Meet the Kenyan man who built an airplane in his front yard

[Camo]

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Gabriel Nderitu, an I.T. specialist in Kenya, spent six months researching aircraft on the Internet and a year building this airplane in his front yard. His dream of flying won't die even if reality - and Kenyan authorities- are keeping him grounded.

When asked why he's doing it, the 42-year-old Nderitu cites a boyhood interest in aviation saying, "So maybe it was a missed career, which I'm trying to re-create."

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Nderitu employed five men and spent $8,500 to help with welding and assembly of a redlines-at-4,000 rpm Toyota engine driving a 74-inch wooden propeller through a simple reduction belt drive. The powertrain's mounted on a home-built modular airframe skinned with aluminum sheet metal.

Nderitu says "a bit of it was a bit of reinventing the wheel... not really looking and trying to copy." The aircraft isn't quite finished and there is no guarantee Nderitu's craft will ever be capable of flight, much less licensed by Kenyan authorities, or even be allowed to fly to determine airworthiness. But that's not the point. This is more than just an almost-finished airplane, it's an inspiration to anyone who thinks that there's anything impossible.

If a man can build an airplane in the front yard of a ramshackle shanty on a dirt road in Kenya, then anything is possible.


There is only one way you would get get us in that thing and there is not that much alcohol in existence.  

[gtc]

I think QANTAS is looking for a new plane.

[peterp]

Now everyone knows why I have been so busy at night !

Wait till you see the paint job we are going to give it.

peterp