Kerala Man Takes Europe Trips With Family In A Plane He Built At Home

The pandemic was a difficult time for most of us, confined to the four walls of our homes, every day felt like a challenge. However, some used it to their advantage and picked up new DIY hobbies and skills. Topping the list is Ashok Aliseril Thamarakshan, a Kerala man settled in the UK, who took the opportunity to complete his dream of owning a private plane by actually building one! Thamarakshan and his wife, along with their two daughters, now use their home-built aeroplane to travel across the UK and Europe. Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic are among the countries they visited in their plane.

It took him 18 months to build the four-seater aeroplane, a Sling TSI that has been named 'G-Diya', after Ashok's youngest daughter, Diya.

A mechanical engineer by profession, Thamarakshan, 38, is the son of former MLA AV Thamarakshan. He moved to the UK in 2006 and is currently based in London with his wife, Abhilasha.

Home built plane

It was during the Covid-induced lockdown that the idea of building an aircraft came to Thamarakshan.

"Initially, I used to rent small two-seater aircraft for trips after acquiring my pilot license in 2018,” he said, explaining that two-seater aircraft became redundant once his family grew. He realised he needed a four-seater plane if he wanted his family to accompany him on his travels, but such aircrafts are rare and hard to come by, so Thamarakshan had the idea of building one himself.

He visited the Johannesburg-based Sling Aircraft to get an assembly kit. The Covid-induced lockdown gave him time to work from a workshop from his house compound. The construction was periodically overseen by UK civil aviation authorities, reports Economic Times.

He completed work in February at a total cost of Rs 1.8 crore and soon took it around for a spin. His plane has a maximum speed of 200km/hr and needs 20 litres of fuel per hour. The fuel tank can take 180 litres.

Abhilasha told The Sun: “We started saving money during the first lockdown, and we knew we always wanted to have our own plane, and in the first few months we were saving a lot of money so we thought we would give it a go.”

Suggested Reading: This Kerala Woman Passionate About Driving Gives Free Bus Service