Design flaw? Kids jumping on wings? Internet puzzled as Chinese drone breaks down at MAKS airshow

A top-notch Chinese UAV, which didn’t fly at Russia’s MAKS airshow, reportedly had its landing gear broken as it sat on display. Now, local netizens suspect foul play by… a throng of kids who were allowed to play on it.

China brought its newest Wing Loong II drone to this year’s MAKS airshow, apparently eager to show off its best aircraft tech.
The modern-looking UAV – designed for reconnaissance missions and targeted strikes – caught the eye of Russian aviation geeks, and onlookers, but something went wrong as the air exhibition neared the end.

Photographs which surfaced online show the Wing Loong drone essentially lying on the ground, with a broken landing gear. As the day progressed, it emerged that all three undercarriages were taken out.

The mystery deepened when it emerged that the drone was actually a static exhibit. There was no external impact to the aircraft, local media reported. In addition, it didn’t perform demonstration flights, as dozens of other aircraft did, from time-tested Russian fighter jets to next-generation passenger planes.

Concerned netizens provided a few tip-offs on social media, and one sat particularly well with the rest of the audience…

“A good playing ground,” one user commented. “Stealthy Russian kids,” another added.

Eagle-eyed internet pundits suggested that it was too risky for the Chinese manufacturer to put the real drone on display. The device that broke down should have been “a plastic mock-up,” they suggested, while others called it “a stress test.”

“Made in China,” some of twitterati said, referring to an old-fashioned stereotype that describes Chinese goods as cheap, low-quality copycats of Western products.

China is yet to say whether this was a full-size model or the actual aircraft, in order to finally solve the Wing Loong puzzle.

Various versions of the drone are used by militaries of more than a dozen countries, including China itself, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan.

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