A light plane built by a laid-off worker in the capital city of East China's Jiangsu Province has been moved to an airstrip near the Yangtze River in preparation for a trial flight.

Wu Zheng, 52, who was laid off by a local wireless factory 10 years ago, had always dreamed of building an aircraft on his own, despite his 3-member family's meager combined monthly income of 2,000 yuan (US$241).

Many of his friends said he was crazy, but his wife and son provided him with strong support.

In spite of financial difficulties, he managed to buy an Austrian-made engine for the plane at a price of more than 30,000 yuan (US$3,628.8).

Unable to afford new tools to make the plane, he bought some used lathes, welding machines and other equipment from a local second-hand market and even collected spare parts from garbage cans.

The propeller aircraft has a six-meter fuselage, an 11 meter wingspan and two seats in the cockpit. Wu named the plane "Frigate Bird," which means that the plane is amphibious.

Asked whether he was certain that the aircraft could fly, he said that he was sure that it could, at least, glide over the water.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2003)