Randy's Journal: Archives
30 May 2006
Winging it
I guess you just can't keep a good airplane down. Or at least the wings. And maybe other parts.
For instance, I see that a woman in California is building a house out of parts of a 747 jumbo jet. The story I read on BBC News said the woman wanted her house in Malibu to have "curves and be eco-friendly." So her architect naturally thought, 747!
Great story. When you click on the link above you can see the airplane, and how the architect plans to turn it into a house. According to the piece, the 747's wing will be used for the roof, and the 747's upper deck will serve as a loft!
More on the 747 in a moment.
There was also the news earlier this month that a hotel right up the road from here, in Everett, Washington, will be graced with the wing of a former 727 airplane.
The 727 wing arrives at its new home by truck after a journey from Paine Field.
Photo: Francis Zera/Zeraphoto.com
The 8,000 pound, 64-foot long wing apparently had to be escorted along two-and-a-half miles of streets to travel from Paine Field to a hotel being remodeled.
The wing will serve as the roof of the "porte-cochere" entryway into the hotel. (Yes, I had to look that up, too!)
Wing aloft and ready to be installed as part of the hotel's entryway.
Photo: Francis Zera/Zeraphoto.com
In case you're interested, the recently-retired 727 previously flew the Vancouver Canucks hockey team!
I'm told that the hotel bought the 727 wing as part of an expansion. The hotel, which is close to a lot of aviation activity such as the Future of Flight center, will now have an airplanes theme and a new name: Best Western "Navigator Inn & Suites."
I guess they're hoping that with the improvements business there will really take off.
Now, more about the 747. You might want to take a look at a pretty good article featuring an update on the new 747-8 Intercontinental. Check out the recent report by Geoff Thomas.