Popcorn Seller in Pakistan Builds Mini Airplane, Waiting to Fly

Good news from Pakistan, a popcorn seller in Pakistan has developed a homemade plane, but the police had confiscated the plane and stopped him from making the unauthorized take off. So he is waiting for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow him to fly his dream.

Soon after Muhammad Fayaz developed the plane, he was ready to take off, when the local police confiscated his invention, which he was planning to take off using a metal link road as a makeshift runaway near his village. Though on April 4, the police had returned the plane, Fayaz is now waiting for the official node.

Since he was in School, 30-year-old Fayaz had dreamed of becoming an Air Force pilot but he had to drop out before he could complete his studies due to family financial constraint, but he never stopped his dream to fly.

Fayaz said, “Whenever I looked up to watch planes overhead, I longed to fly one myself. And then I thought I should use the creativity that God has bestowed on me to build my own plane and fly it”.

Muhammad Fayaz, who lives in Pakpattan in Pakistan’s Punjab province has spent around 90,000 Pakistani rupees by taking a bank loan, selling a piece of his land and few of his savings in order to build his dream plane.

To fulfill his childhood dream, he started selling popcorn in the day and took the job of a night watchman in the night.

Without any technical knowledge, Fayaz started to build his plane two years back at his home. He learned some basic rules of air pressure and flying techniques with the help of experiments that he carried out on his own. One of his observations is when he was in the fifth standard and was riding on the passenger seat of his father’s motorcycle on his way to school.

As he was always open to ideas, Fayaz even followed National Geographic Channel’s “Air Crash Investigation” show and learned why planes across the world have crashed. He also learned functions of various parts of an aircraft from the show.

He also visited an exhibition of a grounded Pakistan International Airline plane, which was on display for public viewing at the Chauburji Square in Lahore.

After building his single-seater plane, Fayaz had initially planned to take off on his maiden flight with a national flag on March 23, but the local police abandoned his plan. Fayaz also confessed that he has conducted an unauthorized test flight a year ago with the help of a small engine and made some round across his village. Though his innovation was never acknowledged.

The Civil Aviation Authority now has appreciated the passion and skills of what this ‘mini airplane’ maker and assured that they will provide him the required guidance to achieve more expertise in the field. Under the New Aviation Policy 2019, developed after the formation of the new government in Pakistan, every effort will be taken to promote the sector and support new innovations.