An animator's fictional machine has come to life after a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" spent about 10 years and ¥100 million building a glider seen in the movie.
The copy of the heroine's Mehve glider has been taking to the sky for brief flights at Takikawa Sky Park in Hokkaido. It differs from the penman's prototype only in containing a tiny jet engine.
The M-02J has a 9.63-meter wingspan and a fuselage measuring 2.67 meters.