Chinese Farmer Builds Wooden Helicopter, is The Man
By Jared Newman
Looking at the people in the photo above, I’m reminded of the small-time excitement that builds around a home-grown physics project. But this is no potato gun; it’s a fully-working wooden helicopter. With a budget of $1,600, Chinese farmer Wu Zhongyuan relied on memories of middle-school physics and the Internet, accessed by mobile phone. A motorcycle engine powers the chopper, whose blades are made from the wood of an Elm tree, and whose frame is reinforced with steel pipes. I’m particularly amused by the wheels, which appear to be ripped from an office chair. But there’s a sad twist: Though the wooden helicopter can reach altitudes of 2,600 feet, the Chinese government grounded Zhongyuan over safety concerns. [Ananova via Dvice]
