 to 12,192 m)
Range 1,500 to 2,500 miles (2,750 to 4,020 km)
Passenger Capacity 148 to 189
Fuel 8,186 U.S. gallons (31,000 L) standard at lower gross weights
9,806 U.S. gallons (37,020 L) standard for 208,000 pounds
I have no idea what commercial jetliner you are thinking of, but it sure isn't a 30 year old 727.
George
As any pilot knows, one of the participants isn't piloting the aircraft, he doesn't gain admission to the mile-high club.
(Sick of all these idiots who think they've joined the mile-high club just because they've found alternate uses for the washrooms in an airliner)
- Drew
- In Capitalist America, law violates YOU!
I was on-topic. I was writing my critique as I read the page. Sorry for reading the site. And I'm quite on-topic; I was ruminating about the site linked to.
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
The Egyptians thought of building a restaurant at the Cairo airport years ago. It's across the street from the airport Moevenpick hotel. It's kind of tacky and has corrosion in places. If I remember rightly, it is (was?) a 707.
I went there with some friends, all airline employees on business in Cairo, for dinner. The memorable part was when a guy laughed so hard after a joke someone told that he ripped the seat from the floor and fell in the aisle. Oh well, you had to be there...
- Drew
- In Capitalist America, law violates YOU!
I have flown a 747 (and many 727 years ago), I know my planes buddy! 211 feet 5 inches for a 747! hah! you think anyone is going to beleive that rubbish? BTW - the 727 is the largest plane in existance. no doubt.
A 727 has 4 more engines? For a total of 8? You are seriously deluded, a 727 has 3 engines at the tail. From the Boeing 727 web page.
Excuse me? It has 3 engines on each wing, one engine at the tail, and one engine at the nose. At least the 727 _I_ flew had that configuration.
Tri-jet means three engines.
Tri-jet means a jet with 8 engines. It's right in the name, not hard to see.
Advanced 727-200 Specifications
Well, what is the 727-200? See, we have a lack of communication here. I don't even know what plane you are talking about now, god knows what you are listing the specs for! See? That started this whole miscommunication thing
I am off! Zooooooom!!!!!!You got the main cabin, which has a very tall ceilling. You have the cargo bay, which is tall enough to stand and move around, although not tall enough for a confortable living space. But very large, you gotta be on a cargo 747 to appreciate it, they are huge. And there is the second floor, or third when you consider the cargo space, which is pretty big and holds the cockpit on it.
Please read the article!!
:)
It is not a plane, it is "an empty airplane shell with a house inside" as you said. No enginces, no fuel lines, no control surfaces, no avionics, nothing at all besides de shell.
Pretty lame if you ask me. Cool, a REAL airplane house. Nut, that would require some BIG megabucks to buy and mantain.
Remember contact??
Personally, I'd spring for a 747 anyday. Those things are massive. They would make an amazing house. Live with me now as I walk you through my rendition:
1) The cockpit would become my master bedroom with skylights.
2) The entire plane would have white carpeting. Within the living room, my 55" flatscreen TV with DVD player and surround sound system would be on a wall opposite my black leather fainting couches, etc.
3) I'm sure I could bring all of my computer gear into the cargo space on the bottom and turn it into a lean, mean office.
Some questions though:
1) Anyone know how much a used, inoperable 747 goes for? The exterior must be in tip-top shape - however.
2) Anyone know the amount of living space it would have on all decks of the 747?
make sure you have your oxygen masks, parachutes, and liferafts ready in case of a mechanical failure! ;0)
-DAVEO
I think this is a residence built with Californians in mind.
It's undersized, overpriced, has high-tech allure, and is frequently subject to the laws of motion!
Just substitute rotation for the Californian shake, rattle & roll ...
that if the plane ain't in flight, you don't gain membership to the mile-high club ;>)
Hates people who have stupid little sigs
Yeah, I'd like to see that. The plane needs an angle-of-attack of about 1.5 to fly straigt and level at 0.79M (>400mph) and 33,000'. So, assuming this thing never cops a wind gust high enough to upset it's 1.5 angle-of-attack in a hurricane (which is what they're marketing the thing to hold out in), It could literally be 'flying' through the hurricane.
Now, in flight, a birdstike is like a speed hump, not much chop, mostly annoying more than anything else. A flock of birds is a little more dangerous, but not deadly. However a flying 36' yacht just may put a small dent in your lovely new house.
Oh, one other thing. These planes were all built between 1964 and 1972, and designed to safely last 10,000 flight hours. In 30 years, most of them have exceeded 30,000 hours and have had some sort of damage. For all this guy knows, it's held together by paperclips and he's just pulling them all out.
I'll stick to bricks and morter.
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
I should know better than to feed the trolls, I really should.
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
The first thing that crossed my mind when read that article was something along the lines of 'white-collar redneck'.
