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Russian man, 88, dies after homemade helicopter falls apart on takeoff (edition.cnn.com)

submitted 5 days ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/world@quokk.au

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An 88-year-old Russian man, who gained local fame for building his own aircraft, has died after attempting to take off in a homemade helicopter.

The man, a resident of the Omutninsky district of western Russia’s Kirov Region, attempted the flight in the self-built aircraft on Thursday, the Volga Region Transport Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release Friday.

However, the helicopter self-destructed during take-off, it added.

The aircraft failed to lift off and, instead, “during engine startup, while still on the ground and as the engine power was building, the main rotor blades detached. This caused injuries to the pilot, born in 1937,” the district emergency services told Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Friday.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

There was an old guy, former aerospace engineer, that came to our shop to get his plane blueprints reproduced for sale. LOL, he made bank after his story hit an aviation mag.

He's still at it!

https://www.thatchercx4.com/

Surprised he's only 75. Looked older than that 12-years ago. Weird. Not sure he hasn't died and still has his name on the company.