Song Xingyu's homemade flying board
A 26-year-old Chinese man named Song Xingyu built a homemade flying board inspired by the glider of the Green Goblin from the movie Spider-Man. He flew it across the Yangtse River in Hubei province in early October 2026 during the Chinese National Day holiday.Flight details and location
The flight took place in the city-county of Badong, within the Enshi prefecture. According to Dai Xiaoying, an employee of the tourist area, the flight lasted just over two minutes and covered more than 300 meters between an open area near the visitor center and a platform in the gorge.Support and safety measures
Liu Bo, president of the Badong Hongfa Industrial Development Group, helped organize the site and stated that Song was calm and cautious before flying. He had also reported the flight to the relevant authorities to ensure safety and compliance.Public reaction and media attention
The video of the flight, published under the pseudonym Shenqi Ayu, received nearly 4 million likes on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. It attracted the attention of public broadcaster CCTV and other major media, with many users expressing admiration for the achievement.Skepticism and Song's response
However, some users questioned the authenticity of the images, suspecting they were generated by AI. Song responded on October 16, stating that no artificial intelligence was involved in the flight images and that the board and the video were entirely handmade.Development of the flying board
The first version of the device was equipped with five small turbojet engines. During the first full test, they caught fire, burning the fuel lines and wiring. Song transmitted the test data to an AI agent, which suggested switching to electric propulsion.Final version and control system
Built in two months, the new version uses ten brushless motor units, each producing more than 30 kilograms of thrust. The throttle is on a ring worn on the finger. The first flight ended in a stall, resulting in sprains and scraped knees.AI-assisted flight control
Song then installed two phones forming an AI flight monitoring system, which gives him verbal instructions through Bluetooth headphones, such as "shift the center of gravity to the left" or "bend the knees to the right." After more than ten days of training, he successfully crossed the Yangtse.Song's background and early life
Born in a village in Badong, Song left school at 14 to work at his father's sawmill. He spent his days covered in sawdust. An old tablet borrowed from a friend and foreign flight test programs sparked his passion for aviation.Song's lab and financial struggles
He took on various small jobs before borrowing money in June 2022 to convert his father's abandoned hangar into a laboratory. Tan Fengzhen, an employee of the Badong county government administration center, described the family home and the lab as two completely different worlds.Financial support from Insta360
To repay all parties involved after several failures, including a crashed jet-powered aircraft and a 20-ton boat sunk, Song incurred a debt of more than 2.4 million yuan. Insta360, a Chinese camera manufacturer listed in Shanghai, paid him 1.8 million yuan through its "Think Bold challenge" fund in December 2025 to settle this debt.Market reaction and company statement
A company representative told the Shanghai Securities News that it was support for a creator, not a capital investment. Insta360's stock closed up 8.97% on October 20, the market paying particular attention to the support provided to Song.Family support and future goals
Song's father, Song Chaofu, 59 years old, stated on October 18 that he supported his son's dream while worrying, like Song's mother, especially about his safety. On the same day, Song told Jimu News that he continued to experiment and film, hoping to fly higher.
