Chinese farmer makes own aircraft, ditches it in a field after 3 second flight
This farmer from Wuhan should be considered a national treasure for his actions which are more akin to the actions of Bo and Luke than those of your average Chinese farmer.
The 45 year old farmer, Mr. Shu, spent 100,000rmb of his own money on assembling this particular home made plane which took to the skies for 3 seconds before crashing into a neighboring compound. Mr. Shu apparently hurt his legs in flight to the stars and remains undeterred in his planes for home made flight. He even had his mother on hand to wish him luck.
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I fail to understand why this guys should be held as a national treasure. He wasted approximately $14,000 (worth whole lot more in China than the U.S.) for a sad attempt of a flying contraption. Do Chinese see this as something to be proud of or being creative? The Wright Brothers did a better job 100 years ago.
And why is it posted here??
It has a motor. Its far down the front page. Its a light humor article on a slow news day.
I found it humorous. It takes some balls to build your own plane when you don’t know what you are doing and actually try it out. Have to give him credit for that.
What is with all the personal attacks in here. Everyone just waiting to slam someone or their country. People are people anywhere in the world. Realize that no one is the same and accept it. Grow up.
Humorous that he hurt his leg? Flying a 100,000 yuan plane for 3 seconds? I would rather donate the money to charity.
@korean_guy, one Chinese farmer does not represent China or its 1.3 billion people.
No. Humorous that he did what he did.
It’s not balls (that’s too much undeserved credit to this guy), it’s BOREDOM that drove this farmer to build this crap.
uh huh so where is the wright brothers from korea ? none right ? oh i am sorry i forgot that korea has not contributed anything significantly to the world in terms of scientific breakthrough or discoveries ever since the existence of the country.
Do you consider a farmer spending a bunch of money on easily available tools and machinery to toss together a broken 3 second flight as a scientific breakthrough or discovery?
I don’t get your argument, or why you bring Korea into it.
I agree, the fact “national treasure” is brought up because of this ridiculous and unimportant story is a little ludicrous. There’s nothing special going on here. Flight has been around for ages, and any university student with a few grand, some motivation, and the internet could surely put something together.
You’re right we don’t have Korean Wright bros. Nor does a lot of other countries. And what does a nation’s contribution to science have to do with this article?
Aside from some pretty obvious design flaws I think he did a pretty good job especially seeing it was a DIY job.
the lack of suspension, other than its tyres, was probably a killer on his rear. Also it didnt look like he had a proper seat which is ballsy enough for me to respect him.
I dont think I could knock a flying machine together.
It looked heavy and there were no pipes coming out of the engines which would have hampered power output. Will be interesting to see how his next attempt is, if one at all.
I bet you could if you thought about it for a while.
It just takes some motivation and serious interest to actually want to – most people don’t have that interest or the time to put into it, but it’s not reinventing anything, would likely just fail when it comes to having proper balance/weight distribution/power during initial attempts….which is probably why his initial flight was only 3 seconds.
Good on ‘em if it’s what he likes to do.
“…I think he did a pretty good job especially seeing it was a DIY job.”
What exactly did this farmer accomplish? or do well?
He wasted $14K…well.
It was his $14K to waste. Look how much money companies waste all the time. $14K really isn’t that much in the big picture. Everyone should have a hobby or life is too boring.
I agree HH. Life is waaaay too boring without hobbies.
Some people spend $14K on a watch…..
Reminds me of Dong Zhihong, a farmer from up in Liaoning Province, who in 2002 reportedly discovered a way to refine gasoline and diesel oil from discarded plastic products. According to his (patented) invention, plastic scraps were dissolved and turned into gas in decomposition heating cauldrons with the help of a catalyst.
But I never heard any more about Mr. Dong or his invention. He might have injured himself, like Mr. Shu, if he neglected to protect his own breathing equipment.
In any case, the inventive spirit of these guys should serve China well as it surges into the new century.
If we indulge our imaginations, maybe we can see an annual inventor’s convention in Beijing, led by Mr. Dong and Mr. Shu.
it was 5 seconds!!!
http://www.chinahush.com/2010/05/13/45-years-old-peasant-invests-100000-to-realize-the-dream-of-flying-his-own-aircraft/
“2km above the ground at 100 km/h with a capacity of 2 adults”
In that thing? I’m glad his flight didn’t last for long, who knows what could’ve happened otherwise.
Besides, what he is doing is apparently against the law, for a reason too.
That was his 15 minutes minus $14K, but hey his mama is proud of him and that’s all that counts!!