Jones estimates he spent 1,000 hours over the course of three months transforming the engine shell into a trailer that he, his wife, and two sons can take on road trips. Jones told that he previously worked as a technician for the Royal Air Force. Take a look inside the “VC10 Caravan Pod,” which is 13 feet long, comes with two doors plus a skylight, and is already turning heads on the highway.

Stay-at-home dad Steve Jones has transformed a hollowed-out jet engine into a camper trailer for his family in Lancashire, England.

 

A former technician for the Royal Air Force, Jones spent 1,000 hours between January and mid-March of 2020 on the build.

 

Jones told Insider that he’s been fixing up camper vans and camper trailers as a hobby for over a decade, but had never embarked on a project quite like this one.

In 2013, he learned through a friend that the Royal Air Force had decommissioned a VC10 jet plane, and the idea came to him to turn one of its engine shells into a trailer if they ever went up for sale.

 

In September 2019, an opportunity to buy one finally came about.

 

When Jones drove his purchase from the scrapyard to his barn, he noticed “a lot of finger-pointing” from onlookers taken aback by the sight of a 13-foot-long plane engine shell on the roads.

 

Steve spent a total of $5,025 (£4,000) renovating the trailer, and it was no easy feat.

Jones first had to gut all of the wires, clips, and pipe work.

Next, he flattened the bottom of the engine to fit on a chassis.

 

Then, he prepared the doors and windows.

 

Lining the interior of the engine shell with plywood was the most difficult part, Jones told Insider, due to its curved shape.

 

After covering the plywood with stretch carpet lining, he focused on making the trailer habitable.

 

He put in a mini kitchen with a sink, twin burners, and cabinets.

 

On the opposite wall, he put up a display shelf.

 

He also installed a lounge-dining area that converts into sleeping quarters.

 

The benches move together to form a double bed, and the seatbacks flip up to become two twin beds.

 

Two doors plus a skylight open up to the outside.

 

The larger of the two doors allows for al fresco dining.

 

Jones and his family haven’t taken the trailer out yet due to COVID-19 and the demands of a separate renovation project, but he told Insider that he looks forward to using it in 2021.

 

Plus, Jones is still putting the finishing touches on it. He plans to paint the exterior so that it resembles the original jet: white on the top and gray on the bottom, with a blue line through the center.

 

Since appearing in an episode of “George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces,” a British home improvement TV show, earlier this year, Jones has received offers from interested buyers as high as $31,477 (£25,000) for his custom trailer, he told Insider.

 

Despite buyer interest, Jones said that he doesn’t plan to sell the VC10 Caravan Pod for at least a few years.