model airplanes date back to 200 BC, when a six-inch artifact with wings and what appears to be a fuselage was unearthed in Saqqara, an ancient burial ground in Egypt. Since then, models were built to fuel the imagination and build the impossible, their portable scale and detailed design serving a uniquely tangible perspective to aircraft engineers.
Today, they’re toys for collectors like Mark Lester Hao, who has been a hobbyist for more than 20 years. His quest: to recreate Philippine aviation history in miniature models. Hao has collected nearly 1,000 models, focusing on the country’s commercial airlines, with aircraft from Philippine Airlines (PAL) dominating his office shelves.
“I’ve always been nationalistic. I love the flag carrier and I see to it that I fly local over foreign carriers as much as possible,” he reveals. “And I’ve always admired our Filipino pilots—they perform the best landings.”
Hao has collected everyday stuff since he was a kid—coins, bottle caps, old batteries. He got into model planes when he turned 17, turning dashed hopes of becoming a pilot into what would turn out to be an enduring hobby.
More impressive collections:
Unable to pursue aviation because of safety concerns, Hao instead took
Article source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/24/19/this-frustrated-flyboy-built-a-full-metal-fleet-of-1000-model-airplanes
