A family hailing from India's Kerala state is making headlines after building an aircraft at their home during the COVID-19 lockdown and is now going on tours across the UK.
According to the Times of India, 38-year-old mechanical engineer Ashok Aliseril Thamarakshan, a native of Kerala's Alappuzha city who now lives in Essex, spent around two years designing the four-seater Sling TSI aircraft in his garden, which allegedly cost him around $225,700.
He named it 'G-Diya' after his youngest daughter Diya.
Thamarakshan obtained a pilot's license in 2018 and used to rent small two-seater planes for trips. After getting to know about a new aircraft model, the Sling TSI, the man visited the facility to learn more and ordered an aircraft kit. He built a makeshift workshop at his house compound and began to build it during the COVID-induced lockdown.
The medium-sized plane has a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour and requires 20 liters of fuel per hour.