HanoiFalling in love with planes at the age of 6 and intending to build a collection of model airplanes from there, but in grade 11 Tiep did not buy the first one.
“Listen to people at Noi Bai airport, there is a Boeing 767-300 model of Vietnam Airlines for 200,000 VND, I cycled nearly 40 km from Cau Giay to buy it,” said Nguyen Quang Tiep, 41 years old, in District Two. Mrs. Trung said. The model is made of plastic, the body is covered with a green decal, not as sophisticated as the current versions, but the student is still fascinated.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Tiep and the first aircraft model bought by himself in 1999. Character photo provided.
Explaining the origin of this passion, Tiep said, when he was 6 years old, his father took him to the airport. The image of an airplane with an elongated body, bearing cultural characteristics of each country, took off and flew into the sky, making the Czech boy seem to fall in love. “From there, I plan to build my own collection,” he said.
In the early 90s, collecting model civil aircraft was a luxury because it was expensive and there was no place to buy it. The Czech boy cut his own foam box, homemade cardboard to play. In high school, he accumulated money for breakfast, scoured every corner of Hanoi, from Luong Van Can toy street, general department store, flea market, even cycling to a place where aviation plastic is produced. in Gia Lam district asked to buy but did not have. When I bought a Boeing 767-300 in 1999, my dream began to come true.
That day, the model price ranged from a few hundred to a few million dong, had to be ordered from abroad or through an intermediary, so the Czech plan to build a collection progressed very slowly. When he was in college, he enlisted to work part-time to earn money to support his passion, but the number only stopped at a few. After graduating, he stopped collecting and focused on developing his business.
In 2012, Tiep returned to his passion when the economy was stable. All of his existing models are located in shops in the US, Germany, Singapore, Thailand… or come to your place to negotiate and buy. Prices range from one million to several tens of millions of dong, depending on the rarity and place of manufacture.
Nguyen Quang Tiep next to airplane models at his home, on the evening of March 22. Image: Quynh Nguyen
His collection now has some special models, for example, the missing Malaysia Airlines model Boeing 777-200ER MH370, only 80 units are produced in the world. Tiep also has one of 300 model Airbus A320 models of US Airways, which landed in the Hudson River, New York, saving all passengers in 2009. In addition, he also bought a number of aircraft designed specifically for Olympics, World Cup or rare models.
“If you don’t book early, you have to buy it back at a high price or lose the opportunity to own it,” he said. Pointing to a model of the Boeing 747 carrying the US space shuttle Endeavor, he said it was the most expensive model in the collection. After many times of hunting and begging, he finally bought it for 6 million VND but it is now difficult to find a seller, the value increases over time. Or the Air France 747 cost more than 4 million VND, but Tiep had to spend more than ten million VND to fly to Thailand to buy. “Sometimes I have to fast, not spending money to have money to buy some iron birds. Many people say I’m crazy, throwing money out the window,” he confided.
The collector added that, depending on the needs of the player, the production units offer many different ratios, from 1:50 to 1:1000, but the golden ratio for display is 1:200, with the whole model. made of hard plastic or made from monolithic foreign needles, weighing from a few grams to more than ten kilograms. “They are not too big or too small, just enough for viewers to admire from the whole to the smallest detail on the plane,” he said.
Owning nearly 1,000 different models, Tiep insists he never misunderstands the name and specifications from the ancient aircraft to the modern flying one. In particular, each model clearly shows the formation and development of each airline, associated with the unique culture of each country.
“I don’t collect to prove the magnitude of the quantity or the value of money, because that’s my passion,” Tiep said.
The aircraft models are arranged by continent, country, and fleet, showing the whole process of formation and development of the airline. Image: Quynh Nguyen.
Currently, Tiep’s collection is carefully stored in a 40 m2 room, specifically designed, with 15 wooden cabinets over 3 m high with air conditioning and dehumidifier. People entering the sightseeing room must comply with the “3 no” rule: do not open the door; do not hold the model; and do not bring food. To make it easier for viewers to visualize, he arranged the model by continent. Within each continent, divided into many countries and fleets. Currently, he owns aircraft models of about 100 countries and territories, in which many airlines have ceased operations or been acquired.
Considered as a luxury hobby, in the past five years, the number of members and consulting groups, sharing and playing model airplanes has increased. The largest group has 3,000 members.
Knowing that Tiep owns a large collection, many people have offered to buy a number of individual aircraft models, but he refused. “Selling one can’t get rich, I have to work hard to buy it back or there’s no place to sell it,” he laughed. Tiep also has his own YouTube channel to share his passion with everyone who loves airplanes and aviation.
In addition to collecting unique models, in the near future, Tiep plans to make a 1:200 scale model of an airport with three separate terminals to display aircraft, attaching “personal information” to each aircraft so that people can use it as a reference. view easier to understand. At that time, he can welcome more people to enjoy the flying boats associated with the development of each period.
Quynh Nguyen
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
