Dream comes true for do-it-yourselfer who takes to the sky in own mini plane

A man in Shenzhen has lived his dream by soaring 400 metres into the sky in his self-made mini plane, according to local media.

Yang Weimin, a freelance photographer in Baoan district, flew his home-made plane for 25 minutes last Thursday morning and then made a 'go-around' before landing, The Southern Metropolitan News reported. 'I just want to prove one thing - that making a plane is possible for everyone,' he was quoted as saying.

Mr Yang, in his 30s, said he had dreamed of owning a self-made plane since he was a teenager. He spent about 80,000 yuan (HK$90,900) to order kits in 2007 and bought an engine and gear accessories from a US microlight-aircraft company to make his own plane.

He worked for two years in his flat to build the plane he calls 'mini Max' - a minimum-cost aircraft requiring minimal space and skill to build. Thousands of people across the world fly using self-made light aircraft, but Mr Yang said that, to his knowledge, his flight was the debut on the mainland.

He put his photographic training to work, setting up four digital video cameras in the plane to record his flight.

On the mainland, building planes, robots and even submarines seems to have caught on. Amateur hobbyists from peasants to white-collar workers are having fun realising their designs through simple tools and materials.