With ingenuity, different devices and machines can be made even from scrap or neglected items. Give an inventive man an old bike and he will make something new out of it.
That is what Kuldeep Taak exactly did. A graduate of technology from Chandigarh in India, he built an ultralight aircraft using only the engine of an old bike.
His masterpiece he calls a paragliding flying machine is able to run for 12 minutes on only one liter of petrol. Fitted with a 200cc engine and a fuel tank with a 5 to 6 liters capacity, it could manoeuver in the sky at a height of nearly 10,000 feet with its wooden wings, so far elevating at 2,000 feet. The 120-kilogram machine could carry a maximum payload of 200 kilograms, taking off at 50 kph. Small tires and a paraglider on top are also provided for ease in landing.
The 23-year-old man who hails from Hisar district in Haryana revealed that he spent nearly 250,000 rupees for this mini aircraft project which is nearly US $4,000.
He said it took him almost three years to complete. In his first attempt to build a flying machine, the inventor ended up with a damaged aircraft during its trial phase.
Kuldeep has his family to thank for in the accomplishment of his mini aircraft. His father Prahlad Singh Taak and a friend Satish Aryanagar are instrumental in the production as they motivated him and reminded him to never give up on the project.
The proud father, who is a farmer, said that his son worked on the aircraft day and night.
Right after finishing the machine, Kuldeep had to learn how to fly it by undergoing pilot training from Goa. It took him three months to do this and proceeded to go out and fly his invention.
Sources: Your Story
[This is an unedited version written by Engineer Dee for GineersNow in January 2018.]