Bay Area men convert chinook into unique vacation rental

Chinook to Airbnb

Mark Wilson reports

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - At the Croom Motorcycle Area in the Withlacoochee State Forest, you can satisfy your need for speed or find a vacation adventure.

Brent Venderley and Peter Kucinski converted a Chinook into their latest Airbnb on Moto Ranch at Croom. Venderley said it's a two-bedroom, one-bath that is furnished and a contained unit with a deck on the outside.

"Airbnb has categories at the top of their page, and we made it on the ‘OMG’ category almost immediately when we put it out," he said. "We have a lot of bookings for it because it's so unique."

The story of how they acquired the Chinook is as novel as the vacation rental itself. Venderley said they found it on Facebook Marketplace.

"Tampa Skydive had it over in Polk County, and they were using it as their office, and story goes, they bought it from a warehouse where they were making parts for the Chinook," he said. "Before that, it was actually in active duty."

One veteran actually recognized it on a Facebook page.

"There was a sticker on one of the windows and one of the guys on there said, ‘I actually flew in that helicopter and put that sticker on the window in Afghanistan,’" said Venderley.

He said it took a lot to convert the Chinook into a vacation rental. Venderley said they spent about a year on the project, turning the shell of a Shinook into an Airbnb destination.

Inside, visitors will see pieces of the Chinook mixed in with modern features. There are clear panels where guests can check out the interior framework of the helicopter.

The cockpit is now one of the bedrooms.

"We ended up trying to mimic what the helicopter was going to look like when it was back in service," said Kucinski.

The loading ramp is now a rear balcony.

"Think about how many different types of troops have walked through the back here. The type of machinery, equipment they brought in the back," said Kucinski. "It's kind of cool to sit back here and think a lot of armed forces people possibly skydived off the back."

"We get some veterans that come stay here," Venderley said. "They always have great stories about whether they flew this or flew something else and were around these or rode in this, you know, or transported or skydive out the back of it, they all love it."