Mike Prescott
How many houses have you built in your lifetime? One, two, or maybe none? Vintage Wings volunteer Mike Prescott has built 30. So when I find him in a back room of the hangar, above the metal shop, working on a thin wood frame, I figure he knows what he’s doing.
Mike ran his own construction company before going on to a career as an IT manager. He also did Formula 4 racing and performed all of his own maintenance.
As a retirement project in 2008, Mike took on the construction of a Challenger Ultralight aircraft. It was his first time doing fabric work, but he says it, “Turned out ok.” His favourite part was working on the instrument panel as he likes working with metal.
The entire project took him only nine months to complete, and he now flies his aircraft on floats or skis, depending on the season.
His work with Vintage Wings began a few years ago when he volunteered doing crowd safety at the air show. His background with woodwork and construction made him a perfect candidate to transition into the shop. He now volunteers at Vintage Wings once a week.
Mike Prescott mixes glues for the elevator ribs.
Since November he has been working on rebuilding one of the elevators from DHQ, a Tiger Moth badly in need of repair. Specifically, he is now slowly and carefully working on the ribs for the elevator.
Volunteering at Vintage Wings gives Mike a feeling of satisfaction. He enjoys it because, “The guys are so good. I learn a lot. It’s a win-win situation.”
Thank you to Mike, and to all of our hard-working volunteers, for all that you do for Vintage Wings.
Cool story. Having these vignettes about our family really helps me learn their back stories and see what kind of talent we have here. Most of these guys never blow their won horns, so we rarely see. Thanks Heather
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