Upon learning a 56-foot-long former Royal Navy search-and-rescue helicopter was hitting an online Ministry of Defence auction in March of 2016, Martyn Steedman did what any totally rational person would do when presented with that situation and placed a bid. Much to Steedman’s surprise, there were no other bidders and he got the chopper for about $9k.
Since then, Steedman and his wife Louise spent more than $50,000 restoring and converting the Sea King ZA127 copter into a three-bedroom residence — and now you can rent it.
Equipped with its original exterior, lighting and cockpit (including the dashboard, roof panel switches and foot pedals), the transformed Sea King’s walls have been insulated, painted and outfitted with wood paneling and its sonar area has been replaced with a bathroom, er, loo.
“We couldn’t bear to see these much-loved helicopters go on the scrap heap and thought, why not give one a new life in the country?” Steedman told the Press Association. “Finding a niche can be tricky but we believe this helicopter conversion will be truly innovative.”
Given how well the restoration turned out and the plethora of views of the beautiful Scottish countryside that its current location in Stirling provides, we’d tend to agree with him.
If you want to go for a test night, rates start around $200 per night and you can book here.
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