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| Africa Subsaharan | |
| In Nigeria, home-made helicopters | |
| 2007-10-21 | |
| KANO: 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.
The cockpit consists of a push-button ignition, an accelerator lever between the seats which controls vertical thrust, a joystick that provides balance and bearing. A small screen on the dashboard connects to a camera underneath the helicopter for ground vision, a set of six buttons adjusts the screen’s brightness while a small transmitter is used for communication. “You start it, allow it to run for a minute or two and you then shift the accelerator forward and the propeller on top begins to spin. The further you shift the accelerator the faster it goes and once you reach 300 rmp you press the joystick and it takes off,” Abdullahi explained from the cockpit. He said he learned the rudiments of flying a helicopter from the Internet and first got the idea of building one from the films he watches. “I watched action movies a lot and I was fascinated by the way choppers fly. I decided it would be easier to build one than to build a car,” he said pacing the premises of the security division of the university which he uses as hanger for his helicopter. He hoped - and still does hope - that the Nigerian government and his wealthy compatriots would turn to him and stop placing orders with western manufacturers. | |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #4 He hoped - and still does hope - that the Nigerian government and his wealthy compatriots would turn to him and stop placing orders with western manufacturers. With seven feet max altitude, I have doubts. But he may be on a track to build something one day that is not thusly limited. GK, thanks for the link. It is not in stars for me to fly a copter. ;-) |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-10-21 23:47 |
| #3 FTA: He said he learned the rudiments of flying a helicopter from the Internet... |
| Posted by: GK 2007-10-21 19:59 |
| #2 No way I am flying in the things, but it really is a pretty impressive achievement. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-10-21 19:21 |
| #1 I just received an email stock offering from him. Think I'll get in on the ground floor! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-10-21 18:09 |