Where did he get a rubber band that big?

scarry...not cool

"Friso said it cost him about 750,000 koruna ($32,000) to build the ultralight aircraft, which weighs 280km."

Ehm, ok.

Was it designed by Hardy Kruger?

/Laurel and hearty handshale to anyone who knows the reference without googling...

Didn't John Dever try that?

bah, macguyver coulda done it in 20 minutes, with nothing but duct tape and a washing machine.

and John Denver tried that as well!

How much is 280km i kilograms? :p

Good luck!

/Didn't RTFA.

This really needs a pic. I can't imagine if my 67 year old father built a plane....
A new way to go to the farmer's market?

I call shenanigans. It is based on a craft built to fly at a certain size, and it can hold 3 people?

Shenanigans, indeed

Only if it was named Phoenix.

Where's my handshale?

mtman900

I call shenanigans. It is based on a craft built to fly at a certain size, and it can hold 3 people?

The fundementals of aerodynamics and aircraft structures don't change much between a model plane with a 6' wingspand and a plane big enough to carry 3 people. Would I fly in it? Hell no, but mostly just as I question the contruction quality; model radio controlled planes are usually overbuilt which you can't do with a real plane. Still, I'm inclined to say this will work.

Good luck to the guy!

hang on....it weighs 280km ?

It probably has a range of 500kg then.....

"which weighs 280km"

hahahahha, that plane is going nowhere but down (if it goes up at all)

The man previously was a member of an elite Special Operations unit that operated in Vietnam conducting special covert missions.

His military career came to an abrupt end after he and the other members of his team successfully robbed a bank in Hanoi. He and the others were court martialed and imprisioned for their actions, but subsequently escaped.

A career as a mercenary followed....

--h

he should build a hospital & mortuary out in the garage

"Hey, great holiday we're on, eh friends? Hope you're enjoying the flight. By the way, did you know I made this plane in my garage using only model airplanes as my guide? Isn't that weeeeird?"...

Not cool. The last time I checked model planes did not have internal components such as wing spars and fuel tanks. I didn't RTFA but this sounds nucking futs.

spinstopper

Phoenix fans now number three.
We're officially a movement.

Hope he remembers to glue the little wheels on so he can land.

well the dude is a former flight instructor so presumably he knows something about flying.

wow, he probably got so freaking high from all the Testor glue fumes.

Any pictures? What kind of plane was it modeled after?

Isn't that how all airplanes are designed and built, as models first ?

Damn!
It IS a movement!

I think we should all save our 'dumbass' and 'darwin' comments for the thread headed:
Follow-up "Man who built own plane lands successfully in Croatia"

When I was a kid a neighbor down the street built a plane in his garage. I have a vague recollection that it was too big to get out the garage door and he had to disassemble it to get it out.

/vague recollections brought to you by canabis

DrivinWest- Thank you for pointing that out. Frankly, I am not that in tune with Aerodynamics.

However, the idea of sitting in an airplane that is based off of a rough balsa wood creation makes me kinda scared

I hope he remembers there are only 7 firing cartridges left.

/make that Phoenix fan #5, coincidentally the number of the cartridge that Jimmy Stewart used to blow the carbon out of the valves.

At least I hope this guy fares better than the original guy who tried this...

Wooo! Slovak pride! Hope it goes better than that Polish guy with the submarine.......

/280km? Ok, so that's like 185 miles.... so if it weighs the same as a duck it must be made of wood?

waiting for follow up article of homemade plane crash

Hah, that's nothing, i've almost completed my very own deathstar, built lovingly in my garage using nothing but screen caps from the film, old bits of bike and second hand pinball machine parts!
Aeroplane...pah, bloody amateur!

This is "cool" only if he doesn't actually try to fly it.

In other news... growing evidence that old people have too much time on their hands.