Purbasthali (East Burdwan): Once unable to score passing marks in class 5 half-yearly examinations in his school, Rezaul Sheikh has astonished everyone and is ready to scale the skies over Burdwan and beyond in the helicopter he has made himself.
The copter man, who hails from Ghola area in Purbasthali-1 block of East Burdwan district of West Bengal, said that he did not continue school any longer after the failed attempt, adding however that the feat was an attempt to fulfil his father's wish of letting people around the country know about Rezaul.
He said that he did not have any economic crunch owing to his earth-mover business as well as an orchestra team on the side. He explained that the achievement was solely for his father.
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"Initially everyone used to laugh at my plan to make a helicopter, but that did not dampen my enthusiasm," he said, explaining that he has spent Rs 30 lakh on the work so far. This, Rezaul noted, was nearly half the amount required to build the copter. The work began as he bought helicopter-making equipment from various places, including Kolkata and Panagarh. The engine, meanwhile, was sourced from Karnataka.
Rezaul said that the vehicle will have a seating arrangement for five people. "The copter will be able to carry weights of up to 2.5 tonnes and has 400 horsepower. It weighs about 4 tonnes," he said, explaining that it's not for passengers, but for goods transportation.
