A Michigan Mechanic Converted This Rusty WWII Plane Into A Dazzling Motor Home

For years, the DC-3 flew around the world – helping the war effort before taking a back seat as commercial airliner. Yet by the time that Gino Lucci got his hands on it, the plane had been out of action for decades. Despite its battered appearance, though, the mechanic knew that it was just what he needed to fulfil a childhood dream.

Twisted and damaged from years of neglect, the DC-3 certainly didn’t look like much. Nevertheless, after months of hard work, Lucci gave the plane a new lease of life as a dazzling motor home. Now, the aircraft turns heads as it soars down the wide American highways – almost as if it were flying once more.

Though what could have inspired Lucci to take on such an insane project? And how did he go about turning a decaying World War II aircraft into the sort of motor home that dreams are made of? Well, the story is one of dedication and determination – tracing this DC-3 from the skies over South America to Missouri and beyond. 

Apparently, it all started when Lucci was just a child. Speaking to the website Insider in June 2021, the mechanic explained that one television show had left a lasting impression on his young brain. In it, a man builds a bizarre vehicle using the base of a school bus – with an airplane fuselage strapped to the top.

Lucci, it seems, never forgot this image, and the idea became a passion over time. In June 2021 he told local news station Fox 17, “I [had] always wanted to do one since I was 12 years old, and I just wanted to make an airplane out of a motor home. The truck won’t fly, but the airplane drives.”  

As Lucci grew up, he embarked on a career with the United States Air Force. Then, later, the man became a mechanic and founded Round Engine Aero – a salvage company working to save old planes from ending up as scrap. Yet as time went on, the aircraft enthusiast never forgot his dream: to convert an old craft into a mobile home.

“Throughout my career in the air force and my career now where I salvage airplanes, I would always save things, thinking, ‘Someday, we’re going to do this,’” Lucci told Insider. Finally, in 2018 his son Giacinto got the ball rolling. Searching online, he stumbled upon an airplane that looked to be the perfect fit.

The plane in question, it turns out, was a Douglas DC-3. At just under 65 feet in length, it was the perfect size – not too large to navigate America’s highways as a functioning mobile home. But Lucci’s scheme would have seemed incomprehensible to those who first designed the aircraft in the years leading up to World War II.

The DC-3 is one of the most famous planes of all time, and it was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company in the 1930s. Initially used as a commercial transporter, the plane was capable of carrying up to 28 passengers in the lap of luxury. And not long after its launch, the DC-3 had completely transformed the air travel industry across America.

The DC-3 wasn’t just a commercial success, though. When America entered World War II in December 1941, some 10,000 military versions of the transporter were deployed to fight against the Axis powers, according to Boeing’s official website. In battle, the aircraft’s tough, durable fuselage and simple maintenance soon became the stuff of legend.

Over the course of World War II, DC-3s engaged in countless acts of heroism – helping the Allies to victory in Europe and the Pacific. And when the conflict was over, they returned to civilian aviation. The website Popular Mechanics estimates that around 300 of the transporters remain in the air even today, where they serve as commercial liners or cargo planes across the U.S.

Like many DC-3s, the plane found by Giacinto had a long and checkered past. Originally built for the U.S. Navy in 1943, it was one of the Douglas aircraft that were specifically adapted for military use. Entering service the following year, Lucci believes, it was mostly flown across South America during World War II.

Then, after WWII, the transporter did the rounds of various air stations across the United States. In a video posted to the Round Engine Aero YouTube channel in September 2020, Lucci says, “The airplane served in NAS Pensacola, Cherry Point, Olathe, Kansas and a bunch of other places out there.”

After retiring from military service, Lucci claimed that the plane flew with Alaska Airlines before ending up in the possession of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). There, it engaged in a number of test flights – accumulating a wide range of gear and gadgets over the years. But all these bells and whistles would pale in comparison to the extreme makeover that Lucci had in store.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and in the 1980s this particular DC-3 made its last flight. Acquired by the cargo airline Baron Aviation, it eventually wound up on a disused airfield in Rolla, MO. Initially, it seems, the new owners intended to fly the plane, but these plans never panned out. Instead, it was left to rust while looters picked off its most valuable parts.

As thieves stripped the DC-3 of its equipment, they left the fuselage battered – damage that was amplified when a tornado struck the runway in the 1990s. By the looks of things, this World War II relic was destined for a grim fate. But then, in May 2019 Lucci traveled to Rolla to see if he could revive the plane in his own special way. 

Speaking to Insider, Lucci explained that he managed to acquire the decaying DC-3 from Baron Aviation for the “cost of a used car.” Now, at last, he had everything needed to fulfil his lifelong ambition. Though where to start? There was plenty of work to be done before the plane could even be taken from Missouri to the mechanic’s home in Michigan.

After three days, Lucci explained on the Round Engine Aero YouTube video that he had managed to disassemble the aircraft and transport it hundreds of miles north to his own backyard. And there, the meticulous work of converting it into a motor home began. Using the frame and engine of an old delivery truck, the vision finally began to take shape.

“I didn’t get much sleep because I was so excited to go out and tackle what I was going to do the next day,” Lucci told Insider. For a whole year, he worked on the vehicle – slowly transforming the DC-3 into something that had never been seen before. And finally, in September 2020 the motor home was ready to return to Missouri under its own steam.

When it arrived, Lucci’s DC-3 was barely recognizable as the wreck that had left Rolla the previous year. And the end result of this incredible project is online for everyone to see thanks to a number of videos – both official and unofficial. Through hard work and creativity, the mechanic has finally realized his dream.

