Airplane RV

The owner of a vintage World War II-era transport plane decided to do something radical—but still practical—to the big prop plane: he turned it into an RV. The result is the "Fabulous Flamingo," a traveling camper that boards like a real airplane, but drives like a recreational vehicle.

Aviation fan and Air Force veteran Gino Lucci purchased the old Douglas R4D airplane in 2019. Damaged in a tornado, the plane no longer flew. So by the time Lucci purchased it, he bought it "for the cost of a used car," according to an Insider report.

To make the conversion from plane to RV, Lucci purchased parts from Bontrager's Surplus in Michigan, which specializes in RVs and RV parts. Then, he began the year-long renovation process at his home in Nashville, Michigan.

Lucci's RV incorporates as many parts of the original plane as possible. He bolted the front fuselage of the plane to a delivery truck frame. The air stairs, which unfold from the right side of the fuselage, are the only way in and out of the vehicle. The original plane intercom still works. And he turned the engine cowlings into wheel guards.

The airplane, which Lucci renamed "The Fabulous Flamingo," offers 300 square feet of internal living space, and even features a play area for his youngest son. As Bontrager's describes it on their Facebook page:

The seats from the old airplane were used for the driver & front passenger seats in the RV. They added a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom - complete with a stove, sink, fridge, microwave, cabinets, sofa, dinette booth, toilet and even a tub!

The southern California-based Douglas Aircraft Company (now a part of Boeing) built and delivered the first DC-3 plane—called the Douglas Sleeper Transport—to American Airlines in June 1936. It was the "height of luxury" at the time, according to Boeing, and could accommodate 14 overnight passengers or up to 28 on shorter daylight flights.  TO READ MORE, CLICK HERE...

Our US Veterans

WARHAWKS     in the USA have taken its  citizens  into numerous wars in the  20th and  21st centuries, such as:

• World War I
• World War II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Multiple wars in the Middle East
• Iran
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Syria

Our political leaders who will never again see another day of WAR have the unmitigated  gall to send our young men and women into war zones and engage in fire fights where many of them have  either lost their lives or return home CRIPPLED for LIFE...

AND...  instead of our Federal Government spending money on helping them have a quality of life as a THANK YOU FOR THEIR SERVICE, we decide instead to spend money to keep people from going back to work or supporting efforts to encourage radical movements in this country like BLM and defunding the police.

WE SHOULD EITHER TAKE CARE OF OUR VETERANS OR STOP FIGHTING WARS...

DECEMBER 7, 1941

 JAPANESE ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII, USA

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor External, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. A total of twelve ships sank or were beached in the attack and nine additional vessels were damaged. More than 160 aircraft were destroyed and more than 150 others damaged.

A hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. It said simply: AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.

The following day, in an address to a joint session of Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress then declared War on Japan, abandoning the nation’s isolationism policy and ushering the United States into World War II. Within days, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, and the country began a rapid transition to a wartime economy by building up armaments in support of military campaigns in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe.

Also on the day following Pearl Harbor, Alan Lomax, head of the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song, sent a telegram to colleagues around the U.S. asking them to collect people’s immediate reactions to the bombing. Over the next few days prominent folklorists such as John Lomax, John Henry Faulk, Charles Todd, Robert Sonkin, and Lewis Jones responded by recording “man on the street” interviews in New York, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. They interviewed salesmen, electricians, janitors, oilmen, cabdrivers, housewives, students, soldiers, physicians, and others regarding the events of December 7. Among the interviewees was a California woman then visiting her family in Dallas, Texas.  SOURCE:  Library of Congress

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I would think that the attack on Pearl Harbor should be remembered just as strongly as the September 11, 2001 attacks on US SOIL perpetrated by Islamic Extremists representing al Qaeda and orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, a native of Saudi Arabia.  BUT, in the truth of reality we see that after a few years...  all is forgotten...  all is forgiven...   and, life moves on...

It is also strange but absolutely true that each major conflict or incident, AMERICANS are never the same...  especially our veterans and their families even though the rest of us remember we do not have to carry the actual burden on our shoulders for the rest of our lives...

World War I

World War II

Korean War

Vietnam War

Wars in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan

HEROES

Not too long ago for some of us folks, the soldiers from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan were considered our heroes even though some of those heroes were not recognized for several decades...  when they were, they were heroes.

After 9/11, First responders, Firemen and women and Law Enforcement personnel were considered heroes for all their efforts.

Today, under the influence of COVID-19 and this global Pandemic, healthcare workers and restaurant workers are considered the heroes for the tireless hours they spend in an attempt to save people from dying.

If you think about it, are not these people below heroes as well?

• parents
• laid off workers
• cancer patients
• medical researchers
• truck drivers
• teachers
• farmers
• factory workers
• dentists
• ETC...

It might be a better idea for us to approach this as WHO ARE NOT HEROES???