Yuan Xiangqiu holds a model airplane his son made in Tiantai, Zhejiang Province 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.001
A farmer watching aircraft flying in the sky 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.002
Birdcage in Zhang Dousan’s backyard 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.003
Zhang Dousan works in construction and works on Dousan No. 5 in his spare time—he has spent three years and more than $70,000 working on this coaxial-type helicopter 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.004
Aviator He Dongbiao owns a company called Galaxy Helicopters which sells DIY helicopter kits 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.005
Damaged airplane bodies are kept in storage at Su Guibin’s factory 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.006
He Dongbiao sits inside his helicopter Low Altitude Free Man, which utilizes an MZ202 aeromotor. It took him one year to construct and flies as high as 1,300 feet 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.007
Wang Qiang refits the engine for his airplane in his backyard in Cixi, Zhejiang Province 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.008
Wang Qiang’s son plays with a toy airplane 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.009
Industrial area where Wang Qiang often takes his airplane for test flights 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.010
Jin Shaozhi shows off the Sky Horse, a fixed-wing aircraft with a steel frame, aluminum tubing, and a Rotax 447 motor 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.011
The city where Yuan Xiangqiu lives is undergoing major development 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.013
Wang Qiang sits inside the Wang Qiang No.2, a fixed-wing aircraft that uses a Yamaha engine from a boat. He spent approximately four months and $5,000 to construct the aircraft, which can reach an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.012
Yuan Xiangqiu gazes out the window of his home in Tiantai, Zhejiang province. The 65-year-old said he was inspired to build a plane the first time he saw one on television. "I can teach myself to be a carpenter, and I can make a rice thresher, so I can surely build an airplane too," he remembers thinking 2015
Xiaoxiao Xu (b. 1984)
Courtesy of the artist
R2018.3801.014
