Downstairs from Mike and Lek’s apartment he has a workshop where he engages in one of his hobbies — custom model r/c airplane construction. Mike doesn’t put together kits. He designs and builds exact replicas of historic aircraft, and flies them every year at the Top Gun competition in Florida. Last year my brother and I went to the competition where Mike’s A-10 Warthog won the design competition and came in 2nd in the flight competition. This year he’s building an F-111. As you can see in the photo below this aircraft has sweeping wings, which are able to change their orientation depending on flight speed. The sophistication of the aircraft design, from the all-composite construction (no wood at all on this model) to the fully-articulated retractable landing gear is amazing. The plane is still at an early stage of fitness, and while it’s airworthy it will ultimately look exactly like the original plane. I’m hoping that my brother and I will go to Florida in May to watch the competition.
We spent several hours in the workshop while Mike and his master aircraft engineer Sho calibrated the wing movement. The shop is a playground, with laser cutting machine, fiberglass construction areas, etc. The jet engines are fabricated at another of his plants.
This morning was an easy one, recovering from a bit of jet lag. Lek’s masseuse showed up but Lek hadn’t done her run yet, so she had the masseuse work out my kinks for an hour. Then I worked out, had some mango, and did a bit of work. Life doesn’t suck!
Having a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow is the Royal Palace tour, then off to the river house for the weekend.
By the way, I have not gotten my phone to work yet. So if anyone needs to reach me, text and phone will not work. Use my email instead.
F-111 sweepwing in open and closed positions
