What happens to airplanes after they are retired may have been a question in your mind. Typically, they are disassembled and sold for their scrap metal worth.
But, this is the tale of a plane that avoided that destiny and was granted a brand-new one! Read on to discover more.
Since 2012, an Olympic Airways aircraft from Greece has been abandoned in an Oregon forest. Bruce Campbell, a retired engineer, has a passion for keeping retired aircraft from being turned into scrap metal. He bought the aircraft in 2009.
In order to give the plane a new, glamorous life, he spent thousands of dollars transporting it to the ten acres of forest land he owned in addition to paying to buy the plane.
“My goal is to change humanity’s behavior in this little niche,” Campbell said about his actions.
The retired engineer views things differently. He sleeps voluntarily on a sofa, never even stretching it out to its maximum breadth until he is hosting guests. He keeps enough canned food on hand to last him for two months, and he makes his own shower by rolling a sheet of PVC into a four-foot-tall cylinder.
He had no idea how important the plane was while he was purchasing it. When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had to fly her second husband Aristotle Onassis’ body to his final resting place in March 1975, she was the passenger on the plane.
When Campbell matched the serial number of his 727 aircraft to the pictures he had found online, he discovered that they had been a match. Onassis died in France, and his remains were flown to Greece on the same aircraft he was living in at the time.
The flag carrier for Greece was Olympic Airlines, formerly known as Olympic Airways.
In July 1956, Onassis acquired the Greek national airline, then known as T.A.E. He changed the name to “Olympic Airlines” with the intention of building a luxurious airline that would astound the globe. He aspired to have the most cutting-edge airline in the world.
However, in September 29, 2009, the company halted all operations. Instead “Olympic Air” was born at the time because of privatization.
You might expect the aircraft that were retired from this airline to have been dismantled for scrap metal or left to decay, yet one of them—which once carried famous people—is still in existence and is now home to a visionary retired engineer in Oregon.
The interior of the aircraft includes a living area, an office, two functional restrooms, and a working makeshift shower area. Even a washing machine and a tiny kitchen for cooking have been installed in the airplane by the owner.
The retired engineer took something that was going to be destroyed and transformed it into a lovely residence for himself. This shows a lot of commitment! Share this article with your relatives and friends to they can enjoy this magnificent conversion too.
