Yang Shijun cruising up in the sky over the outskirts of the city of Changchun, Jilin province [Photo by Bai Shi/ news.xwh.cn]

In an earlier article we told the story of how Yang Shijun, who dreamed of aircraft from his very youngest days in the city of Changchun, Jilin province, made his own plane from scratch and went up with it 10 times, accumulating 3 hours of flight time, but now the 45-year-old Yang has even bigger plans - a two-seater and cross-country flight, and a biplane for aerobatics.

The two-seater is being built from a metal frame that was given to him by a friend, another plane lover, as a gift, while the biplane, well, Yang is working out all the details with a couple of friends, based on a design that he bought from the United States. And, if he's successful, it will be the first of its kind made by an individual in China.

As we said in the earlier story, Yang's interest in aircraft was inherited from his father, who was a pilot with 29 years of experience. And, after his father passed away, he got interested in making an aircraft by himself. He took off in his first plane, an orange and white model, just this past May 9, and has used it to perform some difficult maneuvers up in the air. He named the plane after his father and printed "3695", his father's pilot license, proudly and prominently on its tail.

Chinese law states that aircraft weighing less than 116 kg and with a fuel capacity of 20 liters or less do not need national certification nor does the pilot need a license. There are a few limitations on maximum altitude and air space usage, but, basically Yang can go fly whenever he wants.

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