MotoArtYou won't find bar stools made from ejector seats or coffee tables from J-57 jet engines at Ikea. But if you can get to MotoArt's 20,000-square-foot showroom near Los Angeles International Airport, the company will sell you vintage aircraft mods that redefine "statement furniture."
MotoArt scavengers trek the world, raiding piles of downed plane parts. Industry insiders tip them off to the exact locations, from Alaska to Thailand, not to mention airplane boneyards in the Mojave Desert and Grissom Air Reserve Base in central Indiana. They go plane to plane, stripping parts. Back at headquarters, a 16-person team takes band saws and drill presses to the scavenged pieces, reshaping them into furnishings (and, in the case of some of the older stuff, charging more for bullet holes).
Typical clients—AOL, Boeing, GoDaddy—deck their offices with conference tables fashioned from 1930s biplanes or jet wings repurposed as artwork. "We appreciate the engineering behind these aircraft," says MotoArt cofounder Dave Hall, who got started in the business when he turned a scrapped propeller into a sculpture. "We're trying to give the plane a second life." Now any startup can operate on a wing—prayer not included.
- ### The Next Steve Jobs
