I spent £250,000 transforming Prince William’s search and rescue helicopter into the ultimate glamping pod | The Sun
PRINCE William’s search and rescue helicopter has been given a £250k transformation and turned into a trendy glamping pod.
The yellow chopper that the Duke of Cambridge flew more than 150 times is now available to rent for £159 a night for luxury campers.
William piloted one of the 26 search-and- rescue helicopters based at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, from 2010 to 2013.
And he completed 156 missions with them, including one that saved a 16-year-old swimmer.
The helicopters were stripped for parts and scheduled to be crushed after they were retired in 2015 because the classified classified equipment on board meant they could not be sold as working aircraft
But businessman Ben Stonehouse traced and bought three from the Ministry of Defence and spent the past four years restoring them.
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Mr Stonehouse, of Yorkshire, converted three of them including the RAF Sea King into “glamping pods” and a café.
Pictures show the inside of the trendy pods at the Pinewood Park campsite near Scarborough which are fully insulated and heated.
Each pod sleeps two adults and three children and has a Norwegian-style theme with rustic wooden floorboards and small potted plants.
The pilot's dashboard has also been restored, while the cockpit's rubber and metal seating has been replaced by a comfortable double bed.
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Cupboards in the hull can also be converted into children's bunk beds.
The winch doorway now opens onto a terrace, while the winch itself has been transformed into a child's swing.
Mr Stonehouse said: “I would have been devastated if they had been crushed. They have a special place in my heart.
“People need to experience them and see how big they are inside. A lot of the kids have never seen them fly.”
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The Sea King entered service in 1978 and saw action in the Gulf War, the Balkans conflict, the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war.
A Royal Navy variation of it was flown by Prince Andrew in the Falklands war in 1982.
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