Airplanes are so cool. I personally believe that they are some of the most beautiful machines ever made. The way they look, sound, and move are so captivating.

Origins

Airplanes caught my eye early on as a kid, but it didn’t bloom into a full-grown passion until late-elementary school. I was exposed to a lot of literature and documentaries about the Second World War as a kid. I learned about how influential aircraft were to steer the course of history. During this time, I gathered a lot of respect for the significance of the airplane.

My middle school was located next to a small airfield. Each day, I would always look out the window to see if any planes were swapped in/out of the hanger. I was particularly interested in their several Yak models. I would always look to the sky when I heard the buzz of an airplane emerging from the airfield.

At the same time, my older brother shared this passion for aviation, and I followed in his upwash. Our bookshelves filled up with various airplane encyclopedias and guides. We would watch documentaries about airplanes; like Dogfights, Modern Marvels, Battle 360°, and the other good stuff on the History channel before Ice Road Truckers ruined everything. We played Il-2 Sturmovik 1946 and started to make scale models.

Favorite Airplanes

I am a big fan of bold and experimental designs. Some of my favorite airplanes are the Me-163 Komet, J7W Shinden, Do 335 Pfeil, F4U Corsair, Ju-87 Stuka, MiG-15, F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, A-10 Thunderbolt II, Su-47 Berkut, F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II.

Some aerospace engineers that inspire me are Willy Messerschmitt and Kelly Johnson. I’ll be honest Mr. Messerschmitt gets some brownie points from me because we share the same first name. I would be happy to just become a fraction of those legends.

Model Airplanes

I started building model planes during eighth grade. To be frank they were pretty bad. The next several planes were not much better. I have made these planes:

• Yak-9D
• A6M Zero
• SBD Dauntless
• J2M Raiden
• MiL Mi-24
• Bf-110 (snaptite model)
• F-14 Tomcat
• Mirage III

In the works are an F-117 Nighthawk, a T-90 (tank), and a Su-30.

Airplane CAD

Naturally, I would want to make airplanes in SolidWorks. There is a very good Saab Jas 39 Gripen that is available on YouTube, which was a great learning experience. I successfully followed it and made modifications (converting surfaces to solids) to 3D-print it.

One of my best models is that of a Me-262. It is finished up with semi-accurate decals. I planned to 3D-print it with an SLA printer but never got around to do so.

Real Airplanes

The first time I went to a plane-related event was in middle school. I got to go to the Wings of Freedom event at Moffett Field near the NASA Ames center. I got to climb inside a B-17, B-24, and B-25 and also got to see the P-51 Mustang.

In another instance, I went to a museum in Oakland and saw the F-14 Tomcat in real life. I also got to sit in the cockpit of an authentic MiG-15.

Later, I was able to attend my first airshow during my freshman year. It was the Planes of Fame Airshow in Chino. I tagged along with my brother and was able to see many spectacular warbirds fly from the P-40 Warhawk to the F4U Corsair. The best part about that experience was the A-10 demo.

The next year, I attended the California International Airshow and saw a performance by the legendary Blue Angels. It was absolutely spectacular.

The year after that, I took a brief visit to the Smithsonian Institution. Unfortunately, the section that I wanted to see the most, the warbirds, was not open during that time. This means that I’ll have to make another visit. In the same year, I took a visit to the Castle Air Museum during their open cockpit day. I got to go into a CH-47 Chinook and a KC-135 Stratotanker amongst other planes. Additionally, I got to see the SR-71 in person, and it looks a lot smaller than what I imagined it to be.