First Build

When I was between 7 and 10 years old, my father would take me and my brothers to my grandfather's house in Kota Masai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, every year from November to December during the long school holidays.

We travelled approximately 364 kilometres from our hometown in Klang, Selangor, to my grandfather's house in Kota Masai, Johor Bahru. As children, my brothers and I enjoyed those long journeys partly because we didn't have to drive😄! We loved taking in the views along the way.

My grandfather was a retired electricity lineman. He never had the opportunity to attend school, but he had keen interest in engineering and science.

He taught himself English language by attending classes on his own after work. My grandfather also collected and stored car and machinery parts in his house.

At that time, RC cars and helicopters were very popular and expensive, and we didn't have one. I know what my father would say if me and brothers ask for expensive toys.😑

(remember Gameboy ? I asked and I didn't get one)

I remember going through my grandfather's storage and finding small DC motors.

I had an idea, I took three of them, cleaned off the rust, and oiled them with Singer sewing machine oil.

Then, I used AA batteries, placed them in series, and taped them together to form a rod. I cut a piece of cardboard into a wing shape and made three smaller shapes for rotor blades with another piece of cardboard.

Next, I taped the wing to the middle of a 1.5 mL empty water bottle and tapped two motors on each side of the wing, wiring them to the battery rod, which I inserted into the bottle hole.

I punched a hole in the bottle cap, fitted the shaft of the third motor through it, and attached a small gear to the motor shaft in front of the bottle cap to keep it in place.

I connected all the wires and screwed on the bottle cap before placing the cardboard rotor blades on all three motors.

I took a thin steel rod and two bottle caps, placing the caps on each end of the rod and taping the rod underneath the bottle forming a wheel base.

Finally, I made an airplane ✈ out of a water bottle. After closing the circuit, the rotors started spinning. I showed it to my father and grandfather, asking them why it wouldn’t fly. I remember them smiling and looking at it with excitement.

I left that water bottle airplane at my grandfather's house, and I often wonder what happened to it.

Unfortunately, I don't have actual photos of it. Camera in a phone was not a thing at the time. At that time Nokia 3310 was the flagship phone.

(remember snake game?)

But I am fortunate to have spent time with my grandparents when I was young. ✨