Can you imagine what it will be like when this goes mainstream? It conjures up images of grungy trailer parks and rusted out mobile homes wedged up on cinder blocks, with good 'ol boys with names like Billy-Bob sittin' out front, swilling homemade moonshine.
Definitely not for me.
On the missile silo, I especially love the fact that thet specifically mention that it can survive direct nuclear hit!
----
Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
Sure, you could go the Carmack route and collect Ferraris, then start turbocharging them, or you could go the Gates route and build the uber-home. But really, doesn't every guy with his own software empire have a few Ferraris sitting around the back yard? And the uber-home isn't that cool without the smart house tech to back it up. Although I think the submerged airplane house would be even cooler. Just think, you could do your own amateur remakes of airplane 77 whenever you wanted!
itachi
Actually assuming the internet holds to its original purpose, perhaps you might be able to frag the few remaing souls in a Quake death match.
----
Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
Personally, I wouldn't want to have a plane mounted on my property. But the fellow who has done this himself raises some very interesting points. The plane has been built to withstand flight. That's some pretty good engineering. This about it - they probably spend a good couple of billion designing these things. Now look at your average suburb house: it's a cookie-cutter type deal. They're pretty much worthless, structurally.
;]), and you've got a warm, well-built, solid, permanent residence.
:)
I always thought that when I got my own house, I would build it myself. There's simply no other way to guarantee that there will be something there for your children to inherit. But this plane thing raises an interesting alternative: with the fuselage in good condition, and a bit of maintenance now and then(unfortunatly this would require rather expensive paint), these things could last a heck of a long time.
Like I said before, I wouldn't want to mount it on my property. But what about putting it in my property? With a large enough fuselage, just bury half of it in your property, and that bugger ain't going nowhere. Good insulation, too. The cargo desk(below the passenger cabin) isn't high enough to stand in, so rip half of the passenger-section floor out, and make the cargo deck the floor for your new, quite large living area. Now we've got a split-level house, all nice and nifty, with a great deal of storage(the other half of the cargo deck). Of course, you could convert this into kids' rooms, but I'd want to be able to get in and out of there in a hurry, in case there's an emergency.
Now, take off the wings(you wouldn't want to try and bury those, would you?), keep the tail section(a bit of a look-out[anybody have pictures of tree forts in their minds?
I think the novelty of this idea is cool - but I think the engineering pluses are really what makes it attractive to me. With a 747 fuselage, you'd have a HUGE amount of living space, and pretty burglar-proof.
I read a post that mentioned a few things: namely broken windows, fire-escape problems, and the galley. For the first: Those windows are STURDY. Don't forget, these windows are made to withstand low are pressure. The second problem(that of getting out when there is a fire), is more interesting. This is a house, not an airplane. My house would be just as difficult to get out of. I'd have to go through four different rooms to get to the nearest door. And I'm on the ground level of my house. What about the people on the second floor? As for the galley - that problem is easy to fix. Don't use the plane's galley. Make a bigger one.
Dave
Barclay family motto:
Aut agere aut mori.
(Either action or death.)
Bedroom in the cockpit ???
Just imagine of the risk of being surprised by an evil hijacker (read: teenage kid), while working on the entry form (read: f****** your wife/husband) for the (virtual) Mile High Club.
Nahh - bad idea.
A flightsim - that would be the thing to have there.
I remember seeing an article in Smithsonian Air&Space a few years ago about someone who did this to either a DC10 or an L1011 (can't remember which one).
:-)
I remember that he made the tail mounted engine into a lookout/patio.
As for the cockpit, it would make a great computer workcenter. You could have a bunch of monitors withing easy viewing with a swivel chair.
As for the the bathroom... I would be inclined to use a more traditional toilet (in a much bigger room, of course) I wouldn't use the same water system... I'd rather put in a standard copper system.
And the cargo areas are great for storage, water heater/pump, and air circulation... not to mention it gives easy access to the underside of the floor for routing that ethernet cable
yummy
it's was totally out of line.
I thought I saw this ages (perhaps years) ago on TV. The guy lives in some rural area right? And he was pulling a plane through town. Funny. Actually, I'd love to have a house decorated as an airport. That would be cool. Then again I'm a military brat and spent half my life in airports.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
site excerpt (http://www.missilebases.com):
looks rather interesting
-raj jr
I can see it now: "I'm sorry, the plane is rated at 240 mph while FLYING." doh. There will be a different story for a plane on the ground. So it looks nice, but this guy is messing up if he doesn't build something to stabilize the plane. And he's lucky his new house is in the northwest, so maybe such weather as tornadoes/hurricanes are not much of a problem.
OTOH, for another $30K, he can mount solar panels on the wings.
They better not complain about the noise.
yeah, and if any of your friends has too much to drink, let 'em "crash" at your place.
