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LIVING THE HIGH LIFE Do you 'get the sensation' in this 'fantasy' dwelling? Jets could be hurricane-proof homes with feeling of flying Posted: August 30, 2009 12:05 am Eastern By Joe Kovacs
Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts, as you may experience some unexpected turbulence in the next few moments. How would you like to dwell in a home made from a commercial jetliner that actually gives you at least part of a live sensation of flight? The idea may seem like pie in the sky, but a former Eastern airlines pilot is actually looking to convert used aircraft into "wind resistant dwellings" that would not only be the talk of the town, but also act as a hurricane-proof shield against the ferocity of Mother Nature.
53-year-old Tom Bennington of Smyrna, Tenn., is the captain of this aviation marvel, having patented the concept 10 years ago, and now hoping it finally takes off – or perhaps more accurately – lands in neighborhoods across America.
Simply put, Bennington is looking to plant a Boeing 727 on a fixed bearing 15 feet above the ground, allowing the plane to rotate 360-degrees into the direction of the wind. The 1,200-square feet of interior space would be decorated with any luxurious furnishings according to the taste of the owner. "I want to take the airplanes and make them into the most entertaining thing possible," Bennington told WND. Could this $300,000 price-range project be the next big thing in real estate, or is it just a case of one flew over the cuckoo's nest? "I know it sounds like a dumb idea," admits Bennington, an aircraft-parts broker for Max Power Aerospace. But he says a major benefit is withstanding the blast of hurricane-force winds. "It's a big weather vane and will point into the wind," he said, noting the maximum winds it was designed to handle is over 600 miles per hour. Hurricanes winds range from 74 mph for a Category 1 system to 156 mph and above for a Category 5. "Sitting through [a hurricane] would be just nothing for it," said Bennington. "It wouldn't even spill a glass inside. It's made to be up in the wind, that's what it does. It's such an incredible aerodynamic structure."
He explains, "The whole thing rotates around a center of gravity. If the airplane is pointed north, and the wind is from the east, the plane will turn toward the east." The plan is more than just drawings on paper. There's already a buyer for the first plane-to-vane conversion.
Meet Leon Brenneman, a single, 43-year-old tennis instructor from Warsaw, Ind., who has purchased the 727. "I'm very prepared to be a laughingstock," he says, admitting he initially thought the idea was in the stratosphere. "I'm always on the lookout for crazy real estate. I've scoured the Internet for years looking for interesting projects." Brenneman says indeed, the project is "outlandish, absolutely" but he's willing to go all the way to reside in the aircraft, at least part time. "Here's how serious I am. It's gonna happen," he emphatically said. He described how people could walk into "a cockpit fully functional control-wise, and you can 'fly' the plane from the actual cockpit. You can walk out on the wings and sit in a Jacuzzi. Tell me it's not just any kid's fantasy – or adult's fantasy." Brenneman would like for everything to be complete within a matter of months, but the main issue right now is deciding on the best location to park the aerodynamic domicile. (Story continues below) Two options are currently being considered. One is in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains on property being donated. The only difficulty is hauling it up a mountainside to a location in the middle of nowhere. The other is on a small island for sale in Port Orange, Fla., just 6 miles from the Daytona International Speedway and its adjacent airport, into which the plane could be flown, and then hauled to its homesite near the Atlantic shore. "Ideally, we'd love to put it somewhere coastal," said Brenneman. "Unfortunately, my budget stops at the Smokies. My problem is I just don't have the risk capital to put it in a location I want." That has led to some recent brainstorming, and the pair have talked about seeking corporate sponsorship, where the plane could have a company's name or slogan painted on the outside skin.
Bennington even thought of using WND's "Where's the Birth Certificate?" message concerning President Obama's failure to resolve his constitutional eligibility for office. He says the first aircraft/residence/weather vane would gain massive media attention, and news and weather crews could even broadcast from there during hurricane season. Brenneman says when it comes to the interior, once the seats and overhead bins have been stripped out, the ambiance could be quite opulent. "You gotta think yacht," he says. "Everything is well-utilized on a yacht. It's looking like a two-bedroom, two-bath residence. Think nice wood laminates, a wood floor, a normal-size kitchen and normal-size bedrooms. Only the walls are slightly curved." In recent years, there have been others who have lived inside airplane fuselages, including Bruce Campbell of Hillsboro, Ore., but no one has ever lived in a "weather vaning" plane. Campbell has documented his residential experiment at AirplaneHome.com.
Joe Kovacs is executive news editor for WorldNetDaily.com and author of the No. 1 best-selling book that champions the absolute truth of Scripture, "Shocked by the Bible: The Most Astonishing Facts You've Never Been Told."
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