Plane amazing

Serendipity is often the key to success in art and in business. For California Costco member Dave Hall, it was both. Twenty years ago he started MotoArt (motoart.com), recycling old airplane parts into pieces of functional art such as desks, conference tables and other furnishings—even beds.

Acknowledging that the furniture and art pieces that MotoArt makes can be out of reach for the average person’s budget—“I couldn’t afford my own stuff ,” says Hall—the company began offering PlaneTags (planetags.com), aviation collectibles that are stamped from the skins of retired aircraft and etched with their tail numbers. They can be used as luggage tags or keychains, but mainly they are collected like baseball cards or other memorabilia, with an ever-growing fan base worldwide.

“If you Google the tail number,” says Hall, “it will tell you the whole history of the airplane.”

—Steve Fisher