{"id":10196,"date":"2015-10-04T01:58:01","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T01:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=10196"},"modified":"2015-10-04T02:27:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-04T02:27:56","slug":"ethiopian-airplane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/ethiopian-airplane","title":{"rendered":"An Ethiopian Man Builds His Own Plane After Being Rejected From The Aviation Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p>Asmelash Zerefu is a 35-year-old Ethiopian who fell in love with airplanes at a very young age. After suffering countless\u00a0of setbacks in his quest to become a pilot, Zerefu decides\u00a0to make things happen his own way.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"firstPar\">Dealing with rejection<\/h2>\n<div class=\"firstPar\">The young man, who was a brilliant student, was not admitted to the\u00a0Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy because he was too short.\u00a0<em>&#8220;I did not meet the height requirement. I was just one centimeter short.&#8221;<\/em> he told the Telegraph. This rejection was a turning point for Zerefu as he decided to build his own airplane.<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;That was the turning point. That was when I decided to build my own airplane in order to fulfil my lifelong dream of flight. This was in 2001.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10202\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10202\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10202\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviator_from_ethiopia_08.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviator_from_ethiopia_08.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviator_from_ethiopia_08-600x375.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviator_from_ethiopia_08-85x53.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10202\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.trinixy.ru\/pics5\/20151001\/aviator_from_ethiopia_08.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">{adinserter CNP5}<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Continuous learning<\/h2>\n<p>Zerefu spent more than 10 years learning about aeronautics. He read countless of FAA maintenance books, spent hours on the internet and watched several YouTube videos. After 10 years of efforts, he finally started building his own airplane. The young man had the ambition to build Ethiopia&#8217;s first\u00a0home-built aircraft. Zerefu sourced his components locally. He used an old Suzuki motorcycle to make his own landing gear and recycled the engine of a Volkswagen Beetle.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I collected from garages and workshops, and Merkato &#8211; which is Africa&#8217;s largest market &#8211; in Addis Ababa. I used first and second-hand materials to build my aircraft.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10200\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-10200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/plane-from-youtube.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/plane-from-youtube.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/plane-from-youtube-85x41.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10200\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-NNmkkiwiC_o\/VgmUEflc4nI\/AAAAAAAAT6k\/l3nXgadyMS4\/s1600\/plane%2Bfrom%2Byoutube.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>A dream come true<\/h2>\n<p>Zerefu called his two-seat, open-tandem parasol light aircraft\u00a0airplane K-750 A. The plane, that cost \u00a0Zerefu about $7500, is designed to fly &#8220;slow and low.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I call it the K-570A. K representing my mother&#8217;s initial of her name, Kiros, and 570 signifying the number of days it took me to complete my aircraft. The A is for Aircraft.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10201\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviao_etiopia_03.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviao_etiopia_03.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviao_etiopia_03-600x290.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/aviao_etiopia_03-85x41.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/airway.uol.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/aviao_etiopia_03.jpg\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The process was not\u00a0easy, but Zerefu persevered. He faced criticism from people\u00a0and was confronted to financial hardship. On its maiden flight, the airplane had an accident.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;People surrounding me considered me mad, and it took many trials and errors to build it. Financial problems were another limitation in making my African aviation innovation possible. But despite those difficulties and obstacles I am close to fulfilling my dream.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"ssImg \"><span class=\"artImageExtras\"><span class=\"ingCaptionCredit\"><span class=\"credit\">It took hard work to achieve success, but the sacrifice bore its fruit. In addition to building his own plane,\u00a0Zerefu was offered a scholarship to the Inholland University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands to study Aeronautical Engineering.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/helicopter\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0An Unemployed Man Followed His Dream And Built A Helicopter With Recycled Material.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asmelash Zerefu is a 35-year-old Ethiopian who fell in love with airplanes at a very<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":10202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>An Ethiopian 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