Farmer Builds Helicopter From Scratch

FortWayne.com ^ | Mon, Feb. 16, 2004 | Associated Press

[Riley]

Farmer Builds Helicopter From Scratch

Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam - With directions from the Internet and an old Russian truck motor, a Vietnamese farmer fulfilled his dream of making his own helicopter. The job took two friends, seven years and $30,000.

Now, military officials say he can't fly it, because he didn't get approval to build it, and they confiscated the makeshift copter.

"It's my hobby," farmer Le Van Danh complained by telephone Monday from his hometown of Tay Ninh, in Vietnam's southwest. "I will do whatever I can, including going to the prime minister, to get the permission."

True, he admits, the helicopter is still a work in progress: It only rises about 18 inches off the ground. "We are in the process of a fifth test of moving forward and backward, left and right," Danh said.

Getting approval to keep working on the chopper won't be easy. No Vietnamese individual has ever been granted a government license to build an aircraft, said Le Cong Tinh, director of the Air Transport Safety division of the country's Civil Aviation Administration.

The farmer said he won't give up, vowing to sell his house or 25 acres of land if that's what it takes to get the license. "If I cannot do it, my children or my grandchildren will do it," he said.

[Riley]

A regular Vietnamese MacGuyver. I hope they give it back to him.

[My2Cents]

Complete with duct tape.

[TADSLOS]

True, he admits, the helicopter is still a work in progress: It only rises about 18 inches off the ground. "We are in the process of a fifth test of moving forward and backward, left and right," Danh said.

This guy's done in less time and money than what the Comanche Program has done in twenty years.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Now, to build the fuel from scratch.

[Professional Engineer]

Fun with toys ping

[RobRoy]

The way the government treated this guy, you'd think it happened in the US.

[dead]

It probably very much resembles something The Professor would build, only to see it destroyed in comical fashion by a bumbling Gilligan.

[SAMWolf]

You's think he'd be able to find a truckload of old Huey's laying around to use. :-)

[cinFLA]

The way the government treated this guy, you'd think it happened in the US.

Apparently you have never lived in one of the communist countries ...

[CSM]

Is this your long lost relative?

[Constitution Day]

How do you say "Hey y'all, watch this!" in Vietnamese?

If he gets it back, I think things may end rather spectacularly for Mr. Le Van Danh.

[AppyPappy]

It's built entirely from bamboo and coconuts

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Le Van "Orville" Danh

[Constitution Day]

I Want To Fly A Helicopter, Not Look At A Bunch Of Crazy Dials

[Texas Eagle]

Now, military officials say he can't fly it, because he didn't get approval to build it, and they confiscated the makeshift copter.

In America, if we don't want farmers to use their time productively we pay them subsidies.

[Archangelsk]

Criminal, I know this will make you drool.

[Aeronaut]

Ping to the G.A. list.

General Aviation Ping list. FReep mail me if you want on or off this list.

[Riley]

This guys rocks. He ought to come here. With that kind of creativity, persistance and motivation, in a decade the Libs would be all over him demanding that he 'pay his fair share' and 'give back to the community'.

He'd be the CEO of Van Danh Aviation.

[ArcLight]

What a splendid fellow. God bless him!

[tubebender]

Why does this remind me of those old "flying" contraptions shown on the History Channel from time to time...