David Klose's Continental Airlines Jet Smoker -- 30 Feet of BBQ Aviation

Houston master pitmaker David Klose spent nine months hand-fabricating a 1:10 scale replica of a Continental Airlines 777 wide-body jet -- that doubles as a fully functional barbecue smoker. The finished rig stretches 30 feet long, weighs 38,000 pounds, and features recessing hatch doors, windows, recessed thermometers, and tail-section smokestacks that make it look like a real aircraft taxiing across your backyard. The design was a collaboration with Continental's shop foreman Gilbert Falcon, who spent 30 years working on the actual aircraft and brought his aviation expertise to ensure the replica's proportions and details were authentic. Klose has been building custom pits out of his Houston shop since 1986, and his portfolio reads like a fever dream: smokers shaped like beer bottles, six-shooters, trains running on real railroad track, and even a motorcycle sidecar that can smoke ribs at highway speed. He has appeared on the Food Network, been featured in Texas Monthly, and shipped custom pits to clients across the country. But the jet smoker remains his masterpiece -- a 38,000-pound statement that barbecue is not just cooking, it is an art form that happens to involve fire.