Meet the Indian entrepreneur making handcrafted 'Top Gun' propellers

Akshay Sharma has sold over 1,000 hand-made, wall-mountable wooden propellers

propellers-top-gear-WoodFeather Some of the Top Gun-themed propellers made by Akshay Sharma | WoodFeather

You'd expect aviation enthusiasts would be excited about the idea of using aircraft propellers as wall art. But Mumbai-based entrepreneur Akshay Sharma has been selling most of his exquisite, handcrafted propellers to clients who don't have an interest in aeronautics. 

Sharma carves propellers out of wood, adds his creative flourish and whips up two-armed rotational artefacts which are hung like 6-feet-wide paintings on the wall. Now his three-year-old company WoodFeather has convinced Paramount Pictures to launch a special edition line of Top Gun propellers, in the run-up to the July 2 launch of the sequel to the 1980s action drama starring Tom Cruise. 

"Woodfeather is the only company in the world making high-end, artsy propellers. Top Gun was a movie I have always idolised. I had this idea of creating propellers inspired by themes and characters from the film. We managed to [get] through to Paramount Pictures last year. They loved the idea and ran it past Cruise's team. And now we are making a line of four official Top Gun propellers," says an excited Sharma, who is a certified pilot himself. With his private pilot license, Sharma would often go to the US in pre-COVID years and rent a Cessna or a Beechcraft for recreational use as the culture of owning private planes is not that unusual in the US. 

Six years ago, when he began building his own house in India, he wanted to mount a propellor on his wall and so he ordered one from eBay, "Among pilots, propellers are quite a thing as art objects," informs Sharma. But when his shipment got lost in transit, Sharma decided to make one himself. A half-baked first one from a log of wood led to 10 more and then some more and before he knew it, an idea for a company was born. Starting with no background in design or woodwork, Sharma has mastered the art of making plush, decorative propellers with full creative control.

"Even though propellers as decor are available online, they are of much poorer quality, with cheap wood from China. I take liberties with materials and finishes, like using teakwood," says Sharma. "From superheroes, race cars, iconic planes from World War II to a chapter from the Ramayana in hand-painted folk art, inspiration can come from anywhere."

The Top Gun propellers are made of Burma teak wood in four designs, Maverick, Wingman, F/A-18 and P-51D and are priced between Rs 70,000-75,000 apiece.

"What we’re making is something that’s never been done before. An iconic film deserves iconic memorabilia and our Top Gun propellers are nothing short of it...being a die-hard Top Gun fan myself I can promise that is this something every fan is going to want to own,” says Sharma who has clients mostly from the luxury-lifestyle segment.

Since 2017, Sharma has sold over 1,000 propellers in an India-focussed market. 

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