Home-Made Helicoptors in the Future?

[Shaka_Khan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nigeriah...wdyjKEL2YDW7oF

Home-made helicopters hit northern Nigeria

by Aminu Abubakar
Sun Oct 21, 6:43 PM ET

KANO (AFP) - Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, a 24-year-old physics undergraduate in northern Nigeria, takes old cars and motorbikes to pieces in the back yard at home and builds his own helicopters from the parts.

"It took me eight months to build this one," he said, sweat pouring from his forehead as he filled the radiator of the banana yellow four-seater which he now parks in the grounds of his university.

The chopper, which has flown briefly on six occasions, is made from scrap aluminium that Abdullahi bought with the money he makes from computer and mobile phone repairs, and a donation from his father, who teaches at Kano's Bayero university.

It is powered by a second-hand 133 horsepower Honda Civic car engine and kitted out with seats from an old Toyota saloon car. Its other parts come from the carcass of a Boeing 747 which crashed near Kano some years ago.....

[HoreTore]

So much for those "unwashed savages", eh?

This thing takes brains. Serious brains.

[Husar]

So much for those "unwashed savages", eh?

This thing takes brains. Serious brains.

That doesn't mean he washes more often.

[HoreTore]

That doesn't mean he washes more often.

Now you're just being german.

[Husar]

Now you're just being german.

I've been german before I believe but I think that's some very nice work. Especially since he apparently didn't even have a team and/or advanced machinery etc to build the helicopter. Reminds me a bit of those helicopter pioneers like Sikorsky etc.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Not to be a killjoy or anything, but would anyone actually take a ride in his helicopter?

It is some pretty sweet work, but I don't know that I'd want to take a spin in that particular chopper.