Chinese villager banned from flying home-made helicopter

A 59-year-old Chinese man was stopped by the police from test-flying his home-made helicopter. The man had managed to build the helicopter using a boat engine.

The man called Chen Ruihua hails from Changshu in Jiangsu province, eastern China, and is an amateur aircraft maker with no expertise in it.

"There were only two people including me who were involved in the test flying, and we did not allow any bystanders," Chen told the police when questioned about his endeavour.

Chen had started making helicopters as a hobby three years ago and his earlier models had failed to fly. He now claims that the latest aircraft can fly hundreds of meters and has a folding fuselage.

He added that he learned how to build a helicopter by teaching himself the necessary techniques through the internet.

"I worked on this helicopter for about a year; so far, I've spent about 200,000 yuan (US$31,250) on the hobby," he told The South China Morning Post.

He stated that the current model is a replica of a Russian rotorcraft model and was made using some parts bought online, some from hardware stores, and a motorboat engine.

Chen claims that he did not build the helicopter only for fun or pleasure, but he also intends to use it for farming activities.

"For example, it may be converted into a drone and utilised as an agricultural machine to spray pesticides on farmlands, or used to assist in firefighting," Chen said.

However, he could not test the helicopter due to intervention from police just when he was attempting to take it for a test ride.

"We saw him standing there with his helicopter and asked him what he was doing, and we found out that he had been test-flying the aircraft before we spotted him and had done so several times," said a policeman.

Home-made aircraft are not banned in China and can be used by someone who has a license to fly a helicopter.