Several Unflyable Aircraft Being Sold In The U.K. As Upscale Outbuildings

Imagine that you needed a storage shed, or maybe just a place in the back yard to kick back, have a beer, smoke cigars and watch football without your wife having a conniption. Well, if you've got a substantial backyard, live in the U.K. or nearby, and have about $20,000 - $30,000 to spare, this could be just the ticket.

Witham Specialist Vehicles, a military surplus vendor in the U.K., reportedly has some 30 Sea King helicopters that have been retired by the U.K. MoD available for sale. And while many are still airworthy, the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph reports that there are six or seven that are empty hulls that have been stripped for parts.

And that's where the fun begins.

Paul Southerington, the managing director of WSV, said the airworthy helicopters will bring about $200,000 each. But the stripped aircraft could be bought for between £10,000 to £20,000 ... or roughly $20,000 to $30,000. Southerington said that some that have already been sold have been used for "upmarket garden sheds or 'man caves'." He said one buyer planned to put a sitting room and bedroom in his Sea King fuselage. He said there has also been interest from such buyers as theme parks and paintball ranges. Museums have also looked at the aircraft.

And if you need an inexpensive beginning for a home, he said, they're really a bargain. "In London, you're looking at £1 million for a flat that's half the size of one of these," he said.

Probably wouldn't meet the requirements of most homeowners associations, though.

(Sea King pictured in file photo)

FMI: http://www.mod-sales.com