AFP/Yahoo! News Don't Have a Clue


You may have seen one of the 19,000 mentions of the "Home-made helicopters from Northern Nigeria." Once the AFP article hit Yahoo! News, it crossed the blogosphere like wild fire. I highly doubt it is true, and if journalists knew the first thing about flight, they might not have been so easily duped.

For starters, let's look at the measurements provided by the journalist.

For a four-seater it is a big aircraft, measuring twelve metres (39 feet) long, seven metres high by five wide.

Seven meters high? That's 23 feet tall. Does the photograph look like the helicopter is over two stories tall and 39 feet long? But the real problem with the story is with the tail rotor -- or lack thereof. France 24 has several more of the photos of this "helicopter", and in the one where the "pilot" is opening the cardboard flap that covers the engine, you can see that there is no axle to turn the tail rotor. The tail rotor, which keeps a real helicopter from spinning the same speed as the main rotor, is purely aesthetic.

The reporter claims this helicopter has "flown briefly on six occasions" at an "altitude of seven feet", but the reporter fails to corroborate this with any other witnesses. In true journalism fashion, the reporter takes a shot at a government for allegedly not supporting the wild ideas of this dreamer:

Although some government officials got very excited when they saw him conduct a demonstration flight in neighbouring Katsina state, Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has so far shown no interest in his aircraft. "No one from the NCAA has come to see what I've done. We don't reward talent in this country," he lamented.... In a country with Nigeria's abysmal air safety record officials may be loath to gamble on one student's home-made helicopter.

Who are the "government officials" who "got very excited"? What were they excited about? What exactly did the reporter expect the government to "gamble on"?


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Helicopter?

It looks like a Gyrocopter to me.

Gyrocopter >>

Sure, nothing says class,

Sure, nothing says class, quality and innovation more than Nigeria. I would certainly be first to take a ride on this "invention."  Not.

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THE GUARDIAN (Lagos), 12 February 2006
Dariye's Confession
By Reuben Abati

Dariye is lucky he is in Nigeria where the people eat virtually anything including monkeys, cats and human beings, otherwise he would have had another problem on his hands with animal rights campaigners kicking against the official endorsement of cannibalism in Plateau state.

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Test flight?

Most reporters leap at chances to be "first" -- why didn't this reporter demand that he be given a ride in the "chopper"? Photographic evidence of capability would be much appreciated, and much, much more believable.

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

It is not a Helicopter, its

It is not a Helicopter, its a Gyrocopter. Some gyros are motor driven, some not. They are towed untill they reach a speed of about 20mph. Tail rotors are not nessary with the gyro. The engine driven gyros are sometimes marked as experimental aircraft and regulated by the FAA. A helicopter is much more complicated and harder to fly.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

Doesn't really make it better

If it is a gyrocopter (gyroplane), the reporter is even more incorrect calling it a helicopter. And if so, why the fake blades on the side to look like a helicopter? And where's the thrust prop?

I don't think it is supposed to be a gyro anyway. Having 4 people in it would make it way too heavy. Even if you could get it off the ground the PIO from the widely distributed weight would make it impossible to control.

It's a helicopter....

Sorry guys, but it's not a gyrocopter--it is a helicopter.  I had to blow up the photo a bit but there is a tail rotor on that thing.  For it to be a gyrocopter it'd have to have a rather large propeller facing forward or backward---especially with the boxy bumblebee shape of that!

Yayhoo! News ...

... what liberal idiot picks their news and sports stories?

They are one of my more despised liberal news sources ... not the place you want to go if you're looking for a refreshing, conservative point of view from the news.