According to photographer Xiaoxiao Xu, the Chinese farmers and other rural hobbyists building flying machines from scratch are not in it for fame or fortune. Mostly working out of their own backyards, these creators are simply trying to find ways to lift themselves up into the air. Some build choppers, others build planes, and others hybrids and experimental aircraft that are tricky to classify.

Xu moved to The Netherlands as a teenager, graduated with a degree in photography, but traveled back to her home country to work on Aeronautics in the Backyards, a book of drawings, photos and stories of these self-taught hobbyists, mainly working on remarkably small budgets and scrounging for scraps and parts.

For the project, Xu traveled across China to speak with and photograph eight different farmer-aeronauts working on different projects. “Some of these aeronauts have worked for decades but never achieved to get airborne,” says Xu. “Although that might sound like a waste of time, they see it differently. For them, the game is not about how far or high they can fly, it’s about pushing their boundaries in order to achieve the impossible. They call it real-life science-fiction.”

One man she interviewed recalled how he got started: “My first aircraft cost me less than 10,000 CNY and all the materials and parts I made to build it were just one-offs, because I knew the first aircraft wouldn’t be perfect and would end up as firewood like the model airplanes I made before. I used the money I earned from the first aircraft to make my second aircraft, Wang Qiang No.2.” Others tell stories of midair stalls and watery crash-landings — the stakes are high when flying.

As for why they do it, the answers vary — one sums the mystery of motivation up well: “I cannot give a reason for why I want to fly. Maybe this is just how human beings evolve: we ride horses, ride bicycles, drive cars, and then fly an airplane. I fly as best I can. It’s my dream, my joy. It’s pretty much my life.”

Mixing modern architecture and traditional arena theater design, the Shaolin Flying Monks Temple features a massive wind tunnel that lets combatants in rural Henan, China, fly and fight in front of hundreds of fascinated observers.

The mountainous setting is home to the historical Shaolin Monastery (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and is considered the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and the Kung Fu martial arts practice (as well as the cradle of Chinese civilization more broadly).

Designed by Latvian architect Austris Mailitis, the pavilion is designed to be both contemporary while also deferential to the region and its traditions. The designer was commissioned based on a chance meeting at the Shanghai Expo in 2010.

The mounded shape of the complex and branching, trunk-like protrusion of the tunnel take their inspiration from a translation of Shaolin, meaning: mountain in the wood.

“The architectural and conceptual image pays respect to the beauty of surrounding nature and the historical heritage of the site. Developed in the shape of two symbols – mountain and tree – it serves as a platform for any kind of scenic arts focusing especially on flying performances.”

“The building method combines modern and ancient technologies,” explained the architect” — a laser-cut steel superstructure supports stone steps handcrafted using local quarry resources.”

Boasting practical portability with an eye to aesthetics, the new PowerEgg stands out against its more ungainly competitors, able to fold up into a smooth oval when not in use.

PowerVision “wanted to create a beautiful yet functional design for the poweregg,” explains CEO Wally Zheng. “The oval shape is not only clean and pure but also has the structural and functional benefits. This simple yet vital design means that this is more than a flying robot but a work of art.”

The device features a 360-degree panoramic HD camera able to relay long-range video, advanced optical flow sensors for indoor navigation and an easy-to-use remote control.

Developed over a year and a half, a great deal of work went into structural engineering, particularly making the moving parts work as it transforms to active from passive modes and back again.

“We want flying a drone to be child’s play, something even a five-year-old can do,’ continued Zheng. “With this next generation of drones, much like the internet expanded access to information in the virtual world, drones 2.0 led by innovations like the PowerEgg can expand access to the physical world and bring together humans and machines in this journey.”

Well known for its high-tech aspirations as well as architectural exuberance, the city of Dubai has begun ordering jetpacks for use by emergency services personnel in combating elevated blazes in its tall mixed-use towers.

Dubai Civil Defence is making the move in response to fires like the one that recently took place in its unfortunately-named Torch Tower, the world’s tallest residential building when it was completed.

The Martin Aircraft Company is adapting its existing models of commercial jetpacks to better suit the needs of flying firefighters. A standing platform will be added between the propeller engines, to allow pilots to let go of the controls (engaging a default hover mode) and move around more freely, as well as carry equipment.

“Dubai is leading the world in high-rises, and sometimes we have challenges or difficulties reaching those buildings,” Dubai’s Civil Defence chief Ali Hassan Almutawa told the Khaleej Times.

“Sometimes we also find it difficult to communicate with people in those high-rises, especially when people are panicking from windows or balconies. With the jetpack we can go there and communicate physically with them and give them instructions.” Authorities in Dubai aim to secure and deploy their new array of flying machines by early next year.

This architect-designed drone airport will be the first of its kind, created to facilitate an unmanned aerial vehicle supply chain servicing remote areas of Africa, addressing urgent medical and other ongoing needs. Just as much of the continent skipped landlines and went straight to mobile phones, this strategy could jump steps in the development of infrastructure for delivering for physical goods.

Developed by Afrotech in collaboration with Foster + Partners, work is set to begin next year with a pilot program completed by 2020. The vaulted brick structure will have spaces for drone building and repair as well as packaging, shipping and storage of goods both medical and otherwise. The architecture is intentionally open, simple and able to be constructed with local materials and labor.

Two systems will function simultaneously to provide emergency and ongoing supplies, respectively. The Redline will include small situation-specific drones that can serve targeted emergency needs, carrying over 20 pounds. Larger 200-pound-capacity Blueline drones will manage more sizable shipments of less urgent supplies.

“The Droneport offers a new typology for a building which we hope will grow into a ubiquitous presence, much like petrol stations have become dispersed infrastructure for road traffic,” acting as a network of stopping, refueling and repair stations.

Currently, only a small percentage of the African population lives within a mile of year-round accessible roads, while UAVs from the Droneport will be able to more quickly, easily, safely and reliably access nearly half of Rwanda’s citizens.

“We require immediate bold, radical solutions to address this issue. The Droneport project is about doing ‘more with less’, capitalising on the recent advancements in drone technology – something that is usually associated with war and hostilities – to make an immediate life-saving impact in Africa.”

“It is inevitable on a crowded planet, with limited resources, that we will make more intensive use of our sky using flying robots to move goods faster, cheaper, and more accurately than ever before. But it is not inevitable that these craft or their landing sites will be engineered to be tough and cheap enough to serve poorer communities who can make most use of them. Droneport is an attempt to make that happen, and to improve health and economic outcomes in Africa – and beyond.”