Me troll......
First, you wouldn't want it in an area where the wind tends to change direction rapidly. They specifically mount it on a column which allows it to rotate (if I understand the page correctly) so that the wind always blows through the house in the same direction (using the tail to direct the plane). If this is the case, then your house is basically a weathervane. (Also, good luck getting in and out of it.) Of course, I could be misunderstanding it and maybe the tail is sufficiently-large to redirect all wind around the plane, but that doesn't seem aerodynamically possible.
Second problem: the wings are high off the ground. No sweat, they put railings on them - but that won't stop kids from jumping/falling off the wings, either accidentally or on-purpose. And I don't know about other people, but it's not height that gives me vertigo so much as the threat of falling. Also, the wings give you 1200 square feet of balcony (which is quite a lot) but it doesn't seem to be in any sort of usable shape. And don't forget that you're standing on top of an airfoil - even with the deflector you're still likely to get some major windspeeds going over the wing, thanks to the principle discovered by Bernoulli which keeps planes in-flight to begin with. Though at least the wings can each withstand a good-sized party (but can the railings? :)
Hm. Lots of windows to be broken by the neighborhood baseball games. And they can't be cheap to replace...
In the meantime, 727s are relatively huge, especially as airplanes go. I'm sure the cargo holds would be useful as an 'attic,' and of course there's the electrical and engineering bay which makes a convenient basement.
I'd hate to try cooking in one of the galleys. My apartment's kitchen is too small for my likings, and it's HUGE in comparison.
I like the way they deal with the hallway problem, though... use the cargo hold as a corridor. I imagine there's stairs or ladders or something.
Two neighborhoodly problems: first, I don't like the thought of my home getting hijacked by terrorists. :) Also, I bet ignorant neighbors/visitors to the neighborhood keep calling the police with reports of an airplane having mysteriously landed (that'd be especially common in water-mounted houses as they show). Also, for the waterbound houses, I imagine you need a boat. It'd be far too easy to get stranded inside or outside your house in that case... and stairs from the shore would get blown over... it just seems so risky... maybe that's why this is for adventuresome homeowners. :)
I seriously doubt it's up to fire codes. The emergency exits are easily-accessed when everyone's upstairs and there's a nice aisle going through the whole plane, but with these modifications, one fire and you're stuck. I certainly wouldn't be able to squeeze myself through a window.
Ah, reading further I see that you can lock the column in place and rotate it slowly using motors or have it act as a weathervane. Okay, so hopefully the gears don't get stripped, or you lose power during a nasty storm, or else you could be in puke city, though it claims to limit the free rotation to be very gradual. So how does one get in or out? A rolling ladder?
At least this house would be VERY easy to move (they even say so :)
Man, this IS very intriguing though. And it's a lot cheaper than building a normal house, and a lot cooler... I'd be concerned about the things I mentioned above, but all in all, man, I hope they can ramp up production by the time I can afford a house of my own. :)
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"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.
Quine "quine?
A neat idea, but I can see some potential problems. It would be very hard to get natural ventilation through it, so you would need to run the air conditioning for much of the year (and maintain the system). To have a private room - one that other people don't walk through - you would need a corridor beside it, which would leave a very narrow room. Airliner doors have thousands of parts - they are bound to require a fair bit of maintenance and be hell to fix. All the windows are small and very low - which would lead to poorly lit rooms. On the other hand, you could use the fuel tanks to store water for those hurricanes they talk about. (Indeed, it would probably make sense to weigh the thing down as much as possible if a hurricane is coming.)
Oh, this is awesome!
Now when my home is overrun by all my loser friends on movie night, I can force 'em to rent those crappy plastic headphones ("Sanitized for your comfort...") and make a handy, airline-style profit!
Thanks, Slashdot!
-A.
What did the walrus say to the penguin? "No soap, radio."
If the gas tank "goes off," this will ruin your day, whether you're at an altitude of 5 feet or 50,000 feet...
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Why not do like the CIA in the 60's and 70's
and convert it into a flying spy plane packed
with electronic gear? Now that aerodynamics is
out of the way, you could mount all sorts of
antennae on top of it and spy on your neighbours.
Listen into their wireless phones, their TV set,
bluetooth devices (from the ain't-that-crappy-
encryption-or-what?-dept.) or how about some
giant ears for some low-tech snooping fun?
Put it up in front of Hemos' almost-burnt-
down house, figure out what story will run in
10 minutes and then post "FIRST POST"
messages the second the story is up.
...I still like the Missile Silo Home better. Not only is it in posession of massive quantities of "geek chic", but what better place to carry out your experiments that defy the laws of nature?
I do like the plane on a post idea however. But this begs one question: Will my AIBO (No link, just look for the banner ad...) be waterproof??
