Elvis Presley had fairly the gathering of autos, together with a 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood, a De Tomaso Pantera and a Stutz Blackhawk. He additionally had an outdated personal jet that sat rusting away for a number of many years earlier than a YouTuber swept in and saved it from the scrapheap. As a substitute of returning it to the skies, they did the subsequent neatest thing and reworked it into an excellent retro camper.
The YouTuber in query is Jimmy Webb, who hosts the Jimmy’s World channel and creates all types of intriguing aviation content material you’ll be able to waste a number of hours watching. For his newest challenge, Webb took on Presley’s outdated 1962 Lockheed Jetstar.
When Webb acquired the jet, it had spent greater than 30 years sat forgotten in New Mexico, the place it was left with out engines or any cockpit controls. After shopping for the jet for round $260,000, Webb did start wanting into what it could take to get the aircraft into the air as soon as once more, however discovered that lots of the components required to take action merely weren’t in manufacturing anymore. As such, making it airworthy was a troublesome, if not not possible, activity.
So as an alternative of repairing the aircraft and taking it on all types of aeronautical adventures, Webb did the subsequent neatest thing and turned it into a stunning camper. Step one within the new plan concerned chopping the tail off the outdated jet and eradicating its wings to be able to transport the fuselage to Webb’s workshop.
Since then, he’s been documenting the entire construct on his YouTube channel. As soon as safely stowed away from the weather, Webb mounted the fuselage of the aircraft onto an outdated motorhome chassis in order that the brand new aircraft/RV might transfer underneath its personal steam as soon as once more.
Progress then moved inside, with Webb and his crew fully gutting the inside of the plane. They began on the entrance, repairing the rotten outdated cockpit and changing all of the plane controls with the type of stuff you would use to drive a aircraft/RV. This implies there’s a steering wheel that appears like a yoke straight out an plane cabin and all of the dials mirror the type of readouts you’d get in a classic jet – it’s all very slick.
Additional again, work has been accomplished to refresh the inside that Elvis specced his jet with. There’s nonetheless the unique TV that Elvis put in in addition to the purple velvet ending that was specced by the King. Now, nevertheless, the entire place has been completely cleaned of the dust, mud and dirt that constructed up over a number of many years within the desert.
Now, Autoevolution studies that the jet is ready to be unveiled in all its glory on the 2024 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, which runs from July 22 till July 28. After this, there’s no set plan for its last vacation spot. Webb reportedly thought of placing his creation in a museum, however can be mentioned to love the concept of touring the nation in it to let individuals witness his creation in individual. What do you assume, if this RV popped up for rental close to you, would you spend an evening?
It’s not the primary plane conversion we’ve uncovered right here at Jalopnik, and follows an aeronautical college that reworked an deserted jet into pupil dorms and a marriage venue within the UK turned the entrance of a 747 into the last word occasion venue.
