China - Making Me and the Wright Brothers Proud

Michele Travierso at Wired.com recently posted a great article about Do It Yourself (DIY) aviation in China. While some of the flying machines being developed definitely need some work, I am truly impressed by the ingenuity and tenacity of these fledgling aviators. Hearing about them should remind us all of how aviation started.

In China, like some other countries, the military owns all the airspace. The average citizen has no right to aviation. (Are you glad your country doesn't work like that...I sure am!) As such, there isn't much opportunity to enjoy flying over there and few major companies have marketed GA aircraft to the potentially 1 billion customers of China. A few brave souls have decided that this is unacceptable, and rather than sit around and whine, they are actively developing aircraft on their own.

One of my favorites, pictured here, is the Mozi constructed by Mao Yiqing. It's a human-powered airplane that actually flies (see the video below.) Mao is even looking at working with Brian Allen, the cyclist-pilot who flew the Gossamer Albatross and Gossamer Condor. Funny how bicyclists end up in DIY aviation...it worked pretty well for the Wright brothers in the US, so hopefully it'll work well for Mao in China too.

Other Chinese DIY aviation projects include a homebuilt autogyro (next video), and a homebuilt helicopter that authorities won't let the pilot fly yet. (Take a look at the article about it here. I don't blame them. It looks a little...rough, perhaps.)

These three flying machines represent some of the impressive ingenuity coming out of China. I'm proud of these designers' efforts because this is exactly how things happened in the US. They have a bit of a leg up...they don't have to come up with the basic concepts of the modern airfoil. However, they have some intense government obstacles to deal with. I sincerely hope that the Chinese government will realize what a great national resource these people represent and will allow them to pursue amazing things in aviation.

Though it seems to be in a slightly different class than these others, we'd be remiss talking about Chinese aviation without mentioning the Yuneec e430, a Chinese built LSA that aims to be a major force for electric aircraft. Yuneec is focusing their efforts for sales in the US and other countries, but this aircraft is also a great example of Chinese innovation working to further aviation worldwide. Their e430 will work just fine as a trainer and battery/renewable energy technologies are improving all the time. I'm excited to hear about further developments from Yuneec.

Well done all around to the DIY aviators from China! Keep up the good work and we're all rooting for you. I bet that even the first US aviators would be pleased with your efforts. Thanks to Wired for their article collating the bulk of this info.