Two adult “Star Wars” fans, one who was coincidentally wearing a T-shirt with an X-wing on it, spent several minutes shooting videos and frantically texting friends and family about what they were seeing. Natalia Onyskiv, president of the Georgia branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee, watched Lekiachvili guide the X-wing to an agreed-upon spot closer to the main road in mild awe: “I’ve seen videos but it doesn’t describe the feeling when you see it in real life! I wish I was a little girl and I could sit inside there.” Lekiachvili’s son Leo, now 13, also kept pushing his dad forward no matter how frustrating things got: “I did a lot of soldering and welding.” The final result in McGaughey’s mind? “It’s nothing short of miraculous.” Every time there was an obstacle, I was his champion.” “I was the first person to say it was a great idea. “I’ve been here for this entire adventure,” said Doug McGaughey, a 53-year-old neighbor and one of his biggest cheerleaders, as he watched Lekiachvili fiddle with wiring. While the fighter can’t technically fly, it has an engine so it can move on the ground with wheels. (Steve Schaefer / Steve Schaeferīehind the Kroger last Saturday morning at Embry Village, Lekiachvili was struggling to get the thruster lights to work before moving the X-wing out to the main parking lot via remote control. Reese Hagler, 8, sits in the cockpit of the near life-like replica of an X-Wing Starfighter from Star Wars at Embry Village shopping center in Embry Hills on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Lekiachvili’s neighbors were well aware of his project, which sat under a blue tarp in the garage for five years until his wife convinced him to build out a 30-by-30 feet hangar in the backyard. He is planning to do so again at the Atlanta International Night Market at the town square in Suwanee from 2 to 5 p.m. He has so far brought his X-wing out twice to raise money for medical supplies for Ukraine, including at a Kroger parking lot in Embry Hills this past Saturday. “Russia is like the evil empire and Ukraine the Rebel Alliance,” said Lekiachvili, who first came to the United States in 1994 as an exchange medical student at Emory University before starting his residency in 1997. He wanted to help and contacted the non-profit local chapter of the Ukrainian Congress Committee, which aims to build stronger ties between Americans and Ukraine. Lekiachvili was about finished with the X-wing when Russia invaded Ukraine. He was thrilled when actor Mark Hamill, who played Skywalker, liked one of his Tweets.
While working on the X-wing, Lekiachvili spent several years posting videos on Twitter of the build out and teaching workshops about electronics, geometry and tooling, with dozens of kids helping do the work. In the film, Luke Skywalker flew the X-wing starfighter for the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire and used it to destroy the Death Star. He didn’t see the original “Star Wars” until he was a teen in the late 1980s on VHS after glasnost made Western films more readily available. Lekiachvili, now 50, grew up behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union in the country of Georgia as a child and had no access to the “Star Wars” films. Akaki Lekiachilli helps Artimy Osadchiy, 5, onto his near life-like replica of an X-Wing Starfighter from Star Wars at Embry Village shopping center on Chamblee Tucker Road Saturday, April 16, 2022.
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