Kenyan who built his own plane out of bits of scrap
He learned about aeroplanes on the internet, then built one in his yard out of scrap metal.
But despite five years’ work and a lot of chutzpah, Kenyan IT consultant Gabriel Nderitu has been thwarted yet again in his bid to fly a homemade craft – complete with wings, propeller, a cockpit and even go-faster stripes.
Dozens of friends helped push the married father-of-two’s contraption through the dusty Kenyan countryside until its landing gear collapsed and it spluttered to a halt, to the sound of laughing children.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552460/Back-drawing-board-Kenyan-built-plane-bits-scrap-vows-try-flight-attempt-sees-steer-field-crash.html
The part-time entrepreneur has already made more than 10 planes but has never managed to get any of them off the ground, Kenyan news website DailyNation reported.
Many of his prototypes have been deemed too heavy, while another crashed on two concrete poles and broke a propeller.
Yet despite the latest setback, he insists he will keep trying to get himself airborne.
He told Kenyan news channel Citizen TV: ‘I will go back to the drawing board and design the landing gear better, and also study a little bit more about landing gear.’
The IT consultant, whose firm Fincom is based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, found scrap aluminium bars, hollow tubes, bolts and plastic sheeting to make his planes – sticking it all together with some gum.
He has spent more than a million Kenyan shillings (£7,100) on his hobby and learned almost everything he knows on the internet.
Found here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
