Most airliners die ignominious deaths. Some are chopped to bits. Others are abandoned and forgotten, and an unfortunate few run into things at high speed and never fly again. This particular Boeing 747 entered service with Singapore Airlines in 1976. It spent a few years in Pan Am livery and finally with a Swedish leasing company before being mothballed at Arlanda Airport, just outside Stockholm.
That might have been the end of the story, had it not been for Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios, who decided to expand his business by parking the old jetliner just outside the airport perimeter and turning it into a hostel.
The Jumbo Hostel will cram 25 rooms with 85 beds into 3,750 square feet of floor space. Each 65 sq. ft room features bunk beds, overhead luggage compartments and a flat screen TV. The nose of the aircraft will house a reception desk and small cafeteria, while the old first class seating in the top bubble will become a conference room. Showers and toilets are located in the rear.
Nightly rates will range from 300 krona ($37) for a bed in a shared 4-person dorm to 3,300 krona ($410) for the Cockpit Suite (I'll keep the obvious jokes to myself) with panoramic view and two adjustable beds. Hostel staff will wear 1970s-style uniforms and the furnishings will evoke the burnt orange color scheme so prevalent in the jet set days.
The hostel is scheduled to open on January 15, 2009, although it remains to be seen whether travelers will be willing to shell out their hard-earned kronabucks to sleep on a refurbished airliner after a day cooped up in dingy airport lounges and cramped hospitality class seats.
Jumbo Hostel: Spend The Night Onboard A Real 747 [thanks, Karen!]

Is there any more consistent image of science fiction than a flying man, propelled by a rocket jetpack? As early as 1920's Buck Rogers comics, there have been many fictional takes on some sort of jet suit - and surprisingly several real ones. Early German experiments started toward the end of WWII, but it wasn't until the late 50's that the idea became somewhat feasible.
without motive force we tend to not so much
fly as plummet. Jetpacks operate below minimum parachute height, so safety and control are major concerns. The other major problem is fuel. These devices
consume tremendous fuel, limiting flights to about a minute.
I was old enough to mistakenly think that these devices were being simulated through the movie magic of special effects - who would image that what I was looking at were filmed flights of real jetpacks!
"I think it's gonna be a long, long time...". Okay, 21st Century, get to work.
The Zeppelin name is also synonymous with the fateful crash of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey in May 1937. The aircraft was engulfed with flames in a mere 34 seconds, a disaster that may have been caused by leaking hydrogen from a torn gas bag combined with an inflammable outer coating.
