I've Owned a Titan II Nuclear Missile Complex for 10 Years and Have Spent Way Too Much $$ on it.

When will you start manufacturing hallucinogens?

Nice reference! :-)

I.... Is your username an Arthur reference?

No, it's short for Death Wears Bunny Slippers which is the Youtube channel. There's some fun missile silo history behind that name... :-)

What exactly do you do with a Titan II Nuclear Missile Complex? Is it better than a Titan I Nuclear Missile Complex?

My original goal was to turn it into a bad ass home and we are basically done with that (finally). But we also use it for tours, corporate events, birthday parties, raves... etc. Of course most of that stopped b/c of the big C but that's what it is.

It's about 4000 sq ft (370 sq meters) so it's fairly comfortable.

That's so cool. Could you tell us the initial cost of buying the place and how much you put into it to make it liveable.

Purchased for $90k... Probably spent about $300k on it. But, a lot of that were mistakes. I could do it cheaper now that I've learned a lot. :-)

But, a lot of that were mistakes. I could do it cheaper now that I've learned a lot.

Care to go deeper with that?

Lots of simple things that add up... one... pumps. I spent $3000 on pumps that failed repeatedly. Then finally found a good one.

I didn't have lots of cash so I solved the same problem multiple times. For example... the entrance (access portal). Couldn't afford to build it back up so the place reflooded. That's bad. First way in was a ladder... then a cheap spiral and a ladder, then a spiral staircase that we build then finally the stairs we have today that cost $10,000. That would have been my entire budget for a year 9 years ago. But I spent a lot of $$ before the final solution.

Now repeat that a bunch of dumb times... $$. :)

How have you almost died?

Besides daily how often do you just drop things down the tube?

I'd guess that being underground the indoor temperature doesn't change that much. Any issues with HVAC in general, like air flow?

Given the choice would you rather be closer to town or have more windows?

If you get really bored you can see it on the Youtube channel but...

1. Opened the 6000 pound front door with 1,000,000 gallons of water behind it. Smart
2. Went in the facility without proper ventilation. My voice changed while walking up stairs. Turns out it was methane gas.

We don't live in the facility but we do live on the original missile base topside. Underground we don't need any heat or a/c but we do run dehumidifiers. We can circulate large amounts of air if we need to. For example, if we are doing any welding or running the cutting torch.

We are only about 15 minutes from a Target so fairly close to town. Windows would be nice but we are going to be putting up TVs inside with cameras outside to simulate windows. Not the same but should be neat.

I know NOC / Data Centers that do similar things with cameras and TVs for windows. It works as light and gives some feeling of not being in the middle of a building.

I've actually never seen that... I know I didn't invent the idea but cool that they are doing that.

If possible I would suggest putting the TV into a frame or anything that doesn't make it feel like a TV.

Sounds like a fun project.

Agreed; I plan on framing it like a TV. Since the place is so large I'm going to use 4 TVs in a 2x2 format. That's why I don't have it done yet... about $3000 when it's all done. I guess about the same price as a big ass window. :-)

Does it take a while to get used to living underground? Lack of natural light etc ?

We live topside but have spent a lot of time underground. In a lot of ways you get used to it and sometimes forget actually. The weirdest part for me is that you lose track of time without natural light.

Neat tidbit, casinos are designed with that idea in mind. No windows or clocks prevent the typical casino goer from knowing the lapse in time. It makes them think they haven’t been there for a long time and they’ll just keep playing.

Yep... I've spent a bit of time in them. :-)

"Holy shit... when did it get dark???" Or even more fun.... "When did the sun come up??" :-)

Maybe you could set up some smart bulbs that change color and brightness throughout the day to simulate what the sun is doing.

Yeah, have all smart LEDs in the place for that reason. Great thinking!

Besides almost dying a few times, what’s been the biggest challenge with bringing the silo back to life?

The water for sure. The government blew up the top of the silo and the access portal and here in Arkansas the water table is really high most of the time. So we had to build a bulkhead in the long cableway (tunnel) and build the access portal back up. It actually reflooded on us after a big storm... pretty bad day. It's not such a big deal anymore but the place was underwater for 30 years so it was like working inside a shipwreck.

Your video link isn't working, how about a link directly to youtube?

I've been in a couple of titan 1 bases and have crreped around some atlas sites as well.

