PESHAWAR: Qazi Tofail and his brother Qazi Sajjad have successfully made an ultralight helicopter, which they said would be ready within a few days.

The two locals from Peshawar have astonished the public with their achievement, a first in Pakistan’s history.

‘The helicopter is now completely ready, only the wings imported from Italy need to be fixed and would soon be ready to fly,” Qazi Tofail told DawnNews.

The two brothers started struggling from 1978 to make an aircraft, finally succeeding after installing a car engine to make the ultralight helicopter.

After five years of continuous struggle on their own, they made the helicopter at a cost of Rs3.5 million.

Tofail said his brother Qazi Sajjad along with his nephews made the aircraft, adding that due to lack of facilities and financial problems the working pace was very slow, but was grateful that the hard work put in has proved fruitful.

The two brothers have also applied for making a club where they hope to teach the technology to students.

Tofail however complained that the provincial government was not taking interest in leasing land required for the club, further stating that the bureaucracy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was creating hurdles for land requisition.

The Qazi brothers belong to the Landi Arbab village located at the outskirts of Peshawar, where their family have a history of making crafts.