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?"

Comments

From Boeing's web page

[georgeha]

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

Withstanding winds of up to 240mph!

[Dan B.]

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.

My basic thoughts regarding the pitfalls

[Pascal Q. Porcupine]

Okay, the commercial house project seems neat and all (though good luck getting one). However, there are some definite problems with it.

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. :)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

Cost of a stripped plane.

[Dan B.]

The cost of a stripped plane, thats no;

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.