Boeing 747 Recycled Into a Private Residence 239
Ponca City writes "Nicholas Jackson writes in the Atlantic about a woman who requested only curvilinear/feminine shapes for her new home and has purchased an entire Boeing 747-200. They transported it by helicopter to her 55-acre property in the remote hills of Malibu and after deconstructing it, had all 4,500,000 pieces put back together to form a main house and six ancillary structures including a meditation pavilion, an animal barn, and an art studio building. 'The scale of a 747 aircraft is enormous — over 230 feet long, 195 feet wide and 63 feet tall with over 17,000 cubic feet of cargo area alone and represents a tremendous amount of material for a very economical price of less than $50,000,' writes Architect David Hertz. 'In researching airplane wings and superimposing different airplane wing types on the site to scale, the wing of a 747, at over 2,500 sq. ft., became an ideal configuration to maximize the views and provide a self supporting roof with minimal additional structural support needed.' Called the 'Wing House,' as a structure and engineering achievement, the aircraft encloses an enormous amount of space using the least amount of materials in a very resourceful and efficient manner, and the recycling of the 4.5 million parts of this 'big aluminum can' is seen as an extreme example of sustainable reuse and appropriation. Interestingly enough, the architects had to register the roof of the house with the FAA so pilots flying overhead would not mistake it as a downed aircraft."
Another Variation (Score:5, Informative)
hgtv video of wing house (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Holy crap! (Score:4, Informative)
I think the guy should have authorization to talk to tower just like any other.
Except that it is owned by a woman.
... a woman who requested only curvilinear/feminine shapes for her new home and has purchased an entire Boeing 747-200 ...
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:5, Informative)
They do seal the doors, for passenger comfort. Yet, the plane is definitely not 100% airtight. Or watertight for that matter.
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:5, Informative)
Probably because, in the usual course of flying a 747, the engines are running which have big dealybobs called 'compressors' which pump air to the cabin. A pressurized aircraft would be 'weather resistant' rather than waterproof. Note that the Airbus 320 that splashed into the Hudson river a couple of years ago floated (for a couple of hours) because it has a "ditch switch" that closes a number of valves and openings on the plane that makes it more water resistant.
You probably could seal a fuselage enough to make it reasonably watertight at low pressures, but you don't see too many 747 submarines (this side of movies that is).
Re:Radiactive Waste? (Score:4, Informative)
The original poster doesn't even understand what neutron activation is or how its completely irrelevant to this situation, yet he's scared of it. Brilliant.
you could have accurately shortened it to
its never going to be emitting radiation.
The stereotypical granite countertops are probably going to pump out about as much gammas as she'd get from flying at low altitude.
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:3, Informative)
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:5, Informative)
and laugh at all the money and time I saved
Pay careful attention to the bit about $8,000 / hr for transportation to get it to the building site before you get excited about the money you'll save.
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:5, Informative)
They didn't get to push the ditching switch in the hudson river incident, which is why it sank so quickly.
Airbus Industrie documentation specifies that an A320-family aircraft landed intact on the water (which is highly improbable, but...) with the ditching mode activated should float for at least three days.
That is an ideal case, of course.
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:2, Informative)
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:1, Informative)
and $200,000 to gut it. and $8000/hr to transport it. and $400,000 for the concrete slab and tie down structure to hold it.
Re:THey should house a server farm in it (Score:3, Informative)
The pressure cabin (which is a long way from being the whole hull) is (mostly) air tight, but don't forget that it is PRESSURIZED by the environmental control system, which is typically driven by engine bleed air.
A static, unpowered hull isn't airtight nor pressurized.
Re:Just one problem: (Score:5, Informative)