VietNamNet Bridge – Mr. Tran Quoc Hai has announced that the Prime Minister agreed to allow him to test fly his airplane.

According to Mr. Hai, he had been waiting seemingly in vain for official permission to test fly his airplane. Yet, on January 23, the Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Science and Technology and other relevant agencies to inspect the airplane and decide whether the airplane made by the two farmers, Tran Quoc Hai and Le Van Danh from Tay Ninh Province, met the criteria for a test flight.

“This is good news for us. Our flying dream will come true at last. We’ll prepare everything to ensure the test flight will take place as soon as possible,” said Mr. Tran Quoc Hai.

Mr. Hai added that in order to fulfill all pre-test requirements, he and his friend had spent 40 million dong on the runway and safety equipment. As for the airplane, it cost them 300 million dong.

In 2003, farmers Hai and Danh succeeded in building a flying machine. However it was confiscated because it didn’t have a permit. Determined not to give up, they made another one with improved functions. This time, they had no chance to test the machine because of the lack of safety equipment and a permit (there is no precedent of granting a permit for homemade flying machines).

Though they haven’t been issued a permit, these two farmers have been making people in and out of Vietnam talk. Vietnamese director Le Quang Dinh made a documentary about how the two “country bumpkins” made an airplane in Vietnam. The film was screened at the Asian Pacific Modern Art Exhibition in Australia. Tran Quoc Hai was also invited to make a presentation on the unprecedented process he and his friend went through to build the airplane.

Thai Thien