Mubarak Muhammad Abdullahi, a 24-year-old Nigerian man, has big ideas -- and it doesn't involve
transferring millions of dollars to your bank account. The physics student is building helicopters from old car and motorbike parts, taking recycling to new heights.
"It took me eight months to build this one," he said, sweat pouring from his forehead as he filled the radiator of the banana yellow four-seater which he now parks in the grounds of his university. [Link]
He parks it at the university? Wow!
Professor: "Mubarak, you're always here early. Don't you ever get stuck in traffic?"
Mubarak: "Oh, I come by air."
Professor: "Yeah, right. And I come by sea."
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. [Link]
Mubarak: "Trust me, sir, I have a helicopter."
Professor: "Really? What kind of helicopter is it?"
Mubarak: "Uh ... it's a Honyota 747."
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. [Link]
Professor: "How high does it go? Can it take you as high as the Shebshi Mountains?"
Mubarak: "No, not yet. I'm still trying to get it to go as high as Yao Ming."
He said he learned the rudiments of flying a helicopter from the Internet and first got the idea of building one from the films he watches on television. [Link]
He learned how to fly a helicopter from the Internet? All I've learned from the Internet is how to enlarge my penis. (Using parts from an old Honda Civic.)
He hoped -- and still does hope -- that the Nigerian government and his wealthy compatriots would turn to him and stop placing orders with western manufacturers.
So far, however, government response to his chopper project has been underwhelming to say the least.
Although some government officials got very excited when they saw him conduct a demonstration flight in neighbouring Katsina state, Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has so far shown no interest in his aircraft.
"No one from the NCAA has come to see what I've done. We don't reward talent in this country," he lamented. [Link]
They'd better start rewarding talented people like him. Otherwise he'll soon be working for a western company, selling helicopters to everyone in the world.
Professor: "Congratulations on your success, Mubarak. You've made us very happy."
Mubarak: "Thank you, sir. I've made Yao Ming's wife happy too."
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