An aircraft in the living room? Fans of aviation would argue that there is something satisfying about drinking their coffee at a table made of an Antonov 12 engine. Or perhaps, entertaining guests on a leather sofa made of an 18-feet long MIG 21 Drop Tank — even if it occupies a large chunk of the room.

Aircraft are beautiful things, says Akshay Sharma, founder, Woodfeather and Airborn. The former offers handcrafted wooden propellers, while the latter has furniture made of aircraft components. Here, retired commercial planes and fighter jets assume a new life. Wings become tables, windows become clocks, Air India galley carts are transformed into plush trolley bars wrapped in Napa leather…

With a clientele including pilots, aviation geeks, and celebrities like Gauri Khan, Mahesh Babu, Ranveer Singh, Ratan Tata, Vijay Kirloskar, and Niranjan Hiranandani among others, Akshay says, “India has been a great story for us”. And now 60% of his propellers are being exported outside India.

Air India galley carts transformed into plush trolley bars
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Interestingly, atleast 75% of his clients are not connected to aviation. “Which goes to show that people want something that looks good and starts a conversation. Clients want something hatke (different),” he says.

An aviation enthusiast, Akshay wanted to become a pilot but his eyesight forced him to take up a different career. He got into media marketing but was always driven by his childhood passion. He earned himself a Private Pilot License from the US. While setting up his home in Mumbai, he wanted aviation-inspired decor for his living room. “I ordered a propeller off a website in the US but the shipment got lost in transit. I was heartbroken. I tried to find something similar in this part of the world but could not find anything. So, I decided to make one. Got a log of wood, and everyday before going to work I would sand it, polish it and experiment with it,” says Akshay, adding that he reached out to craftsmen and learnt the nitty gritty of woodwork.

Akshay Sharma
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Eventually, Woodfeather was born in 2017. Starting with seven to eight pieces, the brand then created annual collections. The first one was four feet. The sizes are bigger now ranging from six to 10 feet. “A client from Riyadh ordered a 10 feet, three blade propeller; that was a challenge I enjoyed,” he adds. The propellers are made with Burma teak as the base. “We use reclaimed wood; some of these logs are 60-80 years old,” informs Akshay, .

The biggest fillip came when we got the Top Gun deal. “I kept watching the trailer on loop and wanted to make propellers inspired by the helmet, patches etc that you see in the movie,” he says. After a lot of obsessively asking around, Akshay found someone who was acquaintances with an employee at Paramount Pictures. After four months of back and forth, he sent them four fresh designs which the team liked and one day, Akshay woke up to a confirmation contract in his inbox. “I wept like a child. I am not a big brand. But to have my logo sit side by side with Top Gun was unbelievable. I made the official Top Gun propellers and it opened up international markets for me,” he says over a video call from Mumbai.

Boeing 737 wheel coffee table chrome edition
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Soon, Akshay wanted to move beyond propellers and use aircraft parts to make furniture. Accessing these parts were a challenge but with his contacts in aviation and the air force, he says he managed to source a lot of parts — “after paying a bomb for them” — and stored them in a godown five years ago. “On these aircraft parts you cannot use the usual tools, cutters, polishers etc. There’s so much tech that goes into even a simple rivet in an aircraft, its mind boggling. It took me years to refurbish. That’s how Airborn took shape. Everything here, is something that has flown, spent its lifetime in the sky, done 20-30 years of service,” he adds.

The burgeoning collection includes fire extinguisher table lamps, oxygen bottle floor lamps, combustion chamber chandelier, flap desk, Boeing wheel coffee tables, spinning compressor rotor tables, aircraft skin tags, bullions… He is constantly scouring for more parts, and says, “This is my way of bringing these iconic planes to life again.”

Prices start at ₹2.5 lakh. Available on woodfeather.com

A handmade wooden propeller
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Antonov AN-12 engine block table
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A still from ‘Phule’
| Photo Credit: Zee Studios/YouTube

Opposition in Maharashtra has urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to exempt the film Phulefrom tax and make it available in schools. They argued that making the film tax-free would allow more people to know the history of India’s social reforms and movements. 

While NCP-SP leader Jayant Patil asked to make it tax-free, aiming to reach more people with the history of social reforms, Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad wants school students to understand the struggle of such social reformers that enabled girls to pursue education in India. 

Actor and filmmaker Ananth Mahadevan directed the film Phule, a biopic on the lives of Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, released on April 25. The film has already attracted criticism from the Brahmin community for allegedly showing the community in a bad light. The director has defended that the film is not against the Brahmins, and the controversy around it was “unnecessary”.

Mr. Patil on Friday asked Mr. Fadnavis to tax-free the film Phule that depicts the struggles of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule for equality and see the living history of the movement built for the upliftment of society. He shared the letter on X, mentioning, “The work of Mahatma Phule and Savitrimai is beyond opening water tanks for Dalits and promoting women’s education. The film has been opposed in the 21st century as much as the couple faced opposition for their work in the 19th century, resulting deletion of nearly 12 scenes from the film.” 

“Everyone must watch the struggle of the couple fighting to give a man the right to live as a human being,” he wrote, adding that people’s misconceptions will also be cleared. 

Mumbai Congress president and MP Varsha Gaikwad demanded that the film be made tax-free in Maharashtra and screened in schools, especially girls’ schools across the State. Crediting the Phule couple for all her achievements, Ms. Gaikwad said, “Many women like me can get themselves educated and work in the political field just because of Phule’s initiatives to educate women and the underprivileged sections of society.” “We have a social responsibility towards them; the current generation should understand their struggle. This is possible through this film,” she wrote in the letter to Mr. Fadnavis. 

Meanwhile, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) Chief Prakash Ambedkar also raised his voice to make the film tax-free. “I demand that the film be released without any cuts and be made tax-free in Maharashtra. VBA follows the Phule-Shahu-Ambedkarwadi ideology, and we will NOT tolerate and stay quiet to this insult of Mahatma Phule,” he posted on X, a few weeks ago. 

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday slammed Delhi Airport and called it ‘dysfunctional’, informing that despite the delays, he managed to reach Thiruvananthapuram on time to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Vizhinjam Port commission. 

The Congress leader in a post on the social media platform X wrote, “Despite delays at the dysfunctional Delhi airport, managed to land in Thiruvananthapuram in time to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival in my constituency.”

“Looking forward to his officially commissioning Vizhinjam port, a project I have been proud to have been involved with since its inception,” he added. Tharoor also shared his pictures with PM Modi at the airport. 

Earlier, in April, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also shared a picture of himself at the Delhi Airport and slammed it for delays. 

He had written on X, “Delhi airport is a bl** sh** show (excuse my French but I’m in no mood to be polite). 3 hours in the air after we left Jammu we get diverted to Jaipur and so here I am at 1 in the morning on the steps of the plane getting some fresh air. I’ve no idea what time we will leave from here.” Later, CM Abdullah updated that he reached Delhi after 3 am on that day.

The Airport had been facing flight delays due to weather conditions, and a runway was closed for construction work.

Strong winds, heavy rainfall, and thunderstorms led to flight delays and disruptions in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on Friday.