It was a dream-come-true for 35-year-old contract worker, K A Raja Gnanaprakasam, from Dindigul village of Tamil Nadu who invented a low-cost paraglider for just Rs 60,000.
Having formal education only up to Class 8, Gnanaprakasam took the help of YouTube videos to learn the design and techniques of a paraglider.
Gnanaprakasam started working on the device at the age of 23 and completed his work recently. Similar models of the paraglider are available at the price of Rs 4 lakh in the market, reports The Times of India.
Till date he has designed three paragliders, two of which can carry two people. Currently, he is focusing on developing a powered hand glider.
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Gnanaprakasam has installed engines with power ranging from 230 CC to 300 CC solely used for agricultural purpose.
To measure the wind speed and know the height at which one travels, an anemometer and an altimeter are fitted to the gliders.
In his native village, Gnanaprakasam flies for around 60-70 km in weekends using a small portion of the agricultural land as runway.
Speaking to the newspaper, Gnanaprakasam said,"No licence is required for a powered paraglider. Permission is not required to fly up to 500ft. However, I cannot fly within a 40km radius of the airport. I have flown at several thousand feet high after obtaining prior permission from the directorate general of civil aviation, government of India."
