For actor Michael Wong, flying a helicopter is much more sexy than show business

If actor Michael Wong Man-tak hadn't made it in show business, he could probably have become a full-time pilot. Even Tropical Storm Fanapi couldn't stop him taking off in a helicopter on Monday.

'Flying is much more fulfilling than acting,' said Wong (pictured), who earned his helicopter pilot's licence in 1998. 'It's a mental exercise as well as a physical one.'

Wong challenged himself to fly in the inclement weather to promote an aviation training programme with the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps, which offers teenagers flying experience. The most excited boy at the event, however, was Wong.

'That's because I get to fly,' said Wong, sitting in the pilot's seat of a Bell helicopter worth more than HK$46 million. 'It's really sexy.'

Even sexier than the string of models who Wong took on board, as well as the 22 young cadets? The beauties included Jacqueline Chong Si-min, Dai Xiaoyi and Wong's wife, Janet Ma Sze-wai.

'It's a life-changing experience for the kids to be taken out of the densely populated city. It opens their minds and keeps their dreams alive,' Wong said.