Giant (and we mean GIANT) kite flies in China, Gyrocopter lands at US Capitol
It was a day for unusual flight on two sides of the globe, as a protester in a gyrocopter landed on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, and a bevy of pilots launched a 28,000-square-foot kite in China.
The two-part, giant red kite — painted with the Chinese word Fu, which means lucky — took to the sky near Songya Lake in Changsha, Hunan Province, in China.
Nine kite masters, more than 50 volunteers and a large crowd took part in the launch of the 2,200-pound kite. Smartphones recorded the short flight on a cloudless, clear day.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a mail carrier from Florida staged a one-man protest by entering restricted airspace and landing his gyrocopter on the west front lawn of the U.S. Capitol, which houses Congress, whose 535 lawmakers were in session at the time.
The Tampa Bay Times identified the pilot of the gyrocopter as Doug Hughes, 61.
“I’m demanding reform and declaring a voter’s rebellion in a manner consistent with Jefferson’s description of rights in the Declaration of Independence,” Hughes reportedly wrote in letters to Congress that he carried with him on his flight.
The pilot was detained, according to Capitol Police. A bomb squad inspected the gyrocopter but found nothing hazardous. (David Handschuh/Yahoo News and AFP)
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