Photos: Airplane recycling taking off

Outside of the industrial market for scrap materials, a small but growing number of designers are recycling mothballed aircraft to create high-end furniture. In the Los Angeles area, Moto Art sells wing desks and tables to advertising and design firms as well as Hollywood stars.

"It started as a hobby and spun out of control," said Moto Art co-owner Dave Hall. "We love the more vintage models, the DC3s and DC4s. We're literally finding these things in barns where people have stored them over the years."

One customer returned a wing desk after finding a bullet hole in it. That "flaw" enabled the company to mark up the desk by $2,000.

The $12,000 desk pictured is made from a Lockheed C-130, which have been used for military cargo and medical operations and in humanitarian missions since the 1950s.