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Culebra.- Under the shade of the trees he keeps in the front yard of his home, in an improvised and unique workshop, artisan Perfecto Santiago Rosario gives free rein to his hands by carving wooden airplanes.

He always wanted to be a pilot, but the lack of financial resources to study for the career was an obstacle for him. However, Santiago Rosario turned his disadvantage into an opportunity; six decades ago, he made his way into the world of crafts, polishing his skills by recreating different airplane models. Thus, he managed to bring together his two passions.

“A teacher one day asked me what I wanted to study. I said: Teacher, I want to be a pilot,” said Santiago Rosario, the eldest of 10 siblings.

But how did he learn his art? Santiago Rosario’s curiosity led him to discover his talent; he is self-taught.

“When I came home from school, I would steal my dad’s razors and work in the bathroom. That’s how I started (carving) and continued little by little until today,” he said.

Santiago Rosario’s wish to work as a pilot was so great that, “I said to myself, ‘I’m going to dedicate myself to making them (planes) out of wood’”.

From a very young age, he worked for the municipality of Culebra, and during the afternoons or in his free time, he would practice and improve his carving technique.

“I’ve loved this since I was a boy, I love it and I will continue to love it. I tell my wife: ‘I think I’m going to die with the carving blades in my hands’, because I’m passionate about this. I wanted to be a pilot so much that it stayed in my blood”, said the culebrense.

Unlike some residences in Culebra, the 72-year-old man’s house does not have an ocean view; instead, it has a view of the runway of the Benjamín Rivera Noriega Airport, which is right across his front door.

The craftsman watches the arrival and departure of airplanes every day while he works in his craft as a hobby, after having retired from his government job. His landscape serves as inspiration to give color and assign numbers to the little airplanes.

“I have no idea how many airplanes I’ve made from the time I started until today,” he noted. However, he does remember the models he has recreated, such as the Cherokee, the Cessna, and the Britten-Norman Islander, which is the model of his favorite plane that lands every day at the airport in front of his house.

Santiago Rosario, who is also a fisherman, uses mahogany, cedar, and driftwood found on the shore to create his models.

“I don’t feel completely satisfied, because that’s really what I wanted (to be a pilot), that was my dream (aviation), but satisfied in a way because I have no choice but to accept it. That’s life, we have to accept things as they come, as they are, because there is no other way,” he concluded.