A 24-year-old undergraduate from Nigeria is building helicopters out of old car and bike parts. Mubarak Muhammed Abdullahi, a physics student, spent eight months building the yellow model seen here, using the money he makes from repairing cellphones and computers. While some of the parts have been sourced from a crashed 747, the chopper contains all sorts of surprises.
The 12-meter-long aircraft, which has never flown above a height of seven feet, is powered by a secondhand 133 horsepower engine from a Honda Civic. In the basic cockpit there are two Toyota car seats, with a couple more in the cabin behind. Controls are simple, with an ignition button, an accelerator lever to control vertical thrust and a joystick that provides balance and bearing. A camera beneath the chopper connected to a small screen on the dash gives the pilot ground vision, and he communicates via a small transmitter.
Mubarak says he learned the basics of helicopter flying through the internet after he decided it would be easier to build a chopper than a car. Flying his creation is easy, he claims. “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,” he explains. “The further you shift the accelerator the faster it goes and once you reach 300 rpm you press the joystick and it takes off.”
Undeterred that his home-made transporter, which lives in a hangar on campus, lacks the gear to measure atmospheric pressure, altitude and humidity, Mubarak is working on a new machine which “will be a radical improvement on the first one in terms of sophistication and aesthetics.”
A two-seater with the ability to fly at 15 feet for three hours at a time, Mubarak’s new creation will be powered by a brand-new motor straight from Taiwan, normally found in motorbikes.
Common sense is indeed not common.
Posted: at 4-09-2012 06:03 PM (11 years ago) | Hero
dlimelite at 4-09-2012 06:05 PM (11 years ago) (f)
WOW
Posted: at 4-09-2012 06:05 PM (11 years ago) | Hero
aso4life1 at 4-09-2012 07:15 PM (11 years ago) (m)
Wow! I am happy about this but I don't expect our government to support him at all cos they lack foresight. Well done boy, please seek supports elsewhere before our politicians kills your dream.
if u attack my papa house, I'll retaliate but if you are peace loving,I will embrace you
Posted: at 4-09-2012 07:15 PM (11 years ago) | Hero
moniconyez at 4-09-2012 07:18 PM (11 years ago) (m)
Quote from: aso4life1 on 4-09-2012 07:15 PM
Wow! I am happy about this but I don't expect our government to support him at all cos they lack foresight. Well done boy, please seek supports elsewhere before our politicians kills your dream.
ELSE WHERE like where na
Posted: at 4-09-2012 07:18 PM (11 years ago) | Hero
Solidstonez at 4-09-2012 07:25 PM (11 years ago) (f)
Quote from: aso4life1 on 4-09-2012 07:15 PM
Wow! I am happy about this but I don't expect our government to support him at all cos they lack foresight. Well done boy, please seek supports elsewhere before our politicians kills your dream.
I AM WHO I AM, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, YOU CAN BLOODY DO THE OTHER THING AND FCUK ALL HATERZ
Posted: at 4-09-2012 07:25 PM (11 years ago) | Addicted Hero
oyinajibola at 4-09-2012 07:54 PM (11 years ago) (m)
Quote from: aso4life1 on 4-09-2012 07:15 PM
Wow! I am happy about this but I don't expect our government to support him at all cos they lack foresight. Well done boy, please seek supports elsewhere before our politicians kills your dream.
WHEN IT IS NOT PETROLEUM, WHY WULD THE GOVERNMENT SPEND ON HIM...GOD THAT HAS HELPED U THIS FAR WILL CERTAINLY SEE U THRU INSHA'ALLAH
Posted: at 4-09-2012 07:54 PM (11 years ago) | Upcoming
Don’t marry the person you want to live with, marry the one you cannot live without, but whatever you do, you’ll regret it later...NAIJA una too much oo coffee wey I dey drink for hia comot for my nose as I read this
Posted: at 4-09-2012 08:14 PM (11 years ago) | Gistmaniac
dlimelite
kennynaija
moniconyez
aso4life1
Neglito
Solidstonez
cadanre
DMG17
longben
jamesbondchick
bigjim
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