When plastic surgeon David Feldmar isn’t reconstructing people, he’s constructing model airplanes.
Feldmar, 39, has been building scale models and flying them at the Sepulveda Basin since he was a kid.
“When not at work, I need to be creating something, doing something with my hands,” said Feldmar, who has a private practice and serves as medical director of cosmetic injectables beauty lab Alchemy 43, both in Beverly Hills. “It allows me to create little pieces of art.”
Reconstructing the models after they crash and break into a thousand pieces is appealing, too.
Feldmar has more than 100 planes and builds them from scratch in his garage workshop. The models’ wingspans range from a few inches to 5 feet and resemble everything from gliders to B-17 bombers that Feldmar flies in formation with other enthusiasts and retired Air Force pilots.
During the surgeon’s last trip to the basin in April, he enjoyed using a new feature he’s been adding to many of his models: a plane-mounted video camera whose footage streams inside goggles he wears.
“It’s much more fun,” he said. “You actually feel like you yourself are, in a sense, flying.”
Runner Trades Up
As if working on job creation and foreign investment wasn’t enough of a mission, Stephen Cheung, 37, president of World Trade Center Los Angeles, is a three-time Los Angeles Marathon runner and has his sights set on participating in an Ironman triathlon.
Cheung completed his first sprint triathlon in Pasadena in March, a race that included a three-mile run, nine-mile bike ride and 50-meter swim. Though he laughingly concedes he is not a strong swimmer, he said the triathlon is something he is willing to dedicate a large part of his life working toward.
“It wasn’t until after I graduated college that a friend invited me to participate in a fundraiser marathon, and that’s what started it for me,” he said. “Now my life goal is to do something more difficult.”
Cheung directed foreign affairs and trade for the Mayor’s Office and served as director of international trade for the Port of Los Angeles, which made training for a full triathlon a time-consuming task, even for a regular marathon runner.
“It’s always at the back of my mind,” he said. “I’m turning 38 this year and I wanted to participate in one before my 40th birthday. That might not be possible anymore, but I’m going to give myself an extra five years and do it by the time I’m 45.”
Staff reporters Marni Usheroff and Amal Khan contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Jonathan Diamond. He can be reached at [email protected].
