POPCORN SELLER BUILDS OWN PLANE
Pakistan Air Force impressed, issues him certificate for ‘mini plane’
THE engine is from a roadcutter, the wings are burlap, the wheels are borrowed from a rickshaw: a popcorn seller has caught the attention of the Pakistan Air Force by building his own plane.
The tale of Muhammad Fayyaz captured the hearts of many in a nation where millions like him have limited access to education and are fighting for opportunities.
“I was literally in the air. I couldn’t feel anything else,” Fayyaz said.
Pakistan Air Force Representatives made two visits to view the
plane and the commander of a nearby base issued him a certificate that praised his “passion and dexterity” in building what it described as a “mini basic airplane”.
There has been a steady stream of visitors wanting to view his creation, which now sits in the empty courtyard of his threeroom home in the village of Tabur in central Punjab province.
The 32-year-old said he had dreamed of joining the air force as a child, but his father died while he was in school, forcing him to drop out at the eighth grade and do odd jobs to feed his mother and five younger siblings.
By day, he is a popcorn seller, by night as a security guard, saving every rupee he could.
He had acquired information by watching episodes of the National Geographic Channel’s Air
Crash Investigation for insight into thrust, air pressure, torque and propulsion.
Cheap Internet access in a nearby city helped fill the gaps.
Fayyaz claimed he spliced blueprints of planes he found online for his own creation.
He sold a piece of family land, and took a 50,000 rupee (RM2,990) loan from a micro-finance non-governmental organisation, which he is still paying off.
He used his meagre funds creatively, buying burlap sacks wholesale and persuading a workshop employee who had seen him scouting for materials to build him a propeller.
There was trial and error. Some equipment needed to be replaced, designs had to be altered, the wiring had to be reworked.
His family was worried he was obsessed.
“I kept telling him to stop. I kept telling him to concentrate on his family and work, he was being crazy over nothing. But he didn’t listen to a single word,” his mother, Mumtaz Bibi, said.
But Fayyaz kept going. And, at the end, produced a plane — tiny, fragile and painted bright blue.
Fayyaz said his friends helped him block a small road to be used as a runway for the first flight attempt in February, after more than two years of ridicule.
The plane reached 120kph before taking off, said Ameer Hussain, who claimed to have ridden next the plane in a motorcycle.
“It was between 2 and 2½ft off the ground,” Fayyaz said. “It flew for 2 to 3km before landing.”
He picked March 23, Pakistan Day, to try in front of the rest of his village. But before Fayyaz could even start the engine, the police arrived and arrested him, confiscating his plane.
“I felt as though I had committed one of the worst acts in the world, as though I am the worst person in Pakistan. I had been locked up with criminals.”
The court released him with a 3,000 rupees fine.
Officers said they arrested him as his plane was a safety threat.
“The plane was returned to him as a goodwill gesture. Should he obtain a flying licence or permit, he is free to fly,” said officer Zafar Iqbal.
Fayyaz’s misfortune resulted in social media fame, and he was called a “hero” and an “inspiration” by some Netizens.