This article titled “Man takes to the skies in world-first pentacontakaitetracopter” was written by Alex Hern, for theguardian.com on Friday 4th September 2015 12.28 UTC

Stop the search: the greatest Briton in history has been found – sitting astride a makeshift helicopter comprised of 54 drone rotors dressed like one of Monty Python’s Gumbies.

YouTuber gasturbine101 built the world’s first pentacontakaitetracopter (that’s a vehicle with 54 blades), and flew it almost three meters above the ground, alarming his cameraman in the process.

The craft weighs 148kg, can lift a further 164kg and can fly for 10 minutes, according to its inventor. He admits it’s not the safest craft in the world, but says that 54 “18 inch propellers at 5000 rpm, though hazardous, are still much less so than six five-foot ones”. And he’s added the plastic dome for his own protection – since the propellers are “inline with my head”. “It also doubles as a rain shelter,” he added.

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