Cityscapes Searching for lost jumbo jets in Korea
Jumbo 747, a historic 747 reused as a restaurant in Namyangju, sits abandoned in 2010. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun.
By Ron Bandun
One of Korea's costliest short-lived fads came about 20 years ago, when old decommissioned airplanes began appearing across the country as restaurants. Like all fads this one was bound to die soon, as the novelty can't replace dining experience quality, and the damned things are impossible to keep clean.
I first inquired about this phenomenon on eslcafe.com almost 10 years ago. The exact exchange is erased, but someone replied something like “There's Jumbo 747 in Namyangju, but don't bother going because it's abandoned now.”
“You obviously don't know me,” I responded, or just thought it in my head.
I gathered the Vervonauts, Korea's first named urban exploring crew. On April 4, 2009, we departed at Sangbong Station on the Gyeongchun Line, which at the time was an overcrowded run on a Mugunghwa train. One Vervonaut was visiting from Japan and was quite shocked at how boisterous Koreans could be on a train.
From Pyeongnae-Hopyeong Station where we deboarded, we could see the plane. It was a 747, but with one wing cut off and all engines very clearly fake. The underside was stained with grime, and underneath the plane's belly sat a seolleongtang restaurant, presumed to belong to the plane's owner.
Also beneath were children's rides, including a mini-jumbo jet shaped and colored just like the actual thing. It reminded me of a phrase from my very first Korean language textbook, “Don't take me on a five won plane ride,” a phrase absolutely nobody in Korea has ever acknowledged to me.
A Vervonaut goes on a five-won plane ride on April 4, 2009. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun
A stairway led up to an entrance, which was locked, but I was able to jump down onto the wing and another Vervonaut guided me to an unlocked window, through which I entered and unlocked the door from the inside for everyone to come in.
Inside, we found a typical Korean restaurant crammed into the fuselage of a 747, still furnished as if all it needed was a good dusting and it would be ready to reopen. We saw everything and got out undetected, simple as that.
But once we sat down and looked at our pictures, and shared them online, information started coming out fast. Writing on the fuselage contained two great clues to the plane's identity, mentioning both Juan T. Trippe and N747PA.
The name Juan T. Trippe is written on Jumbo 747. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun
Trippe (1899-1981) was founder of Pan Am, and N747PA, named in his honor, was the second 747 ever built. Its first flight was April 11, 1969, and stayed in service for many airlines until 1997, when it ended up in a California airplane graveyard. Then in 1999, restaurateurs in Korea reportedly paid $1 million to have the plane sliced up into pieces small enough for cargo containers, and shipped to Korea to be reborn as Jumbo 747.
Our findings got a lot of attention, more than I was used to. One Vervonaut wrote for Vice Magazine about it,
regrettably even giving away my point of entry
. And photographers from across Asia visited Korea just for this site, amplifying interest.
The restaurant owners, perhaps out of shame at the compounding attention, had it demolished in late 2010, to the consternation of aviation historians.
But it wasn't the first jumbo jet to be demolished in Korea, nor is it the last standing. Sometime before that, an airplane cafe sat next to Wolgye Station on Seoul Metro Line 1. And in summer 2010 I visited another 747, also in Namyangju, which I nicknamed the Jesus 747 as it seemed to be run by a church.
The Jesus 747, in Wabu-eup, Namyangju, was part of a church in April 2010. The plane still stands but the church is gone. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun
I also more recently found Night Flight Airplane Cafe in southern Incheon, though I don't think that one was a 747. It has also been demolished, after spending a few years with the property converted into a parking lot.
Night Flight Airplane Cafe in southern Incheon, seen here reused as a car lot on May 17, 2013, disappeared a few years ago. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun
The only remaining airplane restaurant seems to be
.
And in December 2017, the worldwide Airways magazine published a totally erroneous article claiming
the Trippe had not been demolished, but was relocated elsewhere in Namyangju
. However, that's only wishful thinking, as my database shows I visited the Jesus 747 on April 3, 2010, prior to my final visit to Jumbo 747 on Aug. 12, 2010. Daum Map also shows the
Jesus 747 as far back as January 2010
, and
Jumbo 747 standing as of February 2010
The Jesus 747, left, seen in January 2010, and Jumbo 747, right, seen in February 2010. / Images taken from Kakao Map
N747PA's legacy hasn't fallen silent, as the plane's
story and demise featured in a 2014 documentary
The writer is a self-described "anarchaeologist."