The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our lives on so many levels - and we have spend better part of last two years at home baking bread or binge-watching Netflix.
There were some who tied to pick a new hobby or learn a new language. For this family, however, the ambition knew no bounds as they spent their time took on the challenging project of building a four-seater plane from scratch.?
Ashok Aliseril, 38, his wife Abhilasha Dubey, 35, Tara, 6, and Diya, 3, weren't going to let the boredom get to them and instead invested their time in something more meaningful.?
Ashok, a trained pilot, with help from his family, spent nearly two years building the plane - with just the instruction manual and YouTube videos for guidance, The Telegraph reported.?
The 38-year-old engineer from England's Essex, and his wife Abhilasha had wanted to buy an aircraft capable of accommodating both them and their two young daughters. However, they could not find a suitable option on the market.?
So, Ashok decided to take matters into his own hands, literally.?
He found a kit plane that suited their needs, and flew to South Africa to test fly the vehicle, before ordering it and having it shipped to his back garden.
The parts arrived in March 2020, just as the family found themselves grounded by COVID.
So, instead of spending lock-down?making banana bread, or getting into sourdough in a big way, the family built a plane.
?Almost two years later, the result is an incredible red and silver number complete with luxury seats and plenty of leg room.
It was reported that the entire project cost ?155,000 (Rs 1.57 crore).?
The couple helped fund the project by saving money on school breakfast clubs, commuting and socialising.??
Ą°After work, there was literally no time to waste on the commute to get to the hangar ¨C because it was just there in our back garden,ĄąAbhilasha was quoted as saying by Metro. Ą°So Ashok used to just pop out after work from 3pm and stay there until 9pm."??
The couple are now hoping to travel to fly to the Isle of Wight for summer holidays, while Ashok is hoping the plane will help him get to Manchester United matches.
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