Whereabouts are you?

Titan Is are incredible... I've never been in one but they are huge. We are in Arkansas - total of 18 Titan IIs here.

Thanks for the heads up about the link? Weird... Reddit was doing something to it. Edited and here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd50A5qLv8FemVufSvDgkCQ

Well, I know what Youtube channel I'm bingeing today :)

My question: Having spent this much money already, do you expect the facility to earn it back in the coming years/decades, or do you rather consider it an expensive hobby project?

Well it started as a cool project that maybe could be a home, then I spent a lot of $$, then I realized I wasn't going to live in it (got remarried, too many kids :-) ) so decided to make it more usable for the public and try to recoup some $$. We still have to spend $25k (at least) to finish some things up.

How powerful is it?

The Titan II was the largest ICBM that the US has ever had. It was 9 Megatons... to give you an idea of that size, you know the terrible explosion that happened in Beirut? The Titan II warhead was 500-900 times more powerful.

Dam

Titan was quite a large missile because the W53 warhead was physically large, about 4 tons or so. They needed big warheads as the guidance systems of the era weren't terribly accurate. By the '70s or so, they had much more accurate guidance systems so they could use smaller warheads of a few hundred kilotons yield, which weighed less than 1/10 of the weight of the W53.

The Gemini programme of the 1960s used modified Titan missiles to launch the capsule into orbit. Gemini capsules were manned, which might give you some sense of how big it was. Titan got retired as an ICBM in the '80s or '90s and the Air Force refurbished them, using them to launch large payloads until they ran out some years later. The payloads were normally classified but mainly recon satellites - flying telescopes not much smaller than the Hubble.

Great added info. Thanks!

Dream house right there! How much was it to purchase?

$90k with 9 acres but it was in VERY bad shape. If you get bored you can check out the Youtube channel. You'll see how bad it was when we got it... nasty.

Do you have it listed on Airbnb?

Not yet... I went back and forth with them because they don't have a former missile base as a category. I feel like I deserve one. :-)

We will be opening it up for BnB in the next 6 weeks or so.

So you haven’t even started on the missile silo itself right? Are you planning to do that?

This silo itself would be $400k or so just to open it up and clean it out. So no... haven't done anything with it. I would do it but would probably need to be funded by reality TV or something like that. :-)

You know you might be able to take on an investor and do a YouTube/podcast of the process. It could combine aspects of “This Old House” with research details a-la CGP Grey, and it would have some elements of “American Pickers” since I’m sure there will be unique challenges sourcing replacement parts for things like blast doors and stuff. If properly produced it might be good.

A bit late at this point... but there is a not-so-well produced Youtube channel. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd50A5qLv8FemVufSvDgkCQ

Is it kinda creepy living where such a destructive weapon was before?

When I sit down and look around inside sometimes it hits me what this place used to be. It's not creepy IMO but it is substantial to think about the purpose of the place. 1) Be scary enough to make sure the enemy NEVER wants to fire their missiles 2) Fire back and kill millions of people 3) Protect the airman that are in the facility.

How does one get to buy and own a missile complex? Do the government auctions it off somehow after they bury it? I can imagine it was national secret when it was used - how does site like this end up in private hands?

They weren't really secret when they were built. It's too much of a large construction project to be hidden. At least for most Cold War missile systems - they are in private hands. Atlas E, Atlas F, Titan I, Titan II... all in private hands. For the Titan II the government shut them down in the mid 1980's then, 10 years later, sold the land to the original land owner dependents or put them up for auction.

So, if a person wants any of these, you just buy them like a regular land purchase deal.

Any concerns about environmental contaminants on the site? I assume the military cleaned a lot of it up, but have you had testing done to confirm?

There isn't any badness anymore. There was some asbestos... the only other thing that I know of that was dangerous in the launch control center was PCBs which are nasty. But they were taken out during the decommissioning in the 80s.

Thanks! Understand there's some self-interest in confirming that it's clean, but you may want to consider some independent testing if you have not already done so.

It's been throughly cleaned. That's the nice part of it being made of steel and concrete. Pressure washing... :-)

Your April Fool's doomsday prep/weapons showcase video is legitimately funny, and something I've rewatched several times over the years.

Do you think the facility would actually make a decent bunker in a doomsday situation? Or could somebody flood you out with little effort?

