Creator entrusts the Möwe with the hope for peace

48-year-old artist Kazuhiko Hachiya and a team of engineers test-piloted their latest prototype of Nausicaä's Möwe (Mehve in English) jet-assisted glider in the skies of Hokkaido. The team displayed the M-02 at the Nippon2007, Asia's first WorldCon science-fiction convention but the "Open Sky" project itself dates back over a decade. The M-02 was unpowered, but the latest "M-02J" model shown in the video uses a jet engine.

The M-02J is made of reinforced plastic and wood with an aluminium alloy frame. The video's description also mentions, "sparked by the Iraq war, Hachiya entrusted Möwe with the hope for peace."

Source: Japan Times, Yoshihiro Watanabe