How did Lucci’s unique motor home turn out, then? Well, on the outside, it still looks a lot like a DC-3 – albeit one on wheels. Though inside, a clever conversion has turned the once-rotting fuselage into luxurious and comfortable accommodation. Insider notes that it covers 300 square feet, and the interior boasts plenty of room for the mechanic and his family. 

In the old crew area of the plane, Lucci has created a bedroom – decked out in an aviation theme – for his son. Elsewhere, a cabin tucked away towards the back of the vehicle can accommodate two more in twin beds. But that’s just the sleeping quarters! There’s plenty more in the way of living space on board this DC-3.

As well as a spacious living room, the vehicle also boasts a kitchen, which Lucci extended from the plane’s galley area. Equipped with a refrigerator, oven, microwave and stovetop, it has everything you might need for cooking up a storm. In places, the fixtures are original, while other fittings – such as faucets and light switches – have been repurposed from other salvaged craft.

Although the vehicle is designed as a motor home, Lucci has kept a number of features that reflect its former life. In one spot, for example, you can spot the original airstairs, which crew members once used to disembark and climb aboard the plane. Meanwhile, a functioning intercom system still allows the pilot – now driver – to communicate with their passengers. 

For decorative purposes, Lucci has even installed a copilot’s steering wheel alongside the passenger seat in the cockpit – now converted into a dashboard area. Where World War II pilots once sat to gaze down on South America, then, the driver of this motorhome can kick back and watch the road pass by.

For the most part, Lucci’s motor home is made almost entirely out of the repurposed DC-3. Yet certain features such as the flooring were acquired separately – in this case from an aviation warehouse, according to Insider. Meanwhile, not all of the plane made the final cut. Fox 17 notes that some parts were removed and shipped to France, where they were used in the restoration of a similar craft.

Lucci’s project, then, certainly looks the part. But how well does it function as an actual motor home? Well, Insider reports that the vehicle – dubbed the Fabulous Flamingo – has already whisked the mechanic and his family off on a number of adventures. In the months since its completion, it has already traveled as far afield as Texas and Maine. 

And there may well be more journeys to come for the Lucci family! That’s because despite its bizarre appearance, the Fabulous Flamingo is officially registered as a Class A motor home – meaning that it can be driven in any American state. Wherever it goes, though, it’s almost guaranteed to turn heads.

Speaking to Insider, Lucci explained that the motor home is a great way of striking up a conversation. While children look on in amazement as the plane on wheels zooms past them along the road, veterans often stop to reminisce about aviation in World War II. And their reaction makes it all worthwhile for the brains behind the Fabulous Flamingo.

“I don’t want to get too prideful,” Lucci told Insider, “but the thing I love most about it is how happy people get when they see it.” Yet some people seem to have taken their love of the Fabulous Flamingo too far. In one of his videos on YouTube, the mechanic explains that imposters online have been claiming the conversion as their own invention.

“We just wanted to kinda end some rumors about [the motor home] out there, and just let you know that she’s 100 percent American-made and was built by me,” Lucci clarifies in the video. “Not any Russians or anybody else out there. A lot of you posers [who] keep laying credit to yourselves that you have built this… you know you’re lying.”

Generally, though, the response to the Fabulous Flamingo has been one of delight. But Lucci is not the only person to have creatively repurposed an old plane. Take the bizarre craft known as the Cosmic Muffin, for example. This Boeing B-307 was owned by the famous aviator Howard Hughes, and it has been given a new lease of life as a fully functioning boat.

Today, the curious can even enjoy tours of the Cosmic Muffin on its mooring in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale. On the other side of the country, meanwhile, another repurposed plane can be seen. In the coastal city of Malibu, California, one architect has transformed a Boeing 747 into an opulent mansion known as the Wing House. 

Speaking to the magazine Architectural Record in 2012, David Hertz explained, “We thought of the plane as Native Americans considered the buffalo – using every part of it.” Along with a roof made from the aircraft’s wings, the house incorporates the plane’s stabilizers and fuselage, too. Also, there are plans to use more parts over time. 

And Hertz isn’t the only one to transform a disused plane into a quirky living space. Some 1,000 miles north of Wing House in Hillsboro, Oregon, a man named Bruce Campbell has built a home from a Boeing 727! Inside, the craft has been totally gutted, while the exterior remains practically untouched.

Elsewhere – such as at the Costa Verde resort in the rainforests of Costa Rica – planes have been transformed into spacious hotel rooms. The site’s first conversion was a suite made from the fuselage of a Boeing 727, and the establishment proved so popular that it garnered international acclaim. Now, a cottage based around the cockpit of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 has been added to the collection.

At the other end of the scale is Jumbo Stay – a hostel located at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, Sweden. Converted from the body of a Boeing 747, this budget accommodation often hosts weddings and counts a number of former pilots among its satisfied guests. From the outside, though, it looks like just another liner waiting to take to the skies.

Compared to some of these projects, then, Lucci’s DC-3 seems almost tame. Yet while these plane hotels and houses offer either space or luxury – and sometimes both – none of them retain the sheer shock value of the Fabulous Flamingo. After all, who wouldn’t look twice at an iconic World War II relic cruising down the road towards them?

So, what is next for Lucci and the team at Round Engine Aero? According to the company’s YouTube channel, they are keen to take on new projects – and no plane is too big or small. We’ll be watching to see if another vehicle like the Fabulous Flamingo emerge from their workshops. Or have they got something different in store?