Jason Lee / Reuters

Local farmer Shu Mansheng sets up a propeller on the motorcycle engine of his self-designed and made flying device before the first test flight in front of his house in Dashu village, on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 30.

According to aviation news site AVweb, a former Chinese farmer with little formal schooling who later worked as an automobile mechanic has designed and built at least one ultralight that briefly flew (before crashing) -- he has now moved on to a flying saucer. Shu Mansheng's project is a structure powered by eight motorcycle engines mounted vertically. They drive individual fixed-pitch wooden propellers.

Jason Lee / Reuters

Mansheng (in red) tests the engines of his flying device ahead of his first test flight. The round steel flying device, which cost more than 20,000 yuan, was the fifth model made by Shu, a junior middle school graduate. It measures up to 5.5 meters in diameter, and is powered by eight motorcycle engines.

The engines are arranged in an inner and outer group of four engines each. An open cockpit located in the center is mounted above spokes that both support the engines and extend to an outer circular ring. Supporters will be hoping for a more positive outcome than the innovator's last attempt.

Jason Lee / Reuters

Mansheng sucks fuel out from a tank with his mouth as he tries to refuel his flying device, which uses Coke bottles as fuel tanks. in the cabin before his first test flight in front of his house in Dashu village, on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 30, 2011.

Shu Mansheng built his first aircraft in October 2010. It was saved by an inadequate powerplant that failed to lift it off the ground. A second effort was aborted when the innovator determined it would be too heavy to fly. This April Shu built another aircraft in a span of about 15 days. He managed to fly that one over approximately 30 meters at an altitude less than seven meters above the ground before he crashed.

Jason Lee / Reuters

The device failed a recent test flight.

Shu Mansheng has been able to focus on his aviation exploits after some advances in his career led him to a financial windfall. He retired from his day job and now works full-time on his aviation adventures. His latest scheme has consumed the equivalent of nearly $10,000. His dream is to create a school "where kids can learn things not taught in regular school," he told WorldTourist.com.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman points out on a model Southwest Airlines plane the position where the fuselage skin was torn from a Boeing 737-300 aircraft during a news briefing April 5, at the NTSB headquarters in Washington, DC. The 15-year-old Southwest aircraft was on its way from Phoenix to Sacramento and had to make an emergency landing when the accident happened on Friday, April 1, 2011.

AP: The order is aimed at finding weaknesses in the metal exterior, but virtually all of the affected aircraft will have already been inspected by the time the order takes effect.

The safety directive applies to about 175 aircraft worldwide, including 80 planes registered in the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration said. Of those 80, nearly all are operated by Southwest. Two belong to Alaska Airlines. Read the full story here.

Shawn Thew / EPA

Photographers surround the damaged fuselage skin section from Southwest Airlines Flight 812 Boeing 737 in the materials labratory at NTSB Headquarters in Washington, DC April 5. Cracks have been found in five Southwest planes after an emergency inspection was carried out on the airline's fleet when a five-foot hole 'exploded' in the roof of Flight 812 on April 1.

Go behind the scenes at the Boeing 737 factory in Renton, WA in this slideshow.