Home-made Helicopters In Northern Nigeria

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

It took him eight months to build this one,"

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.

For a four-seater it is a big aircraft, measuring twelve metres (39 feet) long, seven metres high by five wide. It has never attained an altitude of more than seven feet


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nigeriahelicopteroffbeat

Hello Nairalanders,
I received the news with mixed feelings. its such a great accomplishment by the student, i commend him on his efforts, but i am disappointed by the response of the politicians, so called leaders and industries. it just shows our lack of interest in technological advancement. if such was done in the states or england, there would have been research grants set up immediately by industries and the government. they would use the opportunity to recruit young talents who would collaborate with him, the grants will pay them through school. other such research teams would be established in other schools, and they will network them with biggest helicopter manufacturers in the world. what is our govt doing about this? the only reason nigeria is not more developed is our leader's lack on interest in research and tech advancement. our leaders do not see their point, because they are not educated to that level. indian's president has a phd in an engineering related field. other countries have learned people on their team. what/who do we have? politicians, and what do they focus on? politics. how much money is pumped into research? null! my bsc thesis in unilorin was on preservation of fruit juices and we successfully preserved zobo drinks and locally-made apple juices for a long time, and can project shelf lives based on concentrations of our preservatives. my professor applied for so many grants, none was approved. now he has his own zobo drink industry, mechanized,  in his own house. i pray nija will see the importance of investing in technology. we have the brains, the human power, but lack the support. that makes me want to cryyyyyyyyyyy