Hmmm... I think I'll just save up for the Condos on Mars... Maybe a Boeing 727 in a Bomb shelter on Mars... WoooHooo!
~Jason Maggard
"A house flown by a drunken pilot cannot stand." ~Abe Lincoln
Made out of the best quality materials available, guaranteed to stand through earthquakes and hurricanes - and it STILL costs less than any house in San Jose! - Ted Mao
shameless self promotion - http://kibbles.org
???
Me troll.
I may be mistaken, but I beleive his Testarossa is THE fabled Koenig Testarossa. This means that it is both turbocharged and supercharged, with a cnverter system to do the switchover depending on the rpm range (low RPM == supercharged, high RPM == turbocharged). Very effective way to boost a 350+hp engine into the 700+ range consistently.
If I were doing it I wouldn't have it on wheels. I'd have it buried about wing level, with hedges and flower gardens around the perimeter. Low profile. But that's just me :) I like his ambition. One man, one wacky idea.
You want the snobbiest dwelling around?
Get Clinton to retire one of the Air Force One 747s so you can use that and live in total luxury...
Or just find an old 747 and move into that... it's got to be more liveable than 1200 sq ft of low headroom... You did notice that the hallway was on the side, requiring curved residents or a permanent crick in the back!
Myself, I'll stick to concrete, wood, and steel.
"...America's great minds of today, teaching America's great minds of tomorrow. Poor bastards." -- A Beautiful Min
Rather than actually using old planes, I think some of the principles hit upon and developed by these people could really turn into something.
The idea of aerodynamic housing bearing-mounted on pedestals could be really usefull in flood and wind-disaster-prone areas.
You could build a multi-level cylindrical structure and god-knows what other designs.
Instead of just using planes, this company should build homes from scratch. They're on to something bigger than they know.
**>>BELCH
Folks have been buying and restoring old missle silos into homes for awhile now. Some even have runways on the surrounding land! (There do, however, appear to be a few environmental issues with some sites....)
Some links:
20th Century Castles - a place that sells old missle silos
Home Improment For Missle Bases - a "how to" page
Silo-Net - general missle silo info
Just think, the cockpit converted into a master control room, with multiple monitors a la The Matrix, with a Beowulf cluster humming beneath in the cargo bay! This thing would be cool. Since I'm dreaming, I'll go for a 747, so I can have a real home theatre also
The 747 is the largest passenger plane in the world. The Lockheed L-1011 was built to be it's direct competitor, and is the only civilian transport plane that even comes CLOSE to the 747's girth. The 727 was created in the early 1960's, the 747 (aka "Jumbo Jet") wasn't even created until 1969! Crissakes - they don't even MAKE the 727 anymore!
"I have seen both in pictures, and the 747 is like 3 inches bigger"
Sorry - that makes me snicker... I've seen pictures of my dad... He's only 2" tall!
For everyone else - the 747 features 4 engines, 2 mounted under each wing. The 727 features three engines - hence "trijet" at the aft of the aircraft. Two on the sides, one mounted in the tail. Good links to visit:
Boeing 727
Boeing 747 Evolution
... it gives a whole new meaning to the term mobile home!
-- Erich
Slashdot reader since 1997
1. I'd rather live in a functional 747. It would be the ultimate home for someone who travels a few hundred days a year. Hell, I'm a bit surprised now that I think about it that some company hasn't bought one for their frequently-flying execs. Bill Gates spends a lot of time abroad (even when he's not getting pied) -- if he were like me, he'd prefer framiliar surroundings to even a ritzy hotel. I think a more homey Air Force One would be gangbusters -- convert the press and secret service areas into a master bedroom and a living area. Once I had it set up, I could continue with my scheme to finance SETI work and send Jodi Foster to the center of the galaxy...
2. This place can't hold a candle to the outfit offering the converted missile bases . The ability to have a T1 installed and to withstand a direct nuclear hit is just overwhelming. If those BATF guys think they had trouble getting the Branch Davidians to come out, just you wait until I lock this thing down for the evening.
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Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
The 727 idea isn't too bad, just a bit plane...
Perhaps a more interesting home could be built from one of computers of antiquity, the kind that took up whole rooms. Nice ambient lighting from the vacuum tubes...
avionics or electronics
wiring
hydraulics
seats
galleys
engines
etc,
is the same price as 100 tons of used 7072 aluminium alloy. So, at about $25,000/ton, you'd have to expext to be paying $250,000 for a totally worn out airframe.
As for the tip top exterior, just wipe off the oil stains and paint over them!
An L1011 would be heaps better, short and fat.
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
What would happen if this guy doesn't like his neighbors... I mean he would have a great view and all, but you got to wonder where he is gonna park his car, what does he do about cable? And another thing, does he get to have stewardesses as his "house" cleaners? This is quite funny but at the same time a great example of how people with money think up the craziest ideas.