-
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A group of young people from across the Kurdistan Region regularly meet to build and fly model aircraft. They believe their hobby could someday have military applications and even help promote tourism.
“We are manufacturing planes on a weekly basis. We make a variety of planes. Except for the electronic components, other pieces are all domestic and we make them here. We make them with many different shapes and designs. Each of us is specialized in a field, some of us in the electronic part, others in the body,” said Fairoz Saadi, head of RC Kurd.
The six members of the group build all of their model planes by hand using a mixture of domestically produced components and more complex electronics imported from abroad.
“The planes are manufactured in two different ways,” explained Rebin Ali, a member of the group.
“Some of them are domestic materials such as fiberglass and balsa wood. We also use tapes and elastics in making the body. The second part comprises the electronic devices. We import them from abroad, such as the motor, control and battery.”
Members come from all corners of the Kurdistan Region and usually meet in Halabja, a city which knows only too well the destructive power aerial bombardment.
“Our main dream is to manufacture a giant plane together. And, as the youth from Sulaimani, Garmiyan, Kalar, Sharazoor and Kirkuk, serve our country,” said another member of the group, Mohammed Azad.
The mini planes they have built include warplanes, passenger jets and surveillance planes. They soon hope to make more technically complex models.
“The planes we make should not go beyond eye visibility and control. This is because we do it as a hobby. But other unmanned drones that are controlled by an iPad or a computer can fly at a long distance. We have not managed this, due to our limited resources. We import materials from outside because there is not a company producing them in our country. We buy our required parts online and wait for one to two months for them to arrive,” Saadi explained.
The group wants the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to coordinate with them and together make larger and better planes with other real-world applications.
“We are manufacturing planes on a weekly basis. We make a variety of planes. Except for the electronic components, other pieces are all domestic and we make them here. We make them with many different shapes and designs. Each of us is specialized in a field, some of us in the electronic part, others in the body,” said Fairoz Saadi, head of RC Kurd.
The six members of the group build all of their model planes by hand using a mixture of domestically produced components and more complex electronics imported from abroad.
“The planes are manufactured in two different ways,” explained Rebin Ali, a member of the group.
“Some of them are domestic materials such as fiberglass and balsa wood. We also use tapes and elastics in making the body. The second part comprises the electronic devices. We import them from abroad, such as the motor, control and battery.”
Members come from all corners of the Kurdistan Region and usually meet in Halabja, a city which knows only too well the destructive power aerial bombardment.
“Our main dream is to manufacture a giant plane together. And, as the youth from Sulaimani, Garmiyan, Kalar, Sharazoor and Kirkuk, serve our country,” said another member of the group, Mohammed Azad.
The mini planes they have built include warplanes, passenger jets and surveillance planes. They soon hope to make more technically complex models.
“The planes we make should not go beyond eye visibility and control. This is because we do it as a hobby. But other unmanned drones that are controlled by an iPad or a computer can fly at a long distance. We have not managed this, due to our limited resources. We import materials from outside because there is not a company producing them in our country. We buy our required parts online and wait for one to two months for them to arrive,” Saadi explained.
The group wants the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to coordinate with them and together make larger and better planes with other real-world applications.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment