Inventor makes dream take flight

To take flight and escape this mortal coil is a dream of mankind. Not in a plane, but self-powered, reaching for the sky, like Superman. Liu Dongsheng is one of the few who have realized the dream.

Almost every afternoon, the 34-year-old inventor wearing a self-built flight suit lifts off and hovers in the air at a square in Hekou county, Yunnan province, like a real superhero in a movie.

"I want to create the first flight suit in China, even in Asia, and hope one day I can fly over the Yellow River," the inventor says.

Inspired in 2018 by Briton Richard Browning's self-built Iron Manlike suit, Liu started his own flight suit project with two friends.

He has spent about 800,000 yuan ($112,991) on the project since September 2018. The money comes from his savings and earnings from his banana farm in Yunnan.

His recent flight exercise video on April 9 has gone viral on Sina Weibo. The hashtag "Man builds flight suit "was viewed more than 15 million times by Monday. Netizens were amazed by his invention.

In the 48-second video, Liu lifts up, flies over the ground, does a U-turn and, this is important, lands smoothly.

According to Liu, the body-controlled, jet-engine-powered equipment can travel at about 70 kilometers per hour for 3 to 5 minutes.

With its fuel tank empty, the suit weighs about 23 kilograms, which is "relatively light", Liu adds.

With five jet engines, it generates a maximum output of 440 kW of power, which can lift a 145-kg weight to a maximum height of 200 meters.

But due to safety concerns, Liu has not gone that high.

"My friends and I designed the suit. We discussed everything such as where to install the engines and how to connect each component," Liu says.

He even learned English to contact Browning for information on the suit.

"The outlook of mine is similar to Brown's, but we didn't share information on technology," Liu says.

Mechanics enthusiast

Although studying Chinese in college, Liu has had an abiding interest in mechanics and robots since he was a child.

At the age of 12, Liu was attracted by a TV program in the United States called Robot Wars. As the name implies, it is a robot combat competition. Robots are assembled, built and driven by amateur engineers as they engage in combat against robots from other teams.

But his father, a retired teacher, considered robots were not a reliable career for young men. Graduating from college in 2012, Liu became a teacher, under his father's guidance.

Wanting a different life, he quit two years later and rented a 7-hectare banana farm.

His robot dream was reignited in 2015 when he heard about Battle-Bots, a US robot championship. He immediately decided to create a battle robot.

Using materials from used cars, technician Li Xuejun and Liu spent about one year building Rushing Bulls Plus, their first battle bot, which secured a favorable ranking at the Fighting My Bots championships in 2016 and 2017.

Later Liu was invited to be technical director for iQiyi's 2018 robot battling show Clash Bots.

Liu's experience in battle bots helped him to get one step closer to his childhood dream, to fly like Superman.

After seeing reports on Browning's flight suit in June 2018, Liu immediately started his own project. In November that year, he imported micro-turbine engines from Germany, and within five months, his jet suit was basically built and ready for testing.

During a trial flight in May last year, he fell to the ground and injured his jaw, but he didn't give up. Liu exercises every day to keep his weight at about 75 kg. Three years ago, his weight was 85 kg.

After numerous failures and improvement in technology and design, Liu finally took off in his flight suit in November.

He started Kunming Anti-Gravity Tech Ltd early this year.

Future development

With no regulation covering such flight suits in China so far, Liu wants to popularize his invention via entertainment shows and commercial cooperation.

"It is too difficult to develop it as a traffic tool, both technically and legally, which requires much higher standards in quality and technology," Liu says, adding that entertainment shows will be a showcase to make the equipment acceptable to the public.

"My team is planning a project with a company to fly across the Yellow River," Liu says.

He adds that the Yangtze, Lancang (Mekong) and Red rivers are his targets for the near future.

The China Central Television has also contacted him for its science show I Love Invention.

"Through 3D technology and emerging materials, my suit can be lighter and stronger to enhance flight efficiency and safety," Liu says, adding commercial production may be realized one day. One area they have to work on is to reduce noise levels.

He also wants to develop jet suits for indoor flights, which can help people experience real-life flying with the aid of virtual reality technology.

Many companies have been exploring the future of personal flight.

In 2016, David Mayman, founder of the US company Jetpack Aviation, flew his JB-10 over the Port of Long Beach in California. JB-10 secured a US Federal Aviation Administration's certification to fly over land. The company unveiled the next generation JB-11 at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show.

In August, French inventor Franky Zapata crossed the English Channel powered by a kerosene-filled backpack.