Hitting the road in a quilt

Shi Songbo pilots his homemade air ship in a test run on Sunday. [Photo by Lv Zhongxiang/Asianewsphoto]

Manned air ship made by a villager flies 2 hours in a test run

Many people realize their dream of flying by taking planes, helicopters, hot-air balloons, hang gliders or going skydiving, but few like the man in our story send themselves into the clouds on a homemade air ship.

Shi Songbo, a 29-year-old native of Lvji village, Liulou town, Ningling county of Central China's Henan province, piloted his homemade aircraft for almost two hours during a test run on Sunday. He became the first flight enthusiast in the province to successfully do so.

Shi spent 300,000 yuan ($47,190) making the two seat manned air ship, which is 11 meters high and 23 meters long.

He said that the air ship flies at an altitude between 1.5 meters and 500 meters and can reach a speed of 50 km per hour.

The air ship flies for almost two hours in the test run on Sunday. [Photo by Lv Zhongxiang/Asianewsphoto]

In our final story, a complicated Chinese character helps students avoid being late for class.