Salvaged Aircraft Tiny Homes

Who’da thunk that retired commercial salvaged aircraft could be turned into tiny homes? You can find many cool examples of these artful homes on YouTube. You can actually stay in the one pictured above through Airbnb.

The Hotel Costa Verde now has four aircraft rooms to rent. See the fascinating slide show of the construction process.

Dream Location Manuel Antonio, Provincia de Puntarenas, Costa Rica

The Airbnb ad says: “Dream location with an amazing view nestled in the jungle of Costa Rica in the heart of Manuel Antonio. Refurbished vintage Boeing 727 airframe, which in its prior life, shuttled globetrotters on South Africa Air and Avianca Airlines (Colombia) now rests in the jungles of Costa Rica.

This fully outfitted, meticulously detailed, two bedroom/two bath, Boeing 727 fuselage suite juts out from the jungle canopy, affording you views that will make you feel like you’re flying.

Furnishings are hand-carved, teak furniture from Java, Indonesia. The 727 home features two air conditioned bedrooms–one with two queen sized beds and the other with one queen sized bed, each with its own private bath, a flat screen TV, a kitchenette with microwave, dining area foyer, an ocean view terrace, a private entrance up a river rock, spiral staircase, and 360 degrees of surrounding gardens.

Since our 727 rests in the jungle just above a resort property, guests have full access to two family swimming pools and one pool and sun deck.” Two bedroom, two bath, sleeps six. Click on image to see more.

There are Literally Tens of Thousands of Trashed Aircraft

With the area’s low humidity in the 10%-20% range, meager rainfall of 11″ annually, hard alkaline soil, and high altitude of 2,550 feet allowing the aircraft to be naturally preserved for cannibalization or possible reuse, Davis-Monthan AFB Boneyard is the logical choice for a major storage facility. There are seven of these facilities.

Tens of thousands of aircraft are mothballed in this Arizona desert. You’d think you could get one for a song, load it on a flatbed truck and drive away. But, no. Used aircraft still have value, and the salvage yards know it.

Making a Tiny Home from a Salvaged Aircraft Might Be Feasible

The lady in this Youtube® Video bought a decommissioned plane for two thousand dollars, and spent four thousand moving it to her property. Friends and others made this unusual opportunity for her because of extenuating circumstances in her life. She also lived in just the right place. Twenty-four thousand dollars was spent on the remodel.

Salvaged Aircraft Tiny Home Example from The Tiny House Guys

Here is an aircraft fuselage turned into a THOW by The Tiny House Guys in Australia. Well beyond the classic tiny house, this eye-catching design is a great example of what can be done with a section of salvaged aircraft.

Father and son duo spent $37K and just six weeks transforming a section of a decommissioned Dash 8 turboprop plane into to a livable tiny home.

Rick and Mitch Keel, The Tiny House Guys in Australia, added solar panels, a complete bathroom, and kitchenette. It has a drop-down deck and patio door on the other side. See more information in this Dwell blog post.

This 20′ long THOW has been featured in many articles and blogs because it just sparks the imagination of the little kid in each of us.

Rick says they used three axles on the trailer because they didn’t know how much it was going to end up weighing. The finished weight turned out to be 5600 lbs, so it can be towed with a regular truck.

Salvaged Aircraft Tiny Homes are Possible but Not Practical

Airbnb has over ten salvaged aircraft converted into tiny homes for rent around the world, none in the US.

It’s just not easy to get a hold of an old commercial airline plane, let alone transport it. Building inspectors in this country wouldn’t allow it to be used as a permanent residence. Many tiny house owners get around building codes by getting an RVIA certification, which allows temporary residence like a vacation. That’s why you see these unusual rentals on Airbnb. They are usually in other countries.

They will continue to spark the imagination. Maybe if circumstances are just right…