The facility couldn't easily be flooded intentionally if I had the doors locked. But... is it a good doomsday bunker? Well, nothing is impenetrable given enough time and effort. So there are a few schools of thought. One, be mobile go into the mountains. Good option for the right kind of people.

If it was really armageddon I'm not sure I'd want to be stuck in an one place unless there were a significant number of people to defend the place.

I don't worry about all of that too much... I just think it's a bad ass place. :-)

How much land did it come with? Any trouble insuring it? How close is your closest neighbor? Do you keep in touch with other silo owners?

It came with 9 acres of land but I'm in the middle of 500 acres or so of ranch land so it feels like I have a lot more. Closest neighbors are maybe .25 miles away but that's just two houses.

Yeah, I know maybe 6 or so other silo owners. It's like an exclusive club of people that are well... different. :-)

For all the panels in the master bedroom/bath I'm aware you've curved them, but did you take into consideration the sink of the room after you have all the extra furniture in?

Wouldn't it have been better to bring up all the heavy items then cut the curves?

In your S2E01 all the wood in there looks to have some mould growth, are you still dealing with major water leakage?

Ah, good question. The area where those panels touch is curved but only on the vertical plane. I purposely built the panels in a way that would allow for the movement of the birdcage to not mess up anything on the levels.

Yeah, in that video there's some light mold for sure. For a while I wasn't running dehumidifiers and that was the problem. Basically I've just realized that's likely something I'll need to do for a long time. :-)

How much money have you spend on it?

I purchased the 10 acres for $90k and have spent about $300,000 on it since... at least that much. I didn't really keep track because I knew it would be scary.

Wow, $90k is surprisingly cheap. I know you had to do a ton of work on it, but even adding in that, $390k is much lower than I expected. Have you been able to make a decent amount back with your tours and stuff? I don't expect you're in the black, but I also don't know how much a missile silo rave costs.

Haven't made much back yet.... maybe $40k or so. But, I think we can do ok once the big C stops messing things up. :-)

I thought it would have been in the millions

Likely would have been if I hadn't done a lot of the work myself over the last 10 years.

Do you have a climbing wall, rappel point, or fireman's pole? Maybe a curly slide even?

All have been discussed... the most likely candidate is the climbing wall on the access portal wall. It's 33' tall and has places for an auto belay.

Argh!!!! The damn auto-belays are ridiculously expensive. Everything I've found is $1,800 more or less.

Yeah, but given the alternative for a place like here (not a full time climbing gym) I think it makes sense. It's a long ways down the road for me though.

Yo what state would this be in exactly if a certain someone wanted to host a rave?

Arkansas.

Does it ever worry you that perhaps in some decrepit Russian bunker there's a missile targeted directly at your home; and all it will take is some drunken Ruski to accidentally launch it; or even worse some outdated control system shorts and sends it your way?

Nah... I don't worry about it much. They had to get rid of their old systems too. But if they have random nuclear weapons that could come this way that would be bad for all of us. :-)

Do you have a photo gallery of the place or something? Im not getting a very good picture if the place in the couple videos i watched

You can go to titanranch.com to see a few more pics. Or you can google Titan II Complex to see some older cutaway drawings.

I used to be responsible for securing Minuteman 3s and Peacekeepers 17 years ago. How’s living in a MAF treating you?

That's great! We don't call them MAFs.... Launch Control Center (LCC). We don't live in it... too many kids. :-)

But we enjoy having it - mostly. :-)

That’s interesting that you say that.. when you say “we” who are you referring to? I am in the USAF and I have only ever heard it referred to as a MAF

Former Titan II crew members. That sounds pompous but not sure how else to answer. 😊

How do you fund such a massive project?

Well it's taken 10 years but I have a decent career in tech so I can't complain there. But yeah... basically a bit at a time over the last decade.

As someone who also is in a similar role, that's a real inspiration. Love your channel!

Thank you much!

Hi, hmm, didn’t hear about such a rocket, what happened to it because you spent too much money on it, did you go bankrupt?

Didn’t go bankrupt but it’s a lot to spend on a hole in the ground.

Do you have any pictures from the missile bay? I bet it's ooky spooky.

Unfortunately no, we haven't gone into it. It would be a fair bit of $$ to get in and then what do I do with it? Just a money problem... as are many things. :-)