On an acre lot in far East Montana, parts of a 1966 Boeing 727 lay scattered – its fuselage split into two, tires and landing gear on their side, riveted sheets of aluminum placed haphazardly throughout.
It took about five months to dismantle and transport the abandoned, gutted plane – estimated to weigh 70,000 pounds – from El Paso International Airport hangars 14 miles to the plot of land owned by the Lara brothers.
“It’s like having a toy airplane you have to put together, but with a lot more sweat, energy and money,” Ismael Lara joked as he stood amid what looked like wreckage…