HIGH ART

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Nov 1, 2005 by BILL REED THE GAZETTE

Aviation artist Rick Broome loves airplanes so much he decided to attach one to his house.

The hulking mass of a retired 727 airliner hovered over his Broadmoor-area cul-de-sac Monday morning. A massive crane, capable of lifting 600,000 pounds, hoisted the fuselage of the jet (from nose through the first-class section) above Broome's home and set it down on metal girders behind the house.

Neighbors gathered in a tight knot, all looking skyward. Broome ran around like a kid with a sugar rush. Passing cars slowed as their drivers rubbernecked.

"This works better than speed bumps," said Billie Broome, Rick's wife.

Neighbors in this upscale 'hood decided the Halloween project was a treat rather than a trick.

"I think it's absolutely fantastic, just wonderful," said nextdoor neighbor Dick Foster, who is only a few paces from the unusual addition. "He's been planning this for years. It's kind of a childhood dream of his."

Foster and Broome stood together watching the airplane swing above their homes. Foster said: "Well, Richard, it's finally happening."

Broome, who had long dreamed of having an airplane attached to his art studio, hunted for a year before he found an airliner for sale. What he found was a United Airlines Boeing 727. It had been grounded after Sept. 11 slowed the airline industry, and was bought for use in a TV movie called "Flight 93." He bought the airplane's fuselage after its turn on the screen.

Broome began drawing airplanes when he was a kid and traded his artwork for flying time as a teenager. He worked as an airplane mechanic to pay for college. His dream was to fly jets for United Airlines, and he was accepted as a flight officer candidate in 1971, but when he was furloughed during his flight training, he concentrated on his aviation art.

Broome was so successful that he turned down United when they offered to bring him back, and he doesn't regret the decision, three decades and 2,000 commissions later.

He is well-known in the aviation world, and in 1988 was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. His original paintings sell for thousands of dollars.

Broome specializes in capturing every detail of the airplanes he paints.

He's created the Air Force Academy's class paintings since 1974. He's donated 61 originals to the institution, a collection valued at $2.5 million.

Broome did not divulge the cost of the airplane project, but the cockpit seats cost him $12,500. The 727 originally cost United $70 million, when adjusted for inflation.

The galley door of the airplane will open into his old cramped studio (where Colin Powell's blood still resides on a light fixture he bumped into while watching Broome paint several years ago). The airplane will be enclosed in glass paneling, and the resulting sunroom will be Broome's new studio -- with glass walls, copious light and a jet to inspire him.

"I don't think people dream as much as they used to," Broome said. "It's OK to have dreams, even big ones."