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The Kurdish Icarus
27.8.2010
By Mark Hudson |
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August
27, 2010
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Nariman Anwar, a 33 year
old from Erbil, is a man who had a dream. From a
young age, he desperately wanted to build planes.
After he began aged 14, building a radio-controlled
model, he has gone on to build a total of seven
aircraft, completely to his own designs and
specifications.
Known to his friends as ‘Nariman The Pilot’ two of
his designs have taken to the skies with him at the
controls. In 2007, Nariman was given the Youth Of
The Year Award for his great creative capacity by
the Kurdistan Ministry of Youth and Sport. News of
his feat even reached the Kurdistan Regional
Government’s President, Massoud Barzani, who
recently arranged a personal audience with the
aircraft builder.
‘The President asked me how he could support
talented people in the region,’ says Nariman. ‘I
asked him to open a centre for people with talent in
the region.
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The aircraft of
Nariman Anwar. niqash org |
I know so many talented
people in Kurdistan who just need a boost to fulfil
it.’
Nariman is one person who continued to pursue his
dream despite facing many obstacles. He never went
to university because of his family’s poverty and
instead joined his father’s company as an apprentice
electrician.
There were many other problems, too. His very first
plane was built just a year after Iraqi troops were
driven out of Kuwait. He continued on his path
throughout the sanctions period and onwards after
the US-led invasion of 2003.
Despite Iraq remaining under the UN’s Chapter 7
provisions, which have hampered his progress,
Nariman has produced two flying aircraft, the Zodiac
and his latest, the slightly worryingly-named Stall
710SH. He was able, at great expense, to obtain many
parts from abroad with the help of the KRG, from
countries including the USA, France, Germany and the
Ukraine.
‘Making planes cost me a lot of money. I sold all my
possessions, including my house. In the beginning,
no on helped me with money,’ says Nariman.
‘When people noticed that I was successful, people
like the Erbil Governor, Nawzad Hadi, did, as well
as a couple of prominent businessmen. Now, the
President [Massoud Barzani] is my biggest support.’
The planes that Nariman made went through hours of
testing on the ground and were subject to numerous
approvals from the Kurdish Interior Ministry along
with aviation authorities before they could take to
the sky. Nariman, however always had complete faith
in his designs and was confident they would fly
safely.
‘I have never felt any danger when flying,’ he
boasts. ‘I’m not scared of taking my planes into the
air. If I were scared, I would not make them in the
first place.’
He has rarely suffered any worrying moments while
flying his designs but it has still taken some time
to gain the full confidence of his family and
friends, who, in the early days, felt nervous about
joining him for flights.
‘When I first built my plane, people were afraid to
fly with me. They doubted the quality but now they
are much less scared,’ he reveals.
While it is understandable that the homemade
aircraft might have put some people off in the
beginning, Nariman built his skills on courses with
some of the world’s top engineers in huge companies
such as Bosch in Germany and Aston Martin,www.ekurd.neta
British sports car manufacturer. He has also worked
in Turkey and at the Zinth Air Plane Manufacturing
Company in China. The KRG President is helping
Nariman to continue his progress.
‘When President Barzani visited Germany recently, he
asked Airbus to open a training course for me. Soon
I will go back to Germany to be trained by Airbus
for six months,’ Nariman explains.
The course will enable Nariman to bring back even
more skills to his small team of assistants who have
worked with him so far on plane building. He
currently has four apprentices, all of whom he has
tried to develop as manufacturers in their own
right. Nariman’s ambitions, though, extend beyond
continuing to build homemade aircraft with his small
team. He hopes to move onwards and start building an
aircraft manufacturing factory in Harir, a
sub-district of Erbil.
‘About 150 people will work in the factory,’ he
says. ‘A university degree is not essential but it
is important that everyone working there can show
their talent, that they have energy and a real
desire to work.’
With the help of the KRG, who hope to use Nariman’s
aircraft in agriculture, tourism and for their
police force, Nariman hopes that the new factory
will help foster a manufacturing industry in
Kurdistan and also make a name for the region as
home to a genuinely creative population. He is
designing aircraft that he hopes are specifically
suited to the Kurdish environment.
‘We have a few slightly different designs for Short
Take-Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft. The reason I
decided to build STOL aircraft is because they work
particularly well with Kurdistan’s geography. We
will build two-, four- and six-seat planes mainly
for use by the government.’
The young innovator has come a long way since
building his ‘small, red, radio-controlled plane’
back in 1992. He now hopes that his resilience and
relentless determination will make things easier for
future generations of designers, who will not have
to go through the same hardships as him.
‘Here in Kurdistan, you only get support and
encouragement when you are already successful. There
needs to be more help for people trying to get
started,’ he advises. ‘Talented people must never
quit when trying to fulfill their dreams. When I
told people I was going to build and fly my own
plane, people told me I was crazy. Now, of course,
they congratulate me.’
As Iraq opens up to the rest of the world and as
more individual examples like Nariman appear to
prove the possibilities that exist for Iraqis, a
real opportunity will grow for Iraq’s manufacturing
industries and reputation for innovation to
take-off.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, niqash org
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