People gather on the bank of Gabbaria river to see the test flight of a locally made seaplane. Mahbubur Rahman Shaon, bottom, who built and piloted it.
In Moazzempur village of Patuakhali's Kalapara upazila life runs in comfortably predictable details. Crops are sown and duly harvested, and years pass with little to disrupt the endearing natural cycles. For Moazzempur to play host to any grand spectacle is a circumstance that's virtually unheard of.
Yet last Friday, thousands of villagers gathered excitedly along both banks of the Gabbaria River, 20 kilometres south of Kalapara town, for just such an event. They hoped to witness the first test flight of a locally built, homemade seaplane.
Indeed, were any usual, commercial seaplane to visit Moazzempur it must be enough to set tongues wagging for hours, if not for days. But the plane in question is the brainchild of local college student Mahbubur Rahman Shaon and yet people were unwilling to miss the spectacle.
While waiting to see if their lad's plane will fly, there can be nothing for the villagers to do other than hold collective breaths in the hope of success.
“My son talked about building a seaplane,” says Shaon's father, madrassa teacher Nasir Uddin, “I never imagined he actually could.”
With the assistance of one carpenter, Abdul Momin, and one workshop employee, Md Jahir Uddin, Shaon's one-seater aircraft was constructed in only two weeks. Featuring an old 100cc motorcycle engine, an electric fan, aluminium rods, polythene and cloth, the plane's cost is a very reasonable Tk 20,000.
Measuring 6.5 feet in length and four in width, the self-starting plane can carry up to 80 kilograms according to its inventor, the novice aviator who studies at Barisal Ideal College. “The wings are made of cloth, nets and polythene,” explains Shaon.
He points out the nifty, inbuilt plastic chair which serves as the pilot's seat and the glass panel installed as windscreen to provide basic security to the pilot while flying.
“I saw photos of seaplanes on Google on my mobile phone,” says Shaon. “It piqued my interest. Before I knew it I'd collected over seventy photos of the planes.”
“When I shared my idea to build one with Momin and Jahir Uddin they both encouraged me. Luckily we were able to buy an old motorbike engine at a reasonable rate from Jakir Hossain, who usually sells tools in the village.”
First designing and then building the plane's structure with wood and aluminium happened fast. Within two weeks the plane was ready for its first trial flight. “I decided to try it on our pond as an experiment,” says Shaon, “and it really worked!”
With the plane's dress rehearsal under its belt, by 4:00pm on Friday it's in place on the river in readiness for its public debut. With a whir the engine starts, Shaon in the plastic pilot's seat, preparing the plane for takeoff.
If the day's flight is successful, Shaon said earlier, he plans a follow-up demonstration in the presence of Kalapara upazila and Patuakhali district officials. As an inexpensive vehicle based around a basic petrol-run engine, he believes his seaplane has future application potential in transporting patients from remote villages on offshore shoals to the district hospital, or to carry emergency supplies to island patients.
Fortunately for Shaon and the villagers of Moazzempur the day ends well. To cheers and astonishment the local aviator achieves a flight of five minutes along the river, far in excess of the first powered flight managed by the Wright brothers, which covered a distance of only 37 metres and lasted 12 seconds.
Story and photo: http://www.thedailystar.net
No comments:
